Lfan
Hi all
Please note that this is not a Rant, a complaint or any attempt to bring down any music shop or instrument retailer, but merely is more of an observation, an experiment and to some extent a small warning.
So anyway a few months ago I went into a very popular music shop in jhb, this particular music store is the only store in SA where u can buy the specific brand of guitar that I was looking for brand new.
I went into the shop on a normal, none sale, day and got a quote for a guitar for R4500. About 2 and a half weeks later this store had the annual "Sale", and like any music store would do, they advertised, ranted, raved, tweeted, facebooked, sms'd and got us all guitar loving junkies excited, just like every year.....
So I went in during the sale, saw the guitar I looked at 2 weeks earlier on a normal non sale day, and to my excitement the particular brand was less 30% for the annual "SALE". So I went to a salesmen in the store, asked him for a quote with the sale "discount", he grabbed his calculator, pushed a few figures and to my amazement, gave me a quote of.....R4500. The exact same price I got on a normal, non sale day.
Again, this is not a rant or complaint. Just an observation. I am aware that during these sales, there are allot of sweet deals on pedals, strings, etc the odds and ends but in terms of guitars, the real meat, is it really a "sale". Knocking of 25 to 30 percent of the retail price is quite normal on any day in a music store. So is it really a "SALE" like they say it is or is it a way of getting us hyped up to buy something for a rice that u can get on any day in the store......Just saying
warrenpridgeon
Hehe.
Shop 1 had a sale, so I phoned and asked how much for a Line 6 HD500X... R7500 on special... Normal retail is R12000
Phoned shop 2, what's your price on the pedal "Normal retail is R12000 but we can do it for around R7800", mentioned shop 1's price and they said they could probably match it. (I'm now saving and flogging stuff to get the pedal.. hehe)
Bottom line... never pay sticker price... hehe. Always haggle, it's part of the game... Visit the stores more often for a chat and you might get more discount... lol.
Scorched
I've also noticed with sales that they take very old stock and adjust the retail price to be in-line with new exchange rates and give "discount" on the new retail price, effectively keeping the sale price more or less the same. :?
chris77
Only time I take notice of sales are when they have buy two get one free type deals on their strings.
studmissile
Those "SALES" are always a let down,
Keira-WitherKay
well i think you need to put it in context.... for folk like "me" who are regularly in a music store they know i'm a pro muso and i teach music ...so i get a nice price as i give the store i support a lot of bussiness .... and refer students ...so for me and obviously others who posted above ...we get sale prices year round... but i know if i go to say a store where they don't know me i can't get the same prices .... ...so yes a sale allows everyone to get "nice ' prices not just the regulars
a funny example is that when i was buying LR baggs pickups for my nylon guitars i went to the store that imports them..at the time so hey no middle man so lowest price .....wrong!!!!! i got it through marshall music woodmead who i deal with regularly and cheaper than they could offer it to me by a lot .....and simply cos they didn't know me or i had no "track record there"
so sales just level the playing field....
Attila
count the stocktake stickers on the item ..... more than 2 you can haggle plenty............
domhatch
Attila Barath wrote:
count the stocktake stickers on the item ..... more than 2 you can haggle plenty............
absolutely. if it's been sitting around for a while, it's taking up space they can better utilise for stock that moves and makes them money.
to keira's point, they will also often give the repeat-purchase muso a better deal than the occasional-purchase muso. so build up a relationship at a store, and chances are you'll get better-than-sale-at-store-b deals at store a.
dh|
BluJu
Attila Barath wrote:
count the stocktake stickers on the item ..... more than 2 you can haggle plenty............
Exactly this! You don't win on the new stuff. You really win on the stuff they can't move. That is what these sales are about.
That is why TOMS Braam is normally one of the better sales. An older store with a lot more dead stock.
Charlie4
As someone who LOVES a good deal, I'm going against the grain of my own opinion here and say this; Regardless of the fact mentioned, we are pretty fortunate to be able to haggle over new items, NOS or new.
If you would try that at most any other form of retailer they would tell you to fly a kite. Fact is we as music instrument consumers do get properly screwed due to various factors such as exchange rate etc.
I do think however that this industry is certainly far from booming, otherwise we would see far more shops and far more variety and quality gear.
Ye may stone me now GAS -belivers for I am a heretic. :roflmao:
chris77
I am not a fan of the way our local retailers operate. The fact that you have to haggle to get a good deal wouldn't be so bad if I actually thought that the price on the sticker is a fair selling price to begin with. If that was the case then you really would be getting a discounted item at a deal price, and not just a reduction from a price which was grossly inflated from the start.
The product's cost is Rx, the suggested retail price by the distributor is Rx + z%. Now the retailer can't ask more for the product than the suggested retail price because he will then be in trouble with the distributor, and he can't ask less than the cost price because then he will be losing money. So he prices it at the maximum price he is allowed to and leaves himself wriggle room of >z% to negotiate a price at which he can still make a profit. If you then do get a discount it will be from the recommended retail price, which is hugely inflated to begin with.
As it stands now the discount you get is a lotto and is as unpredictable as it is varied. I'd rather they work at a set price for everybody at a reduced margin across the board, and keep the discounts for Sales and times where they are genuinely struggling to move a product. Then I will feel I got a good deal if I got a discount. Now it just feels like those late night adds where you buy one pair of socks for a gazillion bucks and get a "free" this and a "free" that. No thanks.
exsanguinator
I think we have discussed this issue heaps before
A shop can have any amount they want on their stock at any given time,as long as its not higher than the RRP
Thats called competition
If you want you can still haggle that price
There is no law differentiating what price their 50%,30% etc etc sale stickers are referring to
Is it the original stickers on products?or the RRP that they couldve displayed from the beginning.
Thats the wonderful world of retail..LOL
Keira-WitherKay
when i chat to a salesman about some up coming sale .....i been told to my face ...oh you always get sales price at this store..... so yes just proof they reward those who are loyal to a store...and that a positive in my mind.... i have no issue with the local system of almost a definite 30 % dicount off ticket price ...often more ...cos it's a free market i can get 3 quotes and compare
warrenpridgeon
Keira WitherKay wrote:
when i chat to a salesman about some up coming sale .....i been told to my face ...oh you always get sales price at this store..... so yes just proof they reward those who are loyal to a store...and that a positive in my mind.... i have no issue with the local system of almost a definite 30 % dicount off ticket price ...often more ...cos it's a free market i can get 3 quotes and compare
It's not an industry... it's a community... hehe... I'm going to start visiting the music stores more... wakakaka.
chris77
Keira WitherKay wrote:
when i chat to a salesman about some up coming sale .....i been told to my face ...oh you always get sales price at this store..... so yes just proof they reward those who are loyal to a store...and that a positive in my mind.... i have no issue with the local system of almost a definite 30 % dicount off ticket price ...often more ...cos it's a free market i can get 3 quotes and compare
But if it's an almost definite plus 30% markdown on the sticker price, then why not just drop the sticker price by 30% from the
start?
If you're a cynical old grump like me the answer is that there is no such thing as an across the board automatic discount. It gets offered to potential customers who have a bit of savvy about the price range the product should be going for or who has already procured a lower quote from another retailer. Or who are simply acquaintances of the sales person. Mr Ignorant or the new player who just started out (often a youngster who can barely afford a decent piece of kit in the first place) will be charged the price on the sticker. I know because I've been that youngster who saved for months just to pay the price on the sticker. More than once. And it sucked. It's a business model that subsidizes discounts to one group by charging maximum prices to another.
Now, I get that it works out fine if you play the game and negotiate your discounts, and that if you know no better and pay the full price it is down to your own ignorance of how the system works. I just don't like it. It feels wrong and exploitative to me.
Lfan
If you can get 30% off on any day, like I experienced. Then why do they advertised "Sale Prices" during their sales. Isnt that false advertising? Lying to the public and creating a false hype
Tokai-SA
TGF wrote:
If you can get 30% off on any day, like I experienced. Then why do they advertised "Sale Prices" during their sales. Isnt that false advertising? Lying to the public and creating a false hype
Because some of the products on the BIG sales are less 50/60/70/80%.
Yes, you can get less 25% to 30% any day of the week, and less 40% if you're a well known pro musician who's been buying from the store and been a loyal customer to the store for many years.
Less 50% is the price an "endorsed" guitarist will pay for gear, no guitarist, not even Dan Patlansky gets gear for free.
Skylark
Bothners and Teurk music sales are normally pretty damn amazing. Got some unreal prices, obviously if you want something in particular the "sale" price may not always be terribly amazing but they always more willing to neg if their big sale is on, especially if you ask nicely and put the cash on the table.
domhatch
Tokai SA wrote:
Because some of the products on the BIG sales are less 50/60/70/80%.
Yes, you can get less 25% to 30% any day of the week, and less 40% if you're a well known pro musician who's been buying from the store and been a loyal customer to the store for many years.
Less 50% is the price an "endorsed" guitarist will pay for gear, no guitarist, not even Dan Patlansky gets gear for free.
definitely +50 to developing a relationship with a store. the more you buy from them, the longer you buy from them, the more incentive they have for giving you larger discounts; it keeps you coming back to their store.
as a side note, i went to the toms opening sale in rivonia a few weeks back. was looking for a small practice amp for my bass. got less 30% on the amp. good deal, if you ask me. i also caught up with an electric drum set for 50% off (my son wants to start playing next year).
so when it comes to sales per se, i think the thing is to know what you want, how much you want off, and how much you want to spend. the trick is not to just go to a sale and expect to a) get ripped off or b) a billion-dollar saving.
dh|
