Attila wrote
my 25c again guys, when I see some of the junk the industry imports and shove down gullible consumers throats with glitzy advertising ....I dont buy argument that our market is too small....we import shitloads...... man that makes my blood boil
. >☹
@ Atilla.....First of all I'm glad you got that off your chest and that you feel better... ? ?
A lot of what you say is valid to a point...However...I used to work for a major distributor of Pro Audio kit in South Africa and unfortunately we as a market are small....This is precisely the reason why the low quality stuff is pushed into a market like SA....It's safe and stock moves fast into a relatively ignorant market....members of this forum excluded.... ? ?
What makes a forum like this so good is that we can all look at what is happening and take it for what it is. At the end of the day WE ARE THE CUSTOMERS in this market and we therefore have some power over where it goes.
I think a lot of the comments made here in this thread are valid and is food for thought. As was mentioned we face the same challenge any smaller market faces....Markets with similar volumes will be paying the same ballpark prices as at the end of the day as it is still to a large degree a volume thing.
the comment made about stock sitting on the shelf for long periods is also very valid. I have a friend who recently bought a JM Signature Stat. There was only one in the store (One of the larger Fender Retailers in SA)...not a 2008/09 model but a 2006/07 model. He got it at a discounted price because it was a discontinued model. At the end of the day, the store, when one considers the cost of purchase by the store as stock, lost bank interest by it not being sold etc...it was probably sold at either break even or even maybe at a loss...
Just another point before I put a sock in it....There is a lot of issues with local distributors and their attitude toward customers......I called the (now old) Celestion agent to get some guitar loudspeaker prices. When I told the sales person over the phone that I wanted guitar loudspeaker prices I was tolld that I cannot get any prices from them because "they are too expensive... ??? ???".
I was somewhat taken back as I have never been told before that I cannot buy something because the supplier though that it was too expensive...I though that was my decision to make...
