Got a DMP3 for cheap

KevinTran said:
Damn, I suck at haggling, but i'll give it a shot. Thanks for the heads up guys.

kt
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ALWAYS haggle at GC... NEVER pay the asking price... If they won't come down then wait a day or two and ask a different sales person. Sooner or later they're just like car dealers - they just want to sell something!
 
acorec said:
I saw one at GC. The guy said I could have it for what they paid for it. You guessed it, $119. I passed. They pay like $40 maybe.
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A year or so ago, I saw a M-Audio dealer's price sheet and the DMP-3 was around $155. That's DEALER's cost. Now, seeing as how GC makes their profit by buying boat loads of stuff for even less than the average dealer's cost (which really sucks for independent dealers, btw), I'd say $119 is about right. If M-Audio sold them for much less they'd be giving them away!
 
tdukex said:
In my book, these things compare very well to both the Presonus MP20 and the RNP--both sell for around $400+. And yes, I've heard them both (on recordings and pre comparisons). So what, you're saying $119 isn't a good enough price? How much GC paid is irrevalent. They probably only pay $79 for the MP20. So what's your point?

At $200 the DMP3 is one of the best values available in home recording. At $119 it is the mic pre equivalent of the RNC.
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I am saying that GC will be selling them for $99 or less soon. The same thing happens with all their stuff. I wait till the last minute. I got so much stuff for way less. The big indicator at GC is when they start with the "blowout sales" The secret is, watch very carefully what is in those sales. If you see the thing you want constantly in these sales (Father's day sale, fourth of July sale, next sale), Then they are desperate to unload them. I then move in for the kill and ask about what I want. I will then quote them a low price. Bingo! These guys start lowering the sale price! It works everytime. I will get the DMP3.
 
acorec said:
The big indicator at GC is when they start with the "blowout sales" The secret is, watch very carefully what is in those sales. If you see the thing you want constantly in these sales (Father's day sale, fourth of July sale, next sale), Then they are desperate to unload them.
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This is what I noticed has been happening for quite some time with the Oktava 219's at GC. They were advertising the sale price at $49 during the big Memorial Day blowout sale, meaning you could get them even cheaper than that! I read somewhere on this board that someone got 3 of them for $29 each!!!
 
tomleblanc said:
This is what I noticed has been happening for quite some time with the Oktava 219's at GC. They were advertising the sale price at $49 during the big Memorial Day blowout sale, meaning you could get them even cheaper than that! I read somewhere on this board that someone got 3 of them for $29 each!!!
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That was me. I find that you should wait for the next sale and keep an eye on the things you want. I have been noticing the DMP3 is on sale this weekend too. On sale last weekend, on sale this weekend, this may be the time for me to move in for the kill...
 
acorec said:
I am saying that GC will be selling them for $99 or less soon. The same thing happens with all their stuff. I wait till the last minute. I got so much stuff for way less. The big indicator at GC is when they start with the "blowout sales" The secret is, watch very carefully what is in those sales. If you see the thing you want constantly in these sales (Father's day sale, fourth of July sale, next sale), Then they are desperate to unload them. I then move in for the kill and ask about what I want. I will then quote them a low price. Bingo! These guys start lowering the sale price! It works everytime. I will get the DMP3.
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Right on, I thought you were just being a smartass, but I see now you are just being smart. I play the same game, but I made my move this time because I had to spend the cash (overtime pay) or lose it (I'm married). I've even gone as far as creating Excel spreadsheets to track prices of various items over a period of years.
 
acorec said:
I have been noticing the DMP3 is on sale this weekend too. On sale last weekend, on sale this weekend, this may be the time for me to move in for the kill...
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How'd you know it's on sale this weekend? Is there a GC weekly flyer or something?
 
Musician's Friend wouldn't sell one for $119.00 if their life depended on it...

Or would they?....hmmmm....:p
 
Kelly5150 said:
Musician's Friend wouldn't sell one for $119.00 if their life depended on it...

Or would they?....hmmmm....:p
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The GC and Musicians Friend relationship is kinda weird. On the one hand, GC owns Musicians Friend, but on the other they seem to operate mostly independent of each other. In smaller markets like mine (Columbus, OH), you can't always get all of the stuff that you'd find either in a larger market like Boston, Philly or NY or on Musicians Friend. For me, if I have to order something from GC or my local Sam Ash, then it's probably better to just order it online. After all, no tax online and probably free shipping.
 
Originally posted by KevinTran Damn, I suck at haggling, but i'll give it a shot. Thanks for the heads up guys.

kt
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Kevin,
So do I. Personally, I've found my greatest strength in getting what I want at the price I want to pay by having Information. I suppose my reluctance to haggle is due to the fact that I believe on one level that a business has a right to make a profit. But when money doesn't grow on trees and you've found yourself 7 or 8 years into recording, you soon realize that if a business offers a product to someone at one price, another person would be a fool to pay a higher price.

The great thing for us non-hagglers is that the hagglers have already done our work for us. The key for us is to get the the information (where someone else paid a lower price) and bring that info to the attention of that business. For me, I just called GC after paying the higher $199 price and told them that I wanted to return the DMP3 because friends of mine on an Internet newsgroup paid $80 less for it. When I brought it back, I didn't even have to say how much. I just offered my proof and voila! an $80 refund.

So the key is just get the proof from the hagglers among us and present it to the business.
 
tomleblanc said:
How'd you know it's on sale this weekend? Is there a GC weekly flyer or something?
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Yes, they have mailings if you buy stuff from them . I even get cards with little notes on them signed by the salesperson. The card lets me get free cables or strings or etc. with a $15 purchase.
 
Thanks for the tip on Guitar Center guys. The manager called me back and said he would match the $119 price that others paid at their GC. I don't live near a GC so they are sending it UPS with a shipping fee of course. Yeah!
 
Glad to hear you guys are having such success. I went to my Guitar Center last night, and when the employee gave the manager in California a call, he was nearly in tears. By the time out transaction was complete, I think he was ready to just scream at me. I don't know why he was so upset- he didn't lose any money, because the only way I'll every give a GC business is if I can get a brand new preamp for 20 cents more than GC buys them from M-Audio.


But I did make one promise: he asked me to get on the internet and make sure everyone knows that they do work for commission... so if you don't want to save money, then don't take advantage of this deal.


:D Chris
 
Yo Rev E and others! Thanks for the tip! As my Avalon is out for service, I've been thinking that having a couple of cheap auxiliary channels might not be a bad thing for an emergency. Also, I'm building a suitcase sized studio based on a Korg PXR4 Pandora, and the DMP3 seemed to fill both bills. Yep, I ground their balls on this one-$119.
I patched the little sucker up tonight, and was pretty impressed. I did a cover of "Millworker" by James Taylor. I figured I'd give it something easy, and something hard. Easy- My Taylor 710CE through an AKG C414B-ULS on the 12th fret, plenty hot signal. Hard-vocals through an AKG D770 cheap dynamic that needs plenty of gain. It handled both rather well, but actually did the dynamic better. The C414 is a little picky about phantom power voltage, and I suspect the DMP3's phantom is a little shy of 48v. Anybody have any info. on that? All in all, the thing does everything I need it to do, and I have y'all to thank for a great price.-Richie
 
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