earthboundrec
Member
Travis in Flordia, I tried to message you back but it said your mail box was full.
Haggling at Guitar Center
- Thread starter reshp1
- Start date
earthboundrec
Member
sure they can, Apple, Bose, Monster and Mogami are doing it already. I work for GC and I can't get my employee discount on Bose or Apple no matter how many people I'm buddies with at those companies. Monster and Mogami hook us up, but it's near impossible to hook up custy's with employee pricing on Monster or Mogami. To do so we have to call up the company and have them approve a one day release of the hard minimum. Furman actually just started doing hard minimums on their merch as well. It's a trend that's taking hold so that equipment isn't devalued by the retailer.
bigwillz24
New member
they can set a hard minimum if they want the product still sucks... 
soundchaser59
Reluctant Commander
timboZ said:
This works......just make sure you include the shipping cost in your quote.
I always tell them, "I can get it at fullcompass for xx bucks shipped to my front door!" That way you can compensate for local sales tax. This works great with a lot of mics, cuz shippingis usually between $5-10 on most mics, and sales tax is usually that much on most mics. "Can you make it so that it is xx dollars with tax?"
99 out of 100 times the answer was yes!
Sorry, but that is clearly against US law. They are NOT doing what you think they are doing. Your management may have other reasons for refusing to discount those products, and some of those reasons may even be tied to contracts between your employer and the manufacturer. But fixed or minimum pricing is NOT a part of that agreement. If it were, some people would be going to jail.earthboundrec said:
Since the law does not allow manufacturers to specify retail pricing, some manufacturers employ other techniques to try to control the prices of their products. One of the most common of these is MAP - Minimum Advertised Price. This controls the price that can be advertised (which is legal), but not the price at which the product can be sold.
Gilliland said:
My brother-in-law managed a Mom-&-Pop consumer audio video store... when I asked him to hook me up... he showed me piles of loose leaf binders from almost every manufaturer in the store listing.
- MSRP
- Minimum Advertised Sales Price
- Minimum Sales Price
- Minimum Employee Price
- Dealer Cost
The dealer cost and minimum sales price were vastly different...
earthboundrec
Member
Legal or not, try to haggle on a Bose system or an Apple computer sometime.. you'll get the same answer anywhere you go. "Sorry, those prices are non negotiable." Not too long ago Steve Miller bought a bunch of Bose personal amplification systems. He paid the same price as every other Joe Schmoe ever has on them. Not that he can't afford it, but he's definately the type of dude that is just used to getting shwagged out by companies.
c7sus
Disenfranchised Member
Bring cash and let them know you want to drive it away today.
Don't ask for stuff they can't possibly do. Like 50% off on an Avalon. Be realistic.
As was said before, if you intend on dropping some big coin you're best bet is to get in good with the manager. Of course, in some stores they seem to change every 6 months or so.
Around Seattle they seem to rotate a few od their key management guys between 3 or 4 stores. I've bought stuff from the same guy in 3 different GC's.
Don't ask for stuff they can't possibly do. Like 50% off on an Avalon. Be realistic.
As was said before, if you intend on dropping some big coin you're best bet is to get in good with the manager. Of course, in some stores they seem to change every 6 months or so.
Around Seattle they seem to rotate a few od their key management guys between 3 or 4 stores. I've bought stuff from the same guy in 3 different GC's.
Richard Monroe
Well-known member
Building relationships takes time and, yeah, the turnover is tough, so you have to break in a new manager every so often, so it's good to know the guys who might become the next one.
I was in GC yesterday. They had called me at home to notify me of their $250 drawing, and I had a special order in anyway, so I figured I'd do ir for the hell of it.
I walk in the door, and the guitar dept. manager walks up to me and says, "You were looking for a strat, weren't you? Come check this out-" Well they had a Jimmy Vaughan signature Tex-Mex strat that a jerk had dropped in the store and done a purely cosmetic ding to the bottom edge. You can't even see it looking at it from the front. It's marked at $599. He puts the red tag on it- $199. I just handed him the ticket and said, "SOLD!"
Now I didn't get any special deal on that axe that anybody in the store couldn't have gotten. But because I'm a frequent flyer, and I take the time to talk to management, he already knew who I was, what I was looking for, and that he had a unit that would fit my needs at a very attractive price. He would have sold that unit before the day was out for $199, but he sold it to *me*. Build relationships.-Richie
I was in GC yesterday. They had called me at home to notify me of their $250 drawing, and I had a special order in anyway, so I figured I'd do ir for the hell of it.
I walk in the door, and the guitar dept. manager walks up to me and says, "You were looking for a strat, weren't you? Come check this out-" Well they had a Jimmy Vaughan signature Tex-Mex strat that a jerk had dropped in the store and done a purely cosmetic ding to the bottom edge. You can't even see it looking at it from the front. It's marked at $599. He puts the red tag on it- $199. I just handed him the ticket and said, "SOLD!"
Now I didn't get any special deal on that axe that anybody in the store couldn't have gotten. But because I'm a frequent flyer, and I take the time to talk to management, he already knew who I was, what I was looking for, and that he had a unit that would fit my needs at a very attractive price. He would have sold that unit before the day was out for $199, but he sold it to *me*. Build relationships.-Richie
choctaw
Tribal Member
If a store can't beat the price...then go another place.
When a store just meets another price they are doing no better than their compatations price...why not ask for a BETTER price. All your out is the gas to go back to another place and do your buying. I say if they are trying to get the sale......they should give you a lower sale price.
Choctaw
When a store just meets another price they are doing no better than their compatations price...why not ask for a BETTER price. All your out is the gas to go back to another place and do your buying. I say if they are trying to get the sale......they should give you a lower sale price.
Choctaw
choctaw
Tribal Member
Question...will the web be collecting sales TAX soon.
Several stores I go to have given me this talk. When I say hey..if I buy on the web I don't have to pay any sales tax, so even if you meet the web price the sales tax will make me pay more. The stores have said that by next year all internet sales will be required to collect sales tax..............wonder if this is just their BS or is that comming soon?
Choctaw
Several stores I go to have given me this talk. When I say hey..if I buy on the web I don't have to pay any sales tax, so even if you meet the web price the sales tax will make me pay more. The stores have said that by next year all internet sales will be required to collect sales tax..............wonder if this is just their BS or is that comming soon?
Choctaw
Attachments
It's BS. The states are not allowed to regulate interstate commerce in any way. State tax can only be applied to business within the same state. Courts have ruled that a transaction with any business that has a presence within the state can be considered to take place within the state - even if the product is shipped from elsewhere. So if you buy from, say, Sears online, you will pay state sales tax because Sears has stores in your state - even if the product is shipped from elsewhere. But a purely web vendor doesn't have to charge tax in any state other than the one from which they operate.choctaw said:
Your state may still require you, personally, to pay the sales tax on any transaction that isn't taxed by the vendor. But they really have no way to enforce it. In Ohio, where I live, they ask you to pay up on your income tax form. I don't know how many people actually do so, though.
I buy almost exclusively at GC. I used to hate the place because of the high prices, until I had $3500 to spend on rec gear. I did my research, brought in what I would pay, handed the list to a guy in the rec dept, and he beat all the prices- even the ebay prices. I ended up getting almost $6000 worth for that $3500. Since then I've spent about $10000 more on gear that would have cost much more. Some examples?
Mackie Onyx 1620 $529
Tascam US2400 $719
SM57 $50 ea
Yamaha HS50 $150 ea
Gibson es135 $799
Presonus Eureka $425 w. firewire
TRS-TRS 8 ch snakes 10ft $13.50
Event TR8s $250 pr
Auralex foam was super cheap, cant remember exactly though.
Thats just recent. They'll match anything, from anywhere too.
I was told in the last month or so that the hard minimums were being rasied and alot of stuff isn't as flexible anymore, I don't know for sure though.
I've never talked to a manager, the sales guys can do the same thing on most stuff. The managers can do less than the hard minimums, but rarely. If I had $8000, make sure you know how much everything goes for online.
Mackie Onyx 1620 $529
Tascam US2400 $719
SM57 $50 ea
Yamaha HS50 $150 ea
Gibson es135 $799
Presonus Eureka $425 w. firewire
TRS-TRS 8 ch snakes 10ft $13.50
Event TR8s $250 pr
Auralex foam was super cheap, cant remember exactly though.
Thats just recent. They'll match anything, from anywhere too.
I was told in the last month or so that the hard minimums were being rasied and alot of stuff isn't as flexible anymore, I don't know for sure though.
I've never talked to a manager, the sales guys can do the same thing on most stuff. The managers can do less than the hard minimums, but rarely. If I had $8000, make sure you know how much everything goes for online.
earthboundrec
Member
Here are the three types of minimums I've run into at work:
1. minimum, can be overridden with the store manager's approval
2. hard minimum, can be overridden by store manager only and GM has to call manufacturer and there is a one day lift on the item. Usually this is only done for pro accounts, record labels, and major label tours, and of course employees. Joe Schmoe trying to haggle below the hard minimum is not going to get it unless it's on a legitamite price match.
3. Set in stone minumums. Sorry but the only way to get a deal on Apple computers, or Bose systems is if you work for Apple or Bose or, in Apple's case, if you're a student, or in Bose's case if you buy one system, you get 10% off on subsequent systems. No if's and's or but's about it. This seems to work very well for these two companies and the trend is going to start occuring with other companies real soon. I think DigiDesign will probably be the next to go this route.
And even if it is illegal for companies to do this, why would we complain as retailers? It takes the negotiation aspect of the sale out of the picture. I've had guys walk on me on Apple computers after haggling and then coming back a week later to buy it because they realized that there was no where else they could get it for cheaper.. period, and they knew that I'd throw in some deals on other gear just because they came back and bought it from me.
1. minimum, can be overridden with the store manager's approval
2. hard minimum, can be overridden by store manager only and GM has to call manufacturer and there is a one day lift on the item. Usually this is only done for pro accounts, record labels, and major label tours, and of course employees. Joe Schmoe trying to haggle below the hard minimum is not going to get it unless it's on a legitamite price match.
3. Set in stone minumums. Sorry but the only way to get a deal on Apple computers, or Bose systems is if you work for Apple or Bose or, in Apple's case, if you're a student, or in Bose's case if you buy one system, you get 10% off on subsequent systems. No if's and's or but's about it. This seems to work very well for these two companies and the trend is going to start occuring with other companies real soon. I think DigiDesign will probably be the next to go this route.
And even if it is illegal for companies to do this, why would we complain as retailers? It takes the negotiation aspect of the sale out of the picture. I've had guys walk on me on Apple computers after haggling and then coming back a week later to buy it because they realized that there was no where else they could get it for cheaper.. period, and they knew that I'd throw in some deals on other gear just because they came back and bought it from me.
crazydoc
Master Baiter
I'm an ignoramus at all this, but this is the only answer that makes any sense to me. If you discount XYZ, you won't be an XYZ dealer in the future. Sure ain't against any law I know of.c7sus said:
If folks would just as soon buy ABC as XYZ, this won't work. But if a lot of people "just gotta have" XYZ, this is the way to go.