Price Matching??

Bellycaster

Terms and Conditions Apply I assume.

If I see a lower price on dealers such as Gear4music and Dolphin(and the item is In Stock, not Pre Order or ex-demo), does that count as valid for a Guitar Retailer I'm bargaining with?

I'm only asking as there were exceptions when I bought my Tele from PMT last year, but I can't remember what they were.

We are talking relatively huge saving, but I'd rather go and try one in my local store than buy blind from a warehouse.

What I'm asking is, if one stockist can afford to sell it at that price, then they all can?

Thanks.`

geetarguy85

Unfortunately I can't say specifically for guitar retailers as I've never encountered their terms.

The terms I've typically seen for price matching in general, not specifically for guitar stores, is that "brick and mortar" stores will often either:
a) exclude companies that only have an online presence, or;
b) exclude companies that have an online presence but different pricing, or;
c) only allow price matching on explicitly named competitors which may include online-only stores if they choose to price match against them. 

I think the problem is that not all stockists have the same business structure and overheads, and so a price match is not always going to be fair on the business.

For example, a store like PMT has not only the wholesale cost of buying products, they have all the overheads that go with running multiple high street stores, warehouse(s), an online store and the staff to man all these. Conversely, a company with only one physical store/warehouse and an online store will have lower overheads and so may be able to sell products at a lower price while maintaining a healthy profit margin.

Hopefully you manage to get the deal you're looking for! I completely understand wanting to try the guitar out in store first, though I think some online retailers do have excellent returns policies.

Dave_Mc

^ They all should have if you buy from the UK at least- legally if you buy it online (few exceptions, such as customised or custom-built stuff) you should be able to return it for a refund within 14 days if you don't like it.

That being said it'll be a lot easier if the store is actually decent to deal with.

I've never actually used price-matching but there are normally terms and conditions, as you said- has to be a like for like comparison, the item has to be in stock, has to be a legitimate authorised dealer, has to include the full price of getting it to you (delivery), etc. etc.. I'd imagine that each shop which has a price-matching policy would have its own specifics, but those are the main ones that I've seen.

skunkwerx

Usually theres a condition that wherevers selling it cheaper has to be within a certain mile radius too. Although I'm not sure if any guitar stores have that, but I've seen it with other companies. 

like the fella above says, does depend on the companies overheads. 

I reckon if shop A and shop B bought a guitar or ten from a supplier, they may have paid different prices for the same stuff, depending on when, or if the supplier cut one shop a deal etc etc. 

Maybe its different for guitar stores and suppliers! I could be talking out my bum. Its often the case! 

stimpsonslostson

"What I'm asking is, if one stockist can afford to sell it at that price, then they all can?"

Simply put: No. Not necessarily. 

My local store has the rules that:
Must be in stock with a UK retailer. 
Price must include next day delivery costs. 

Even then they've declined to meet a couple of prices that were too keen- understandable, they have lower profit margins than a box shifter. 

As a rule I'd rather support my local shop, but obviously this has limits...

My advice would simply be to pick up the phone & ask your preferred retailer. The worst outcome is they say "No, sorry we can't do that... Here's our best price"- I've had a couple of "sweeteners" in the past (stand, strings, strap, hardcase...)

SNAKEBITE

Could it be a case of a "loss leader"?

I know supermarkets put fantastic offers on which they either make no profit on, or very little. The idea (so I'm told, I'm not an expert!) is that they have an apple crumble on offer at a fantastic price. You out that in your trolley but realise you need some custard, so off you go and buy the custard at a price they make a good profit on. Whilst you're at it you decide you might as well have a full roast so you go and buy the bits with all the trimmings.

Soon you have a trolley of stuff you didn't set out to buy.

Obviously it is not going to be exactly the same, but it's the principle I was trying to convey.

skunkwerx

SNAKEBITE said:

Could it be a case of a "loss leader"?

I know supermarkets put fantastic offers on which they either make no profit on, or very little. The idea (so I'm told, I'm not an expert!) is that they have an apple crumble on offer at a fantastic price. You out that in your trolley but realise you need some custard, so off you go and buy the custard at a price they make a good profit on. Whilst you're at it you decide you might as well have a full roast so you go and buy the bits with all the trimmings.

Soon you have a trolley of stuff you didn't set out to buy.

Obviously it is not going to be exactly the same, but it's the principle I was trying to convey.

You are correct. I work for hmv and a few years back a manager was explaining stuff, and that very scenario came up. 

Tescos would and probably still does buy dvds/blu rays/cd's in absolute bulk (the more you buy the cheaper it gets sort of thing), then knock it out for next to no profit. 

Idea is, you'd pop in to grab a film but then realise while you were there you may as well grab a few bits of your shopping too, or a classic film, alcoholic beverage, pizza or popcorn combo (yum). 

Makes business sense, and we couldnt get the same discounts on our stock as Tescos because we didnt have as many stores, so didnt want to order as much stock from the suppliers. So our margins were already tight and we sufferred because if we didnt make profit on films, cd's and blu rays then we were done for as we sold nothing else to recoup profits! 

scrumhalf

Many supermarket loss leaders are subsidised by the manufacturer/supplier rather than the supermarket themselves.

Sporky

skunkwerx said:

Usually theres a condition that wherevers selling it cheaper has to be within a certain mile radius too. Although I'm not sure if any guitar stores have that, but I've seen it with other companies. 

like the fella above says, does depend on the companies overheads.

Also, potentially, the business model in general. They may get rebates on total yearly sales, they may have a target to hit that month which means shifting one more guitar at very low margin is worth doing... all sorts of reasons.

The decline in small guitar shops certainly suggests that profits aren't soaring.

Skipped

Thank goodness Amazon are so cheap.

Cheap is all we can afford after a 12 hour shift "Picking" in a windowless Aircraft Hanger.

Sesh

scrumhalf said:

Many supermarket loss leaders are subsidised by the manufacturer/supplier rather than the supermarket themselves.

Many supermarkets force the manufacturer/supplier to subsidise the low prices. (e.g. milk)

gubble

scrumhalf said:

Many supermarket loss leaders are subsidised by the manufacturer/supplier rather than the supermarket themselves.

Absolutely !

All that buy one get one free malarkey is not funded by Tesco - they pass this reduced price onto the supplier.

Dave_Mc

skunkwerx said:

Usually theres a condition that wherevers selling it cheaper has to be within a certain mile radius too. Although I'm not sure if any guitar stores have that, but I've seen it with other companies.

That's a good point, I didn't think of that. The ones I've seen were online stores and they usually were just UK-wide.

Bellycaster

I guess a lot of this makes sense, it's not do-able in most cases. From looking at the Gear4music Website, it looks like you can visit their Showroom, they're not that far from me, 1 hour tops, I assume you can purchase direct at the same price as online price? This would cut out the worry of shipping woes, which I've had a gut full of this year.

uncledick

When I was looking around at buying a Boogie amp recently, one online store was offering a free guitar lead worth 'up to £3.50'.  My local shop was £200 cheaper for the amp but never offered me a lead....

Modellista

Bellycaster said:

What I'm asking is, if one stockist can afford to sell it at that price, then they all can?

Thanks.`

No.

I said this on the Andertons baritone thread, but earlier this week I phoned GuitarGuitar in Newcastle to see if they would price match the £249 on the baritone, because I preferred to buy from them.  GG had a couple in stock.  But the guy was very honest and said that would actually be leaving him out of pocket when you add VAT to the wholesale price.  He couldn't understand how Andertons were doing it.

And neither can I, frankly, although it doesn't keep me awake at night.  Perhaps some stores get end-of-line deals from the distributor that aren't offered to all retailers.  Anyhow, their competitors can't be very chuffed, but it's good for consumers.

But, as said above, just ring the shop and see if they will match it.  It's only fair to give them the opportunity if they're your preferred retailer.  If the guy in GG had got within £10-20 I might have considered buying from them.

GuitarZero

I've found GuitarGuitar in Birmingham are great for price matching.  I've bought 4 guitars all at a reduced rate because I've seen it elsewhere online cheaper.  Their only rules seem to be that it has to be a like for like match i.e same model, same year, same colour, and the item your matching it against must be in stock with the other retailer.  They also ask if I'm paying the full amount today, because I doubt they'll do it on a credit sale.  I've saved best part of a grand on those guitars alone.  They always umm and ahh a bit and question how <insert name here> can be doing it so cheap, but they always do it for me.  I am a regular shopper with them so that might also be in my favour.

Whitecat

modellista said:

Perhaps some stores get end-of-line deals from the distributor that aren't offered to all retailers.  Anyhow, their competitors can't be very chuffed, but it's good for consumers.

That's pretty much what happens. Sometimes they are offered to all dealers, but only one or two are quick enough to reply to the email shot...

Dave_Mc

modellista said:

But, as said above, just ring the shop and see if they will match it.  It's only fair to give them the opportunity if they're your preferred retailer.  If the guy in GG had got within £10-20 I might have considered buying from them.

Yeah, that's what I always think. Some shops get a bit annoyed if you quote a lower price at them, and I never really understand that- I'm giving them the option to not lose a sale (which they can refuse if they so wish), and even if they don't match, if they get close enough I might well consider if I prefer to shop with them. Would they rather I didn't give them that option and just went straight to the shop with the cheaper price? Because I can do that pretty easily.

Bellycaster

I guess I'll give them a ring, Richtone are not my preferred retailer, as such, though I've nothing against them either, it's just that they are local and I could go and try the Guitar before buying. I can try it anyway and buy it elsewhere but if the price was right, they'd get my custom.

I've generally only bought accessories from them before, but this is due to fact they can't compete with bigger retailers for choice/stocked items, their Fender and PRS Stock got very low(I think PRS still is low, except SE Models), lower than I've ever seen for a large retailer and seems to not stock back up as quick as other retailers. It's a bit of a sorry state in Sheffield for Guitar Shops if you took out Richtone.

Cacofonix

My new business is just across the road from Rich Tone.  Guess where I'll be spending lunchtimes?