Guitar prices again

Adam_MD

Stuck at my parents in N Ireland reading Guitar & Bass magazines Gear of the year edition and have been struck with insane gas for a Gretsch 5420t in Fairlane Blue.

The weird thing is the price listed in the magazine which I assume would have been correct at the time of writing is £709 yet I had a look online to see if they were a little cheaper or on offer anywhere and they're £786.  

Is this a case of retailers inflating the price to claim artificial savings in a January sale or just down to more recent Guitar price hikes?  

Guitar prices are really getting silly now this just helps cement my reasoning for not buying new anymore.  

Strat_a_tat_tat

Brexit!

.... I'll run and hide for cover now - before the slanging starts.

Megii

If only the question on the ballot paper was "I agree that we should leave the European Union, and pay more for imported guitars" - the result might have been different...  

Adam_MD

@TTony @digitalscream can you just kill this thread now if we've descended into bloody Brexit comments already. 

Whitecat

It's the main reason though, whether you want to hear it or not. The "out" vote sent the pound down by 15% or so. In fact they haven't even passed the entire decline on to consumers yet, they appear to have absorbed some of it. Expect that to happen next year...

Sassafras

Brexit?

Guitarse

Brexit? We haven't left yet! 

Adam_MD

Whitecat said:

It's the main reason though, whether you want to hear it or not. The "out" vote sent the pound down by 15% or so. In fact they haven't even passed the entire decline on to consumers yet, they appear to have absorbed some of it. Expect that to happen next year...

It can't be the only reason though or all guitars would have gone up in price and they haven't.  

Im just sick of brexit being touted as the excuse for everything at the minute.  

Alnico

The Europe thing will have some effect but i also think this is partly down to us not realising how much time has flown since last time there were any significant price rises and also, prices haven't gone up for a while.
Ok so they do go up fairly regularly in small amounts but in big price jumps we haven;t seen that really since 2012..........that was 4 years ago but it might not seem that long in our heads?

A US Strat has gone from £999 to £1200 and now to £1400 but that's spanning 8 years.
Is £400 really such a great big leap in such a time span?

The Baja Tele is the one that's always quoted and yes it does seem silly now where it's close to £800 BUT we're always comparing to when the Baja first came out in '07/08 when they *were £399................Almost 10 years ago?
For it to have almost doubled in 9 to 10 years isn't really *that* bad.
On the whole i don't think that it's ALL over the top................some of it is though and i agree that some stuff now seems silly at the price it is.

If you compare it to the 80's then even at today's prices we've never had it so good in terms of value for money but that's a very broad view and yes, when you narrow in to focus on a specific guitar and find out it's a grand more than it used to be, that's depressing but we do also have lots more ways of getting the instruments these days and also lots more ways to make more money to buy them.

It's not great but is it all *that* bad?
Not to mention how great some of good shops are with us and how many sales do we have throughout the year?
Just right now Coda has some eye watering reductions and Peach are almost known for leg-wobbling deals.

Brexit is partly to blame but i think perception is part of it too.

Shark_Eyes

There's that exact model and colour in the classifieds at the moment.

Adam_MD

@Alnico sorry dude but I think a price doubling in 10 years is absolutely nuts.

thomasross20

I'm glad I got my "higher-end" guitars when I did... I'd be looking at £4k+ for each wood library PRS now (back then it was £3.2 - 3.4k). And I got a good deal on the Suhr (bought it used off here). 

Strat_a_tat_tat

Adam_MD said:

Whitecat said:

It's the main reason though, whether you want to hear it or not. The "out" vote sent the pound down by 15% or so. In fact they haven't even passed the entire decline on to consumers yet, they appear to have absorbed some of it. Expect that to happen next year...

It can't be the only reason though or all guitars would have gone up in price and they haven't.  

Im just sick of brexit being touted as the excuse for everything at the minute.  

I think there are a few reasons why some guitars haven't increased in price - or have only increased by a small amount... 1. Existing stock at shops (before the £ fell in value) may still be at the original price.... 2, Existing stock at UK distributors (before the £ fell in value)... 3. a sort of 'wait and see' attitude by some suppliers - as they wait to see if the £ will recover in the short term (as @Whitecat says - at the moment, some are absorbing part or all of the currency loss).

It's a fact that the £'s value has fallen. I don't think Brexit is an 'excuse'... it's a reason. Whether the £ will stay low is anyone's guess... there are so many factors that can influence exchange rates.

Currency valuations are swings and roundabouts. The low £ may help to preserve a few jobs in the UK... but it does mean imports and anything fixed to the dollar (oil and gas etc) will be more expensive. On the other hand, a high £ makes Fenders cheaper... but makes our good and services expensive to other countries (and can result in job losses).

I wasn't making a political point... it's just a fact that the £'s value has fallen.

Alnico

Adam_MD said:

@Alnico sorry dude but I think a price doubling in 10 years is absolutely nuts.

Really?

I can't say i've got a problem with it.
It all seems quite relative to me.

Sporky

Alnico said:

A US Strat has gone from £999 to £1200 and now to £1400 but that's spanning 8 years.
Is £400 really such a great big leap in such a time span?

Yes, given that inflation only makes up £250 of that.

Strat_a_tat_tat

Alnico said:

Adam_MD said:

@Alnico sorry dude but I think a price doubling in 10 years is absolutely nuts.

Really?

I can't say i've got a problem with it.
It all seems quite relative to me.

I'm guessing @Alnico can - just like me - remember the 70s... when inflation was peaking at around 24% per annum.  If you the maths (remembering it's compound interest) it's clear that prices were rising much, much faster than 2x in 10 years.

Sporky

About 3.6 times from 1970 to 1980. Average 13.6%.

Alnico

Sporky said:

Alnico said:

A US Strat has gone from £999 to £1200 and now to £1400 but that's spanning 8 years.
Is £400 really such a great big leap in such a time span?

Yes, given that inflation only makes up £250 of that.

So how is charging an extra £150 over that time frame unreasonable?
All kinds of production costs, materials, even wages will impact on that.

I'm not even close to an economist but i honestly didn't think there's anything wrong with this?
£150 over 8 years?

I'm not looking for an argument. If i've misunderstood something i would love to know what it is and how.

Adam_MD

Sporky said:

Alnico said:

A US Strat has gone from £999 to £1200 and now to £1400 but that's spanning 8 years.
Is £400 really such a great big leap in such a time span?

Yes, given that inflation only makes up £250 of that.

+1

Strat_a_tat_tat

Sporky said:

Alnico said:

A US Strat has gone from £999 to £1200 and now to £1400 but that's spanning 8 years.
Is £400 really such a great big leap in such a time span?

Yes, given that inflation only makes up £250 of that.

I've long thought that the basket of goods that's used to measure inflation in the UK is deliberately chosen to make the rate look a bit lower than it really is.

In addition, the general rate of inflation doesn't apply to all items... inflation will naturally vary for different types of goods and services.

Strat_a_tat_tat

High inflation is a ball ache... but deflation can also do a lot of harm. Take a look at Japan - to see how deflation can cause major issues.