Guitar prices again

earwighoney

I'm shocked by how much guitars have gone up and that's as someone who really doesn't need to buy any more guitars. 

downbytheriver

Don't assume that existing stock won't go up - the shop needs to pay more to replace the stock when they sell it so they need more for what they sell. 

matone

Alnico said:

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.

All be fair IF incomes had risen similarly ! Don`t know about the rest of you ,but mine certainly hasn`t and realistic 2nd hand prices have not either from everything I see.

Strat_a_tat_tat

matone said:

Alnico said:

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.

All be fair IF incomes had risen similarly ! Don`t know about the rest of you ,but mine certainly hasn`t and realistic 2nd hand prices have not either from everything I see.

Sadly... the economy doesn't have a fairness setting or a 'we're all in this together' algorithm integrated into its shenanigans.

Whitecat

downbytheriver said:

Don't assume that existing stock won't go up - the shop needs to pay more to replace the stock when they sell it so they need more for what they sell. 

Sometimes brands enforce MAPs as well so will force shops to raise the ticket price. 

But that said, it also costs money to keep guitars in stock, they are depreciating assets on the shop's balance sheet even on the retail peg as credit line interest builds and space is taken up by stale inventory, so it's just as likely to be blown out...

Babones

Not guitars but basses. When Fender launched the PJ offset Mustang bass a few months ago (along with all the other offset guitars) they were £739 or thereabouts. The other day, the price dropped suddenly overnight to £519. I think that says something about the artificially high prices from Fender. I believe one of the guitar models has also been reduced substantially.

Whitecat

Babones said:

Not guitars but basses. When Fender launched the PJ offset Mustang bass a few months ago (along with all the other offset guitars) they were £739 or thereabouts. The other day, the price dropped suddenly overnight to £519. I think that says something about the artificially high prices from Fender. I believe one of the guitar models has also been reduced substantially.

I've noticed some dealers put initial listings up at RRP and then later change them to MAP/"street price" once they figure out what that is. Not always but more than once anyway...