Tonefiend Forum

I think we all know how it got started. But why, in a day and age where we have access to the internet on our phones, does this practice continue? I get where a company might not be aloud to post something below MAP (minimum advertised pricing). But any company that says "hey this is the "list" price, look how much money we're saving you" just seems dishonest. Also when I'm in a big box store and an employee tells me they aren't in competition with Amazon (or GC/MF) I have to laugh. I try to shop local when I can, I don't mind paying a little bit more to support local small business. But I'm not gonna pay double ($10 for a $5 pack of strings?). How do we get retailers and manufacturers to drop this archaic practice. Just put out a MAP price list, and know that if a retailer needs to blow it out for whatever reason they drop the price. Any thoughts?

well, the system is antiquated, but still somewhat useful. It's typically indicative of the keystone pricing - MSRP is approximately double the wholesale cost. Online volume sellers don't have as much overhead so they'll typically shoot for about 30-45% over wholesale, but retail stores typically need to hit at least 60-70% over wholesale to cover their costs. And in my opinion, they deserve it if the product needs to be demo'd (like instruments). So while I think that MSRP and MAP are largely unnecessary and no one takes MSRP seriously, the underlying keystone-based system needs to be preserved in... shall we say tactile product markets - like instruments. The instrument market as a whole functions better when there are still small shops and big box stores where people can demo instruments. So to preserve that in the internet age, there has to be MAP pricing online and musicians who value having a local shop need to be willing to spend a bit more to support them. Advertising MSRP is pretty ridiculous, but it is helpful to give the purchaser some idea of what room there is for negotiation because if you do your homework, you can calculate in advance what room for negotiation there will be.

Most of the small non-chain shops near me survive on setups and lessons. Like I said, I don't mind paying an extra couple of bucks for strings, but we do have one guys that charges almost double what I get them for online. The MSRP/list price thing is what bugs me, and the sales pitch of look what I'm saving you by charging what everyone else does. I agree that MSRP is approximately double wholesale. Although from talking to a friend who owns a small shop that's not as concrete as it used to be. And big box stores get larger rebates for buying larger quantity.

We're pretty lucky in Canada, because our version of Guitar Center (Long and McQuade) sells everything marked way down from the list price, and there's some room to move if you have a friendly employee (thanks Andre). They also do all their financing in-house and do not punish full-time musicians for not having a straight job, which I understand is a real problem south of the 49th parallel.

Quote from smgear on October 9, 2012, 05:00

Quote from s.huck on October 8, 2012, 18:23
but we do have one guys that charges almost double what I get them for online.

Oddly, my old local guy used to give me strings essentially for cost. The regular tag was high, but for those of us that regularly bought instruments and gear, he'd basically just give us strings and picks.

We have a local dealer here that will back his stuff to the point of making sure you can do a gig even if he loans you an amp or piece of PA gear for free. I know a lot of folks that he really came thru for that way. His prices are competitive but not always the lowest unless you consider the loaners even outside warranty. The only other folk I ever knew that did that were the old TV repair shops back in the day. People got unbelievably cranky without their TVs to the point of near insanity in some cases, I could tell you stories that would make you say WTF?