I don't understand the business model (local guitar shop rant!)

[WezV]

my local guitar shops annoy me too.  There is two of them and occasionally i need strings in a rush so pop into town.   One was closed when i went down (it was a wednesday), they charge £4.99 for a set of strings... the exact same set in the other shop were £6.50.  the shops are no more than 300m apart

i know its minor compared to the esquire thing but it really bugs me

[Twinfan]

It gets better http://www.soundsgreatmusic.com/pages/6959/about-us.aspx play the vid. It's like one of those come to Clethorpes for your summer holidays videos you used to see in the 70s and 80s.

That's my Fano on the wall at 0.07!  Must be an old video  :lol:

[gordiji]

I'm with you roobubba but i do love fenders, how anyone would pay more than a couple of ton for that heap is beyond me... maybe the shop on reflection want to do the right thing and keep it out of circulation!no offence relic lovers

[Philly Q]

It gets better http://www.soundsgreatmusic.com/pages/6959/about-us.aspx play the vid. It's like one of those come to Clethorpes for your summer holidays videos you used to see in the 70s and 80s.

:lol: It's like one of those scratchy old local cinema adverts - "The New Gulshan Tandoori - a taste of India, just round the corner from this theatre!"

[Davey]

HA .. sounds exactly like the shops here..

one of them has one of those 25th anniversary Ibanez RG's on the wall .. for .. i dont know how long actually .. when were they released? couple of years ago i guess. well, i think it's THE ONLY ONE ... IN THE WORLD, that never sold.. cos the price is MSRP. and they wont budge. even though most sold for half or 2/3rds the most, of what the pricetag in the store is. they will at the most, give you 5% if you buy cash.. and you have to like it.

some idiot recently bought a Jackson DK2 + case. he paid 800€ for it. retard

[Matt77]

Pah! They've made the store look very different to how it usually looks
I've checked the video 3 times and they appear to have moved my bed and Shobet's dog basket out of the corner
Seriously though, they don't differentiate on price and don't pretend to.
I have asked them bluntly why they won't drop their price a bit and they always say their business model runs on customer service and not price. I think they still have some very loyal customers.
Generally their stock is pretty good.
They aren't overly expensive with everything. For amps and pedals I find they have been much more flexible on the prices.

I have had my paws on that Tele Dave. I've got to say it's ok, but that's all. Some of the non custom shop ones play better

[nfe]

I have asked them bluntly why they won't drop their price a bit and they always say their business model runs on customer service and not price. I think they still have some very loyal customers.

I'd tend to think that if more retailers followed this idea (which is certainly what the majority of small music shops feel, if you read Mi Pro) it'd be far better for the consumer in the long run.

But we've a long way to go into the plummeting price:service ration before people start to think paying a bit extra is worthwhile. Which is a great shame.

[38thBeatle]

I can relate to the concept of customer service with Mrs 38th's shop.We are under constant pressure from large retailers and so try to stay ahead by being a niche shop. Having said that, we had one item in our shop that was on the shelf for years and I said to Mrs 38th to discount it and get shot as it had become "dead money". She did sell it soon after. We didn't lose nor did we gain much. I'm too tired to think of what point I am trying to make except that you have to make a realistic decision at some point to shift something that hasn't sold.If people see the same stock there year after year they lose respect and assume that it is cheaper elsewhere even if it isn't.

[Philly Q]

I have asked them bluntly why they won't drop their price a bit and they always say their business model runs on customer service and not price. I think they still have some very loyal customers.

It's a great concept, but in practice I find that most places which claim to offer "better customer service" don't actually deliver it.  They may have more specialised/diverse stock than run-of-the-mill places, but the actual customer service is exactly the same. 

A number of shops used to say, for example, that "every guitar sold gets a new set of strings and is set up to your personal taste" - but I've never actually been offered that service.

Even if the service is better, is it really worth an extra 3 or 4 hundred quid?

I think this is a bit like those "dying High Street" stories.  Everyone says they want traditional local butchers, grocers etc but in reality they shop at that big Tesco outside town because it's cheaper and more convenient.

[dave_mc]

^ agreed. I'm not paying a lot more money for something which has been lying in the shop for 2 years (and which feels like it) rather than buying blind online (where it's probably new and boxed), because of some vague offer of "better service". I will pay slightly more (I remember someone on another forum saying something like 5% or £50, whichever is smaller, and that's about right) for the convenience of buying locally, mainly because it's a lot easier to return it if something goes wrong. EDIT: I'm also wary of this supposed excellent service when i catch them out telling me stuff which I know to be incorrect- either they're lying to get the sale, which doesn't exactly make me want to give them any money, or they're incompetent, in which case I'd be a bit scared to leave them with any of my gear, good service or no.

agreed, that is, except for tesco. Its food is horrible, and the smaller guys, while often not amazing, are kings compared to tesco. And tesco's not particularly cheap, anyway. the "finest" range appears to be virtually the same as the standard range in fancier packaging, for twice the price, and it all tastes synthetic. granted tesco is more convenient as it's all under the one roof, but it's not terribly convenient when you get the food home and realise it sucks.

[Matt77]

^^
My sentiments exactly. Which is why I no longer get any guitars from them.
If they dropped their prices just a bit I'd buy loads more from them
I do buy pedals and amps though; when I'm looking.
I want them to stay in business as they have a lot of nice high end stuff that they will let me try.

[shobet]

Plus they never make us $%&#ing tea when we go there Matt. They've had several £ks out of me.

I still think that shops that are willing to negotiate are far more attractive to me that someone who offers customer service to me. What does that mean anyway, smiling when I buy something, remembering my name?

I'd far prefer to buy something from someone like World Guitars in Stonehouse who actively engage you when you walk in, you can have a chat with them, they'll take the piss, but at the end of the day make you feel like you're getting a decent deal. Oh and they make a decent cup of tea.

[Ian Price]

I'd far prefer to buy something from someone like World Guitars in Stonehouse who actively engage you when you walk in, you can have a chat with them, they'll take the piss, but at the end of the day make you feel like you're getting a decent deal. Oh and they make a decent cup of tea.

Guitar Village do this as well - great bunch of people, very down to earth and don't make you feel overly watched when playing.

[Philly Q]

I like Guitar Village too.  And I was very impressed with Mark Hopkin at Guitars4You when buying my Mira X last week - extremely helpful and nice chap.

(But both those shops have good customer service and good prices)

[Keven]

Then i guess my shop is on the right track :D I've been manager of this small music shop since 2006 and that's pretty much what i strive to do. give good prices, good service, be negotiable on stuff that can be negotiated (some companies give horrible markup, some have actually a good markup on the MSRP and you can do very good deals to customers). and hunt for deals.

since i handle most purchase orders i have the opportunity to really shop for some screaming deals from the suppliers. we just received a shipment of entry level guitars for kids and beginners that we can do more than 50% off the retail price. this is a case of ''I'll have ten of each color'' except it was more like 2 of each as we're not that big still :D

I think alot of biggers chains are just lazy and don't bother looking at every little discounted list they can find.

best deal i found so far for me and customers was a graphtech supercharger tune-o-matic  kit with 4mm post that i can sell for 10$ instead of the 149$ MSRP and still get a damn good profit. i do beleive that 4mm don't have as much demand as the 6mm ones, but damn, i may as well sell the each individual saddle for 4 bucks each and the tusq nut for 10 bucks :D. either way i found it was a good way of stocking parts for cheap.

ANYWAY. my point is... i wish i could stock all that high-end gear in my shop. seems like the bigger dudes don't know how to sell that stuff. turn over dead weight and bring on the new stuff i say. even if you sell one or two items at a loss, that's an expense to add on when you pay your government taxes at the end of the year. nothing hurts me more that seeing a guitar still hanging on my wall from 2 years ago.