Why do so many guitars come without cases?

[Antag]

Also, good packaging should be just as strong as a gig bag.

+1

regardless of whether the guitar "should" have come with a case, there's no excuse for shipping an item of that price rattling around loose in a flimsy cardboard box.

The neck (especially where the headstock pitches) should have been wrapped with a few layers of bubblewrap, padding & cardboard, surrounded by soft materials & secured in a way that it could not move around inside & no impact on the outside of the box would transfer directly onto the guitar inside it.

[blue]

thing is, some of these hallions that work for couriers could break a thing if it was packaged in adamantium with a full set of star trek inertial dampers installed inside!  some of them actually seem to WANT to cause damage

[dave_mc]

hallions is a fairly apt word, i think. ignorant (hiberno-english definition, not english) in front would also help.

[Alex]

Cases that come with the guitars aren't free, they're factored into the price already. Most people just don't realize this.

LTD doesn't ship them with cases, ESP does. It's a brand image thing, on higher price guitars customer expects them.

[Philly Q]

Cases that come with the guitars aren't free, they're factored into the price already. Most people just don't realize this.

True of course, but if the guitar cost £50 more and came with a case as standard, I don't think anyone would balk at it.  You don't even think about the cost of the case, it's just "there".

But if you're buying an already-expensive item and they tell you the case will be another £50 - as an extra - it's offputting.  The psychology's different.

I still think it's interesting that a £900 American guitar will almost certainly come with a case but a £900 Japanese or Korean guitar probably won't.

[Alex]

Not really, it's more about product differentiation.

Why do cheaper Ibanez have inferior Floyds? Because they are cheaper to produce...? No, not really, there is no significant difference in production costs for Ibanez. It's product differentiation, the same way you say big name pickups on higher-priced guitars. And cases are another little thing that helps the customer understand what he is paying the higher price for: a premium guitar vs an affordable mid-price guitar.

[dave_mc]

that's also a good point, alex.