Buying things locally vs importing them from overseas

[trowaclown]

Hey y'all. I'm here to play agent provocateur regarding gear purchases, so I'm hoping to get some opinions on the matter from both sides of the issue:

I got GAS free recently after a tiny gig in hall, but still surf websites for gear porn occassionally, whether locally or overseas. I've noticed that several local websites/shops price their gear, especially those that they have exclusive dealer/distributorship over, much more expensively compared to shops overseas, especially in the US. In fact, these markups over sites like Musician's Friend can be over 50% more.

Granted, there are places locally that do have very reasonable prices. BGW Guitars, for example, brings in Genz Benz amplifiers at prices comparable to US retail prices, sometimes even cheaper. You can get Shure microphones for comparable prices at most local retailers too.

But there exists shops that jack prices up locally, sometimes unreasonably so. One distributor I spoke to privately said that distributor margins should be sufficient to cover shipping-/exchange rate-related costs, and still guarantee a profit, so it's really no excuse. With the cheap US dollar now (SG$1.30 to US$1) there should be even less reason to have such prices, especially since local consumers can import gear from overseas.

Yet these shops are surviving still. Swee Lee is famous for that, but they have businesses in other areas, while most of these shops probably don't, so obviously local business is buoying them up.

So my question to you folks is: Why do you buy from these unreasonable local retailers? Is it worth paying up to 50% more for a piece of gear just for the one year warranty? Gear like guitars don't even come with warranty after all. Is it the convenience? Or the belief that we should support local businesses? Or something that I'm not even considering?

 

[Jumpin'Jellybean]

1) Swee Lee does give discounts, and their year end sale is enticing.
2) Convenience definitely. In Singapore, you can try the guitar at the shop, haggle slightly, get free picks and even a gig bag. Plus, you get to carry home the guitar immediately.
3) Safety? IF the guitar arrives all banged up, you have to pay return shipping for them to give you a new piece. Plus, you don't get to try the guitar so technically you're buying blind based on specs... Even if you have tried the guitar locally, each piece is different.
Those are my reasons for buying locally. That being said, i just ordered a guitar through Blackwood's Christmas sale thingy, the one they're ordering from MF. It's convenient cause the store settles everything and i pay a small fee for them to do so. I don't mind, saves me a lot of trouble.

 

[wasp]

Its always a risk buying online. But so far what I bought ( a couple of guitars, a few effects) have always arrived in 1 piece. Thank goodness.

 

[lester_music]

well..there are always "rich" customer....

I used to work in city area as a retail salesman...there are many "super rich" who don't bother much about prices, just wanna get your service..get what they want..then pay for it...

they have no time no go check and compare prices, lotsa this kindd customers in city area..

this is how they survive i guess.....and how I survive with good sales from this people...

 

[junkiemanxl]

I do a little of both from time to time. Sometimes buying locally just eliminates the hassle free transaction. I will only buy online if the prices are worlds apart (inc shipping/ insurance/ GST).

Availability is also important. somethings just cant be bought locally hence online shopping. But i would always prefer to buy locally if given a choice.

 

[trowaclown]

Interesting view guys. I've always considered prices above all else, but didn't really think about people who wouldn't be as price sensitive as me. What about stuff like pedals? You can definitely get identical pieces for cheap, with around a week of wait time, compared to some local dealers. There aren't any variations, unlike instruments.

 

[ヒロト]

in my opinion, its really up to the person...
Buying locally, the consumer might be someone who doesnt give a crap about price jackup? or sometimes they are too lazy to check it out elsewhere, dont want to go through the pain of waiting for a piece of equipment that is already readily available...they are ok with the increments somehow?

For me...i would rather buy online for certain stuffs...i take into account the customer service and reliability of course...
yea BGW is one of the few VERY nice dealers around..i guess i wont buy a Gibson from Sweelee unless they have SALES ;D

 

[Kaye]

I almost wanted to get something from musicfriend, thank god for this thread. Now I know that they jackup their prices.

I agree on the fact that guitars in some local stores are really overpriced. Best would be to wait till the end of year discounts running for some of the stores... that's when it's the "normal" price.

Hmmm, what would be the recommended site to get gears online? Or places that sell reasonably priced guitars?

 

[trowaclown]

@Kaye: As much as possible I try to buy locally. But sometimes, things aren't possible. I bought my ebow from ebay for around SG$140 including shipping, which is around half the usual price locally, last I checked. I'm buying my next set of strings on ebay too, since Davis doesn't stock the guage I want them in. For pedals I check out tonefactor.com usually.