Comparing guitar prices in Singapore against overseas

[stillwater]

Hello guitar fanatics (of course freaks, included )

I'm sure you guys have been abroad, and along the way, have visited their local guitar shops, compared prices (after exchange rate, minusing tax etc), hoping to find some good guitar deals .

Wonder what do you of how the guitars are priced in Singapore, as compared to everywhere else.

P.S. - If you happened to have been elsewhere, but not checking out their guitar stores, then I guess the fanatic title doesn't apply to you.


\m/

 

[man_kidal]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com


check this site out for prices in US ..... You will be shocked ....

 

[rottenramone]

.

Of course the guitars are very cheap in usa. fender, gibson, martin, etc etc are all us companies. no need for overseas customs, tax, blah blah...

musiciansfriend is cheap due to their massive sales volume, but unfortunately for us, they have that pesky exclusive dealer's contract and do not ship overseas. i think another online shop www.guitartrader.com ships overseas, but do check on that.

The second hand market prices are about the same bwt singapore and usa. just that singapore does not have the vast variety of instruments.

if i can suggest that should you buy an instrument, ask if they can disassemble the body. that way, it'll fit within the us postal service req and effectively cut your shipment cost by half. then get someone to assemble it or just do it yourself. i've done this before and saved quite a bit.

 

[gargamelesp]

you pay a slightly higher price in singapore for most stuff and its not surprising considering the lack of demand and the fact that it has to be imported. i would not consider paying 20%-30% more than what you pay for in the states to be unreasonable

there are good dealers here as well, check out the prices of the marshall amps here. They are lower than the prices in the U.K and U.S.

 

[man_kidal]

Some places in singapore i like them cause they dont overcharge .... Notably luther .... But then again some so crazy like guitar gallery .... 1400 for mex strat?

 

[mikemann]

This topic keeps resurfacing again and again. What's good to keep comparing prices, if you don't look at the whole picture.

I put a fictional case. You want to crap, and want to crap very badly. In front of you is a public toilet who charges you $2 per use.
Then there is "dial a toilet", you send an sms code and a portable toilet will be deivered to you in 2days time. It only cost you $0.50.

Tell me which one you choose?? :wink: :wink:

 

[man_kidal]

By then the shit harden ready what.

 

[soft]

Tell me which one you choose??

ha..haa..haaa.. this issue is not that life threatening lah.

 

[pooo]

Some places in singapore i like them cause they dont overcharge .... Notably luther .... But then again some so crazy like guitar gallery .... 1400 for mex strat?

You could have been looking at the Fender Mexican Classic series...

 

[joel68]

Another site which charges low shipping rates and options..

www.bhphotovideo.com

You might have seen this site at KB Mag or Other music magazines..

 

[vernplum]

This topic keeps resurfacing again and again. What's good to keep comparing prices, if you don't look at the whole picture.

I put a fictional case. You want to crap, and want to crap very badly. In front of you is a public toilet who charges you $2 per use.
Then there is "dial a toilet", you send an sms code and a portable toilet will be deivered to you in 2days time. It only cost you $0.50.

Tell me which one you choose?? :wink: :wink:

Indeed - this topic surfaces again and again; I can remember a similar discussion on the 50th Anniversary Strats, currently with the Boogie gear and many other instances.

Moral of this story: always crap as much as you can before you leave home.

 

[stars]

http://www.musiciansfriend.com


check this site out for prices in US ..... You will be shocked ....

its irrelevant . musiciansfriend ships to US only. unless ya got a contact to ship oevr the guitars for you its useless... quite a while back got quite a few people want to order guitars online but quite dissapointed as musicianfrens cant ship out of US due to contractual agreements.

anyway musicianfriends havent included sales taxes yet. in certain US states such as california , tax could be sometihng like 15% of what you buy .. so the shipping + tax + insurance would be similar or even more expensive then wad you pay in SG

 

[stars]

Re: .

Of course the guitars are very cheap in usa. fender, gibson, martin, etc etc are all us companies. no need for overseas customs, tax, blah blah...

musiciansfriend is cheap due to their massive sales volume, but unfortunately for us, they have that pesky exclusive dealer's contract and do not ship overseas. i think another online shop www.guitartrader.com ships overseas, but do check on that.

The second hand market prices are about the same bwt singapore and usa. just that singapore does not have the vast variety of instruments.

if i can suggest that should you buy an instrument, ask if they can disassemble the body. that way, it'll fit within the us postal service req and effectively cut your shipment cost by half. then get someone to assemble it or just do it yourself. i've done this before and saved quite a bit.

brother rotten ~!


i did a checkup and yeap .. they do ship overseas ... but the problem is ... their prices are not competitive and tts without taxes...

case study comparison :

fender mustang bass : after shipping + guitar ( no taxes included ) USD 684 , SGD $ 1,119

swee lee price : $1200 SGD (b4 discount if i m not mistaken)

both are not tax inclusive

 

[chiagerald]

Some places in singapore i like them cause they dont overcharge .... Notably luther .... But then again some so crazy like guitar gallery .... 1400 for mex strat?

I can vouch for that, I paid $1300 for my Mex Strat from them and it wasn't even setup properly. Struggled with that guitar for over 1 yr until I got Malcolm (empty71) to setup my axe for me.

 

[rottenramone]

.

stars: another way to get around is to contact a US retailer directly instead of going thru wholesalers such as guitar trader.

go to www.gbase.com for a shopping list of guitar shops and its online inventory. but usually stay away from these shops as they have a tendency to overcharge overseas customers such as a US$20 surcharge for handling, US$20 for packing materials, US$10 for box.... you get the idea.

 

[Jayshen]

hey ask u all.... if i go overseas and buy a guitar.... come back must pay taxs ar?

 

[rottenramone]

.

yes! the 5% GST.

 

[Jayshen]

can't i pretend tt its my guitar which i brought over there.... haha... just thinking of how to cheat the syetm... but i think add the 5% also nvm lar... still cheaper

 

[stillwater]

Hello
as for bringing back a new guitar, i doubt u need to pay that 5% GST. Just treat it as an old one and don't declare.

Anyway I realized that you guys are always comparing Singapore price against US, or online deals.

US no doubt you can find better deals easily. But I find not other part of the world. I've been to a few europe countries, and some 3rd world ones. generally i find singapore sells guitar quite cheap (yea, surprisingly!!!)
dun always think u go west and u can get some good deals, it really isn't true. maybe with the exception of just US.

 

[ashmorefan]

its irrelevant . musiciansfriend ships to US only. unless ya got a contact to ship oevr the guitars for you its useless... quite a while back got quite a few people want to order guitars online but quite dissapointed as musicianfrens cant ship out of US due to contractual agreements.

Um... you guys do know there are plenty that ship overseas, right? www.music123.com, www.pedalgeek.com, etc.

Anyways, someone said it earlier, and they were right. Have you seen the prices in the UK? now that's crazy. I think Singapore has some really great deals for guitars and guitar stuff. For example, what's that store next to guitar gallery? They're selling new TU-2's for like $85SGD, check the price on musiciansfriend, or any other US online retailer. I think they charge about $89USD.