pricing of music gears...

[koala]

guys,

I am starting to be very disturbed by local pricing habits...

first, went to Roland, saw a keyboard that i almost bought two years ago at almost double the price it was at that time... ask the sales rep, he comes with the calculator and creates me a new price in 2 minutes 40% cheaper... without any bargain at this stage... why don't they put this price then... would be more attractive...

now, was looking for a keyboard, mailed the distributor, also Steinberg distributor... got a price almost double the price you find everywhere on the web... then he takes his calculator (i guess, since he replied by mail...) and comes with a price 20% cheaper and explains the difference with the possible price by guaranty cost... is it breaking appart every now and then that they still need to be 50% more expensive than the web anouncement...

is there any honest sales approach, not taking the customer for a donkey or does it make anybody feel rich to see a huge price on the item you buy when it is not worth it?

comments are highly welcome... examples also...

 

[brundisium]

most of the shops here practice that, put a list price and when you ask for it, they so call give you best price/discount. Truth is, the discounted price is still higher than what they pay for the stock in the first place. The "discount" is just to make you think that its a bargain, but in fact, its not. They also need to earn the commission, make profit from you. Dont like the approach? well look over net purchase if you are comfortable with it. If not, look to buying used or if really really not choice, go by their rule. This is how it works here. Another choice, get to know the sales ppl and who knows, you might get a better price.

There are shops that dont do that , but very very few i must say. From what i know, some shop/dealer also have no choice, their profit also not too much, thats why have to price it a lil bit higher than what we can find over the net. Difficult for them also.

 

[koala]

pricing... who calls this pricing...

thanks for the input... you must be selling harware... just kidding!!!

I will still try to complete my comment on why the desappointment... I agree with the fact that everybody has to do money in this business, and belives that culturally here the sales rep are king of "local" as in Malaysia...

Tow examples of what sales should not be:
- the second example given last time about this keyboard overpriced... i just found it in Singapore, the same model, for 60% only of the price given by the previous "because of the garanty" shop...
- i went to buy a non musical item, and found it 200 meters away for S$120 and S$50...

I still have to take into account that people usually bargain, which I usually don't...

Thanks for your input, i appreciate, really.

 

[subversion]

Em… in economics, there’re 2 forces at work, first being: profit maximization. If you lower price with the intention of increasing the quantities to be sold, in the end you make more profit than pegging a higher price but with no bloke buying at the end of the day. In kopi tiam terms: Less expensive but sell more better than cannot less and nobody buy leh…

Second: price discrimination. By not revealing the actual cost of the product, you’d get different selling price for different customer profiles- in the end back to square one- profit maximization. Eg: Students- the typical sales person would quote the price which he can afford. Tourist: the sales leech will quote the max he’s willing to pay because affordability is not a factor to start with, compared to the student…

Ok enough academic lecture for today…

 

[koala]

and professionalism in all this...

if we consider the sales a temporary relation in-between two individuals, which in some extend it is, we should then review the principles of any basic relation. To be a relation, you need:
- complementarity... one needs to find in the other what completes both
- respect... none of the participants must be openly cheating the others
- understanding... each need to consider the benefits of the other to frame its own benefits

i understand perfectly the principals of the economics lecture, but still consider that there is no relation possible if the human factors are not addressed first... and a sales process is a relation.
a good sale is not mesured by how much money you do or save, a good sale is mesured by how happy both sides are and remain.

that is what makes the difference in-between short lasting companies and long lasting companies... the difference in-between professional sales people and others...

sorry not to sponsor your economics lecture, but people sale to people as far as most sales processes are concerned and too many people, not professional enough, try to forget this and create new sales mesurement criteria...
the economics are only applicable and useful once the first stage, the relation, has been established.

 

[joel68]

One Product....One Dealer....Prices defined by them...40% off all

City Music ...their own style of pricing..

Sweelee....big calculators and 40% off...show off for virtual satisfaction of customer..

Sinamex...Dont Step in...too expensive...(No bargains)

Yamaha....another set of bloopers...

All these fellows have branches in Malaysia...I give up buying local as I get good price from Overseas inclusive of shipping...(US, Canada and Belgium)

 

[squidospyder]

guys,

... ask the sales rep, he comes with the calculator and creates me a new price in 2 minutes 40% cheaper... without any bargain at this stage... why don't they put this price then... would be more attractive...

Its something to do with the price that is SEEN (retail price). In sales there are rules as to the prices you DISPLAY and the prices you actually can give. I guess they give more discount to certain people, but in the end they simply cannot put the cheap price for the whole world to see... Its something to do with pricing policy. But if you're buying, you get another lower price, not the price you see, but alas they cannot display that. A bit stupid, but the prices you see are never the prices you get... But only swee lee does it so openly... Zap! 20% The rest they give very very discreet discounts only to regulars. (I get a bit from davis coz i get a lot of parts the other time. But not for others i should think...)

 

[lowjk]

One Product....One Dealer....Prices defined by them...40% off all

Sinamex...Dont Step in...too expensive...(No bargains)

Prices may be a little high compared to online prices but bargaining is not out of the question. You just have to speak nicely to the people there; I usually look for Simon.

I shop at Sinamex once in a while and am no means a big customer. My biggest purchase there is a MOTU 828 mk ii.

The one shop that you may want to avoid is Daxco. We agreed on a price of ~ $1,500 for a Clavia Nord Rack 2 in 2002. When they couldn't deliver as promised, I cancelled the order. The next thing I know, they were advertising it for $1,700 or $1,800 on the net.

 

[boomdoom]

$$$ afterall