I dunno about the accounting standards man... That's for my finance dept to go wonder about. :mrgreen:
20% GP is low. By ANY standards, and is usually accepted for FMCG. For items like guitars, I really doubt the GP is 20%. Especially when the US MRSP is already 30% lower than our local RSP pricing. I believe the markup is already a fair bit as it stands. At that rate of sales, if Sinamex only operates at 20% GP, they would have gone out of business long ago.
Also, cost of sales isn't attributed to that one guitar sale alone. It's shared amongst all the other equipment. If you have a GP that low, the key method of survival is distribution. And that's what Swee Lee and Davis does. Those are the 2 leading retailers in terms of annual revenue. I some how don't think Sinamex is in the same category of numbers, but I don't know.
Technically speaking, the product should already have a healthy margin from the factory cost to the MRSP. That alone would have a buffer. Then when you do the currency conversion from USD to SGD, there's another currency buffer there. So 2 stages of margins to work with. With a further mark up, which is what I suspect they're already doing, then it's no longer good for the customer.
This is why I'd rather pay for an air ticket to somewhere else, have a holiday, and buy another guitar! And if a place like Japan, where the operation costs are sky high, is still cheaper than Singapore, then what does that tell you about the local dealer???:mrgreen:
Point taken about the profit margins
I just sincerely hope that they manage to work something out for us loyal customers...
On the foreign exchange issue, I believe that either Sinamex of EBMM has locked themselves in a forward contract to receive a fixed exchange rate, that's why no matter how cheap the USD is getting, the SGD retail price never budges! Argh...
But as long as the retail price here doesn't exceed the MRSP over at the states, I'm all for it... I really don't mind... I know that in the states it's around 30% off the MRSP, I got my BFR for laround 10% off the MRSP... Not bad actually... Bentley once quoted my USD5k for a fully loaded JP6... Some serious wtf-ness there...
Operating costs in Japan is sky high, but remember they have the lowest interest rate in the world, it would save many companies alot of finance expenditure... And I believe their tax structure is very much different from Singapore's... Coupled that they have excellent spending power, they are able to price their stuff accordingly too...
I know... But what I find funny is that it sells so well, yet got so many up for resale... It's almost as if the guitar is sold on hype, then after a while, people realise it's not for them, and they let it go... Dunno man... just making an observation here.
Yeah, I noticed that too... The JP isn't for everyone... I've seen one guy that bought three BFR JPs at one shot, and selling them off after recording with them... Reason being it's just not for him, and went back to Ibanez...
As much praise I have for the JP, and have read many on the many forums... There's hardly anything negative about it... It's just the matter of preference: some ppl just can't bond with it...
wow...there is a lot of intense discussion in the last 4-5 pages. really wish i could join/understand u guys. Sadly, my knowledge on EBMM guitars is way too shallow now. Anyway, in 4 - 6 months time perhaps i could understand u guys better. I got a Lava Pearl JP6 on order now. Thanks to a good buddy of mine, I'm hooked to EBMM specifically JP6. Although his is a BFR. So...can't hardly wait...
Hi! Great to see you here! Hop you can join in the discussion too!
After all, this is a forum!
What if one day John Petrucci leaves EBMM?
then he wud defend the next axe JP chooses. LOL...
Seriously, I doubt I'll follow JP to another company... Hard to imagine any other brand that can offer the same amount of quality at this price...
Anyway, just talked to Steven from The Guitar Store in Damansara, tried to poison him with my BFR... lol...
Actually, it was a bit lower, cos Norrin actually absorbed the extra shipping charges for the AL when I told him I wanted both. Honestly, that price for a 20th is just madness... That's MUCH cheaper than what I paid for the other 2!!! And this one is mint!
