Supporting Local Audio Stores are we?

I’m with Newbie and macdad by and large.

There are now four high end dealerships in my area, I believe, unless one or more has recently exited. Two of these locations will never have my business… nor from what I’ve gathered here and elsewhere online, will they have the $$$ out of other peoples pockets native to this area…. As they maintain a level of people skills that push more away from their doors than they keep returning. The air there is so arrogant it’s become more a joke than a concern. How these places remain open confounds me. Their sales expectations are for “lay downs”, and the discounts asked for when actually given are laughable…

On a $3500 MSRP Ss preamp, they offered me a $50 discount…. For cash. The audition was about 10 minutes, and I was forced to wait for about an hour and forty five minutes to hear THEIR musical selection, not mine. This wasn’t my only attempt to do business with these folks…. Yet the end result and ongoing practices were continuely evident on each occasion. I’ve since learned my lesson with these goobers. As far as I’m concerned, they no longer exist.

One other dealership in this region does go out of his way to be assistive and informative, and is far more flexible on pricing. He also carries now consignment merchandise, and sells demo units at times with attractive price points… yet remains well away from me.

I usually attempt to do business with this dealer first… IF a thing I want is something that he does inventory.

As a former seller of electronics and other major home products I found out a few things… dealerships or outlets require a certain amount of profit to stay in business. No question about that what so ever. That’s just fine with me.

Sometimes -folks eat steak… sometimes they eat beans…. But they will always eat. Determining those who are of either ilk is the key. Being flexible with pricing and having attributes conducive to recurring sales is vastly important. .. such as service, on site support, setup, installation, sales upgrades, etc. The more the better.

I suspect those which afford such things to their customers these practices are all but gone now…. Or are in the slightest minority.

Online purchases don’t afford me any of these items… as for all intents and purposes, and they aren’t available locally then it makes sense to buy online… at your own risk, for the savings alone these days.

When local B&M dealers come to realize some of their buying public arent’ the steak eaters, they’ll get more competitive with pricing in order to get that slice of business away from web sales. Even poor profit margins on a sale now and then are better than ‘walks’ or no sales.. Always.

Personally I’ve no problems paying a little more for a piece from a local dealer than I could have gotten online… but I’ll not pay a lot more. A $100… $200? Even $300? Possibly. $500 $800 or $1,000 more? Nope. Never.

Especially when thereafter no added support is available and for all intents and purposes I’m in the same boat as if I bought the item via the web. It simply does not make good sense to pay far more when nothing more is being added into the deal .. Period.

Would like to, but the high end dealer in my local town, part of the metro NYC area, has never been sales friendly. I have a B&O company storefront in my town and they are sales friendly to a fault. I've often pushed my neighbors to drop into the hi end dealer and they come off with the same issues. But I guess B&O with their margins they can afford top sales people. It is amazing how easy it is to get uneducated listeners to part with huge sums of money.

Over the last forty years I have spent about $300K on two channel audio and very little of that was new from B&M stores. New was mostly cables since they had loaner programs. I have purchased new from the UK, now and before the internet appeared. All else was used, some from B&M stores, mostly in New York City were I could ship and avoid the sales tax and often get a 30 day return accomodation. I've sold equipment to B&M stores, before the internet appeared.

I have been a business broker and are very familiar with the business model needed to operate a successful store front. Only a truly ultra high end audio store that does HT, installations etc. is viable today given the used/new market internet distribution system. Never miss the opportunity on a visit to New York City to drop into the Lyric store on Lexington Avenue. If you are bound for Hell, this will give you a taste of what it is like.

Lastly, looking back I know I would never have joined our craziness if a B&M had not existed, it was the Electronic Workshop on 8th Street in NYC. Hook me they did. It is long gone, as is the Tower Records store around the corner which turned me into a vinyl junkie. So much for the virtual world.

Watch out USA and European equipment manufacturers, China is going to eat you alive.

I believe we are seeing the end of an era. Setting aside the used market issue, and focusing on new sales, I think there will be a time soon when only the very high end dealers in large markets will survive by selling to folks with more money than time. In the smaller markets, most people will either purchase from big boxes, or direct through internet sales. This is a phenomenon not exclusive to audio, but that is also occuring in many retail markets as buyers trade price for service. I think this is also related to the wealth of easy information on the internet, compared to the days when a main source of information was the retail dealer. Now, you can get on-line and see detailed images of what you are looking for, learn about it, read feedback from other users, and compare prices all from the comfort of your easy chair. Many savvy direct sellers offer free auditions for everything from cables to components and speakers. Then you can purchase directly from the manufacturer at a competitive price, still get support and a warranty, and have it shipped directly to your home. Hard for brick and mortar to beat that.

Guys (girls),
I had resisted being on Audiogon for quite a while because it seemed that no matter what the subject there was always someone willing to be a jerk, intentionally starting a fight. Really, it was never ending trash talking, more like an 8th grade gym class.
Now, as of my last couple of interchanges, the whole group seems committed to discussing and showing thier points in an adult and civilized tone; what a breath fresh air.
I don't know how A'gon changed the discussion culture, or if you're all just a higher level group of people that I've met in the past, but this, to me is what Audiogon intended with their forum part of their site.

Thanks for GREAT and INTELLIGENT point, counterpoint...lets keep it going, it's great to get perspectives from everyone.

Best,
Larry

My recent experience in selling off a bunch of equipment has taught me that people buy on price, price, and price. There isn't all that much more to it than that. No matter how low that price is or how much of an opportunity/bargain it is, the lion's share of people will will still try to wiggle as much of a discount out as possible.

Of course, I have racked up a ton of stories during this time that will hopefully help me make heads or tails of things going forward.

It must be incredibly difficult operating a high-end audio store these days. The folks that do certainly have both my empathy and admiration. That being said, it's incredibly easy to see why the less flexible ones are really skating on thin ice - a depressed market for high-end audio componentry combined with intractability is quite likely a recipe for the failure of one's business.