Why are dealers so scared to sell product out of

Jaxwired, I agree with you. Paying someone a fee in the thousands of dollars just to receive a delivery on my behalf and then swipe my credit card... well, that’s a fee that I’m going to at least try to negotiate.

I have a couple of questions for all of you guys who are buying all of your expensive audio gear on the web:
1- Just where did you go to hear this gear before you decided to buy it, or are the completely accurate and unbiased opinions on Audiogon and other sites good enough?
2- What do you do when a piece of gear needs repair or (horrors!) replacement, and the manufacturer tells you to send your gear to a dealer for service?

The OP claimed that he was looking for a dealer out of state in order to avoid paying local sales tax. I find that sad, personally. Looking for a better price is a different matter. Brick and mortar dealers need to be competitive, but so do online and remote dealers. Frankly, most of the dealers in the L.A. area that I know will cut a deal on gear if that they have a serious buyer, which is a hard thing to judge in the strange and exciting world of audiophile games.

Br3098,

I don't hear the gear before I buy it. I buy it, live with it for a few weeks and sell it if I'm not totally satisfied. Since I buy low, I can sell for little loss. With this sytem I get to home demo everything I buy.

But, if the manufacturers would stop fighting the inevitable change to their business model, they could stop propping up failing dealers and instead focus on more audio shows. Also, as I suggested before, they should be producing high quality videos of their gear with high end pro mics. This is obviously not the same as an in person demo, but it would still go a long way.

If something breaks, then the manufacturer must provide some type of service. Why does that require a dealer? Bryston for example services all their amps themselves.

Br-3098,

I recently bought an expensive pre-amp without ever hearing it. The price was right and I figured if I didn't like it I could sell it on the Gon for what I paid or a few dollars less.

There are a lot of repair shops in Southern California and I can get most things fixed here. In fact I have never had to ship a piece to get repaired.

Br3098,

I'm not just trying to save the sales tax. I'm also looking for a discount.