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What Are Your Audio Morals?

Assuming:

A. We all want to audition equipment before we buy it;

B. We all want the most for our money;

C. We all can find the same equipment cheaper on the Internet than from high end dealers;

D. We all know that you can't audition equipment on the Internet.

Therefore, the question is: How can you morally audition equipment at dealers when you know you won't be buying there?

After all, the dealer is giving you his time, his advice, the exclusive use of his listening room (all at the expense of customers who may actually biuy from him), a pro-rated percentage of wear and tear on his equipment, and a pro-rated share of his rent, electricity, salaries, advertising, taxes, maintenance, etc.

What do YOU do when you want to audition equipment? Do you:

1. Use your local dealer and buy from him?

2. Use your local dealer and buy elsewhere?

3. Don't use your local dealer, but buy elsewhere as long as you can return it?

4. Take a chance and just buy based on reviews, thinking maybe you can sell it if you hate it?

5. Other?

BTW, I am not a dealer. I'm just aware that if we all use dealers as free audition services knowing we'll buy elsewhere, local dealers will soon be extinct.

Maybe that's OK. Perhaps, with the advent of the Internet, local dealers serve no purpose anymore. That may be a future topic of discussion.
plasmatronic
kublakhan
717 posts
 
I think if you are upfront with the dealer and let them know you need to find a certain piece of gear on the cheap many will help you out and give mini auditions with the understanding that you'll be buying something from them down the line or even that day, just not the major piece you're really interested in.

but to waste a dealers time knowing you have no intention of buying from him sucks. even if the guy is a jerk. it just makes you one too.

i also think dealers feed on your enthusiasm to learn. they'll go out of their way for someone who really wants to learn from them and listen to what they have to say. some wont let you leave the store w/o making you demo gear they know you cant afford if you hit it off with them. it's all about style and relationships. if they're not into that then they're the wrong people anyway.
detlof
1,899 posts
 
My dealer is a close friend of mine. I find his often dizzying markups immoral and he my occasional shopping sprees outside of his territory as well. We can both live with that, because he's also a true audiophile, which is the basis of our friendship. We both know that we have conflicting interests...and in order to preserve our friendship, we are careful to give each of us his due, as well as all the necessary leeway. If he has something I want, I will pay his price, if he shows me something, which I can get cheaper from overseas, he understands. He'll keep me informed of new developments, I might show him new gizmos, like the Bybees for example. I'll get him new customers and an occasional LP he's after, but has no time to find and he'll repair gear, which I've imported on the "grey market " . So we have built up a good symbiosis through the years, a good synergy which serves us both.
lakefrontroad
302 posts
 
I don't use audio advice from shops when I intend to purchase used or at a discount elsewhere. Using advice to me is the same as using a demo and buying elsewhere. A long time ago someone, maybe my father, told me that if I wanted service then pay for it, otherwise buy discount. That's probably why high end camera stores and bicycle shops dropped like flies in the eighties and nineties.

I would rather buy the unit used, take my time and feel free to keep or sell. And by the way... I've demo'd a ton of pieces and resold them. I prefer to listen to the advice given here in the threads and in print to anecdotal assertions of buy here now-gold at a discount!

Bill E.
leafs
414 posts
 
Have you ever gone to a few stores to listen and bought from the one who gave you the best deal.Whats the difference.
There ar 5 B&W Dealers within a 30 minute drive from me.Is it wrong to go listen at all five and buy from the one with the best price.
danvetc
527 posts
 
You have no morals if you demo at a dealer knowing that you will, or likely will, purchase elsewhere. (And by "demo" I mean that you are taking up the dealer's time with an extended "sit down" or home demo.)
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