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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
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.)
abstract7
541 posts
 
Good Thread. Honesty and integrity is the only way to deal with this issue. I have demoed stuff at a dealer with no intention of buying (not on the internet either). I tell the dealer, I'm not buying but would like to hear speaker X. I ask them only to demo it to me when all customers that are buying have been helped. They are always very accomodating, and although I don't buy the speaker, I usually end up buying other things from them down the line. I do these demo's to educate myself on what I like, don't like, might buy someday in the future, might dream about when I win the lottery. Dealers like to demo those $70k speakers--even when they know you aren't buying them--it's a lot more fun than demoing the economy bookshelf speakers (but that's what frequently pays the rent).

As to Leafs comments. I don't think there's anything wrong with that if you are upfront about it. He's not going to the interenet to get a better deal. It's like buying a car. I do the same thing with the dealers there. I tell them I'm going to buy car Y. I tell them there are 4 dealers in my general area and I'm going to visit each one. The one with the best deal gets my money. There are no hidden agendas--it's basic competition.
kthomas
911 posts
 
I have all but written off high-end shops and therefore don't utilize their services, either to buy through them or to audition something and then buy it cheaper elsewhere. I read a lot of reviews, buy stuff used, decide over a couple months if I like it or not, and sell what I don't want.

About once a year I go to a couple of the local high-end stores just to see if they've changed their approach at all - new pricing strategies, more intelligent advice, different products, etc. I'm open to seeing the value, but it never seems to make itself apparent, so I go back to educating myself and providing service to myself. I'll even be real open with them, and ask them about all of these issues, but instead of trying to win me as a customer, they get all nervous and avoid the questions. I agree with Abstract7 - if you're up front about what your approach is, there's not a question of morality. It's the flip side of Best Buy saying, "we'll beat any advertised price". You walk in and say, "I'm here to see if you'll do what it takes to win my business". If what it takes is the lowest price, so be it. If it's a certain type and amount of service for a certain price, that's fine too. It's only a question of morals when you purposely mis-lead somebody.

gregm
3,395 posts
 
It seems I'm lucky in that my dealer welcomes me to sit in at auditions, and demos of outlandishly expensive equipment he knows I can't (or wouldn't) purchase. When I find equipment in the used market, I inform him and ask for his opinion; we have kind of "tacit agreement" in that he will offer his opinion in exchange for my open communication. He has suggested I go for a piece of used equipment rather than buy new from him (a brand he sells). But then, my dealer is also the shop owner -- which makes things simpler(?).
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