Will Internet Distroy High End ?

For 5yrs now, i have been friendy with the manager of a local hi-end shop that been in business for 20-30?yrs. 3 yrs ago i said to my friend, "the web is going to kill you guys", he replied "no way the shops is always going to cater to the main public". This was a shop where you could always walk in and droll over the expensive exotic gear on display in the back 2 rooms. Couple weeks ago, i stopped in to say hi and see whats being displayed. I asked "hows the retail doing". He responded with "retail is dead, we mostly do custom installs now (HT)". As i walked the rooms i noticed no real hi-end, some Classe pieces, all mid fi HT gear, and some nice big screen front projectors filling the walls, where once was a nice beautiful rack with expensive exotic gear and some huge tube mono's and a pair of Wilsons or Egglestons or like. I don't know, did the internet kill the high-end dealer? or did the internet and HT together kill the high-end dealer. Times, they are a changin!! Have changed!!

One way do avoid a scam or a bad experience on a high end purchase is to buy from a local dealer.

Mikec your description could be my old dealer who closed up shop 5 years ago after finally burning out on the HT crowd. His hi-end business esentially ended 3-4 years previous to that. Then again this area isn't the 2-channel capital of the world. My take is that mult-channel will eventually be the hi-end of tomorrow incorporating movies and music. Two channel will die like the dinosaur probably did, one by one until the last one looks around to find he is alone and the last of his kind. I really don't see a long term future in 2 channel audio.

The volume of people who purchase hi-end on the net is less than one tenth of one persent of buyers.It will have no effect on legit dealers.The dealers who exclusively operate around the net will suffer the pains of the one tenth.

Audionut, I'd watch out. I've heard this type of confidence from many of my customers and watched them go down in flames.

First, I don't believe the internet will destroy hi-end. Where ever there is money (perhaps too much) and passion there will be a market place for products servicing this passion. But, the landscape is changing, and the retailer that ignores this will die. I work in the retail and manufacturing industry for household products, and I've seen it.

Think about all the changes that are occurring right now:

First, internet dealers are coming up to speed on the retail learning curve and the internet curve (this is still new to everyone so there is lots to learn). Sure there are some dopes out there (and crooks too), but they will be weeded out. The others will learn and become strong.

Second, the volume of direct-to-consumer sales will increase. It's always been there, but the internet will make it much easier and more efficient. Frankly, from a consumer perspective this is great. Not only will it be less expensive, but it will improve the customer-manufacturer relationship. And, it will eliminate some of the barriers to market entry (e.g. distributors, minimum marketing investments, etc.), enabling hot designers to go out on their own and build a business over time.

Third, the used equipment market will capture a larger portion of the consumer turns and upgrades. Again, the internet and sites like this make it easier than the days when we used to check out sources like AudioMart. Think about the percentage of your upgrades that have been via used equipment just from this site. As this site grows, so will the market of used equipment sold outside of retailers.

Net, times are changing. Add the HT influence, and I'd think that some smart retailers with good strategic marketing would be able to take advantage of the changes, change how they do business and make a good business while better servicing their clients (but, I'll bet that the profit margins decline - survival of the fittest).

Enjoy the music.