PS Audio Revises Marketing to a Direct Sales Only Model

..just wondering if today’s 10,000 dollar black box is that much better then the 5000 dollar black box bought years ago and is still working.  ...and just wondering if those aging audiophiles with hearing loss are willing to even try them.

For companies that sell relatively low volume, direct sales is probably the best way to have the best customer service and competitive price. 

PS Audio has one of the best customer service’s in the industry. I don't see much of a downside.

ozzy

Progress has made it difficult to survive in this hobby, especially for the manufacturers. We, who buy, will always be there, but those who sell, have to adapt to market trends, and good look with your crystal ball, my dear seller.

Some see the writing on the wall for any number of reasons that we don’t appreciate so a lot of this is speculation on our part, but, I wish PS Audio well in the choice they’re about to make.

If the price does come down some, good for all, as they have great customer service from what I’ve read. If it doesn’t, it can be for any number or reasons from already absorbing too much costs on themselves as material prices rise unpredictably, to a loss of foot traffic and eventual sales at the brick & mortar stores that keep their line.

All the best,
Nonoise

More and more consumers are recognizing the benefits of easy ordering on the internet and in-home evaluation. For high-end audio products in particular, it makes a lot of sense.

I run a cycling e-commerce business and also a large brick&mortar bike shop. I can tell you that the e-commerce business is significantly more efficient. With increasing building lease costs and payroll costs, it's harder and harder to make any profit in the B&M business.

PSA has been migrating toward a direct-to-consumer model for a while. Their trade-in policy is brilliant in my opinion. They are already giving up more margin selling through dealers than they are giving up by taking trade-ins (at full original MSRP I might add) since they limit the value of the products you can trade in. Any revenue sharing they get with The Music Room is gravy.

By selling direct, they can provide benefits such as a generous trade-in policy and returns policy which is a lot more difficult if you are sharing half your profits with someone else. I'd much rather do an in-home audition in my own system of an audio product than listen to at a dealer. Granted, better dealers will let you take a product home (if they have a demo unit), but I think this is not always the case, and many customers don't have a local dealer anyway.

It's pretty tough to start out with a direct to consumer model although some have been able to pull it off successfully (look at Schiit and Tekton), but now PSA has an excellent reputation and I think they will do quite well. 

I bought my Power Plant 3 from their website because I got a great trade-in on my 20 year old Monster HTPS 7000. But even with this trade-in, I'm sure PSA made more profit than if I had bought it at a dealer.