PS Audio Revises Marketing to a Direct Sales Only Model

Agree with michaellent, shipping long distance high end, heavy, hi-fi is fraught with problems. In the local dealer model, the dealer ensures the delivery is made without damage, and is there for any issues. I have done both long distance shipping and local dealer, and will always pay more for dealer peace of mind rather than be stuck with damaged gear and begin the long process of contact and resolution.

Also the supply chain for online has a serious flaw for high end heavy gear, which is your paid for possession is in the hands of a minimum wage courier with little or no interest in delivering your package intact. Having experienced 22kg tube mono-blocks delivered with smashed tubes having been packed well but dropped and miss-handled. Time to live amplifiers was two months to replace tubes after the supplier didn’t want to know, meaning I absorbed the cost even though sent ’insured’. You try claiming, mostly its not you but the supplier that insures and they (insurers) always argue or make it as hard as possible. Damn sure my overseas supplier claimed and kept the payout! Even if you do get a payout its weeks before you have a live unit. Plus you are on your own with any other faults save repacking and re-posting and more weeks without your paid for equipment. Nope, dealers for me going forward, I don’t resent their margin and to me its a form of insurance.

The most successful direct retail companies seem to be the ones that go for high value. Examples are Emotiva, Shiit, and Tekton. It will be interesting to see how PS Audio approaches this because they are somewhere in the middle. Their gear is fairly expensive but it is also high quality.

There has been a fair amount of PSA discounted new gear on the market. I own a PerfectWave II DAC and a PerfectWave transport that I bought for about 50% of retail. I also see quite a few PSA pieces that are fairly new on the used market going for around 50% to 60% of MSRP. I don't know how many people actually paid the full retail price for new PSA gear. Paul is really good at marketing so I'm sure he's got this figured out but it's hard to imagine that he's going to be able to hold firm on the current MSRPs if he goes to a direct market mode.

Michaellent,  PS Audio pays shipping both ways on their 30 day return policy when items is bought direct.  Your concern is not really an issue.

As said earlier, I imagine there will be a Algorithm in use by PSA that is showing all the sales history information of their products.
What a analysis will not show, is how many customers that made purchases  have been the result of a interest generated from using a Dealership and the customer receiving a introduction to PSA devices.
If a customer chose to purchase from another source, it will not be known that the sale was a result of a Dealership Interface with the Customer, that is how I ended up owning a PSA device, even though I bought a immaculate used item following a Dealership Introduction.
A few unsatisfactory Mail Order experiences made public, will soon start to reduce any 30 day home trials, I would happily go with out a home trial and pursue another brand that can be auditioned, than risk any unnecessary events, that could take the shine of a purchase experience.
A $10, 6" x 6" x 6" package, or $3000, 24" x 18" x 8" package will get the exact same treatment with the usual standards of available courier services.
Whether the suspended design within the PSA Packaging is robust enough to withstand such treatments, I'm sure the Jury will be out on that one for a good while. 
I received a vintage TT from Japan recently, it was very well packaged, the best it could be in my opinion, without having purpose made mouldings to secure it.
It arrived with a damage that was not in any of the supplied pre purchase images.
I failed to receive a claim on the insured item, the reason being given, for not informing the shipping company in 48 hours.
I feel the concern is not for PSA products, but the not knowing when the only option is to deal direct.
Will the latest PSA device be a improvement on the device I already own ?
Will the latest PSA device be a upgrade in my system to the PSA device in use at present ?  
Will the 30 Day Home Trial be free from any form of complications, whilst I assess a PSA device ?
Would it be worth my while taking a PSA device on a 30 Day Home Trial,
to a Dealership, while I have it, to compare it to other devices on my shortlist ? 
What responsibilities will I be liable for on returning a PSA device following a home trial ? 
Will I be at any financial risk during the period, when satisfying my curiosity about a PSA device, from the time the Company sends a device for a Home Trial and the Company receives it back ?