Charging A Fee To Demo An Amplifier In A Brick & Mortar Store

I hope this doesn't become a trend in other industries. Imagine going to a car dealer for a look see and test drive and being told, "Nah, it's gonna cost you to test drive this rust bucket."

All the best,
Nonoise

Yup, know where this place is. Weird store layout. No rooms, just  gear everywhere, in an open floor plan. I'd only buy from there if it is something you know you want at the price you want to pay. Better get everything in writing too.

I never in my entire life paid a fee however today there are to many tire kickers out there.There is no set fee as this is a big ripoff i would buy nothing from that dealer.Good luck with that one.

I could understand it if the item is not on display and the seller has to perhaps acquire the product first or even just set it up just for that.   

Even then, one can just say no whenever vendor terms are not acceptable.

Ok I looked at the gear. That’s not going anywhere for a demo without something, someone being pretty serious. THAT is a serious pair of amps... NO KIDDING... Probably cost 20-30 dollars in Electrical charges to get it warm enough to listen to.

To be real about it, you should go there to do the deal or NOT go at all.
I dealt with a WAREHOUSE in South SF, that was that way, wasn’t a demo fee as much as a, I had to open the shop fee. HUGE discount, demo and trade in stuff only. You went there knowing if you were gonna buy it or not.
I picked up a pair of VTL Wotans, for 6.5K, they had 3 pairs. They were taken in on an estate sale. 3 years old, a little under 40k a pair.
It was a 300.00 fee, just to look and make sure the valves were all there (another 3k from VTL factory for a set). AND use their forklift to load the heavy suckers. 3 sets of VMPS RM40s, at different times. 1/4-1/3 the price.

The VTLs were never taken out of the crate, never used..

Worth it for me..They have had some killer deals too, BUT not always a fee either. At least 4-5 sales people, different times, over a 10 year period. I guess they are still there..

I also remember, there were different areas, too. Different vendors, were staging their, used stuff or demos in a kind of Consortium, to save HIGH dollar floor space in the cities, SF central, Redwood City, ect. One stop shop, if you knew what you were looking for. This was South San... A lot lower rents.. and easier to load the REAL heavy stuff. NO HILLS!

Regards