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

DEALER: How about $500 for an amp demo?

ME: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_8M8EI3M1E

What’s the big deal?
Rare book dealers used to have "back rooms." The farther back, the pricier the books. Supposedly, one famous dealer in London had FIVE back rooms--and in the fifth was a Gutenberg Bible. To "earn" your way back to see the more expensive books you had to demonstrate that you had the wherewithal to buy them. If you never bought any books in the first room, you wouldn’t be invited into the second, and so on.

In other words, only CUSTOMERS were invited to see the good stuff.

Similarly, when I tried to test drive a Honda S2000 back when they were new, the dealer declined to let me. Reason? He was getting inundated with requests for test drives with very few buyers. Why let yahoos put miles on your sports car when it’s just going to be a problem for whomever does buy the thing?

Plus, I didn’t have the money for a Honda S2000 and the dealer probably knew that. I was just a car buff who wanted to try the thing out.

Sounds to me like the OP had simply not qualified himself as a potential buyer of $17k amps. I'll bet if he had already bought a few choice items from that dealer, the dealer wouldn't have blinked at his request to demo the amps.

"Move along, nothing to see here!"

That dealers is a real turkey baste him.

OP, perhaps the dealer will throw in a foot massage and a bottle of single malt while you listen.

Dealers are actively trying to find solutions for showrooming.  Showrooming is very common now and accepted as a normal mode of shopping.  You experience the product at the brick and mortar and then buy it at the cheapest price you can find on the internet.  The choice then becomes to do the "hard sell" when you are there or to find a way to offer full service, allow you to take time auditioning, and be cordial because their valuable time is covered whether you buy or not.   Many times customers decide on a product and then go down the street to fall for the other option.  You get a "deal" from dealers that sell products that are already marked up to then mark them down and make you think you are getting a deal.  Many customers buy a product they didn't really want because you get 30% off which seems to be the tipping point.  Mark up product 30% so you can mark them down and sell something that is not a long-term solution.  Buyer beware when you are offered 25% to 30%.  Real dealers and honestly priced products cannot survive this way.