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

When I visit Audio Classics, they will set up anything I want to listen to without any fuss and after set up, leave me alone to enjoy.  That is the kind of dealer you want.  When I wanted to hear the Legacy Valors, they took out the big McIntosh speakers and hooked up the Valors to the 1.25kw McIntosh mono blocks with a smile and told me to"enjoy"..

Um, part of the reason you carry these products. A large part..is the markup. If one buys system 10k...the markup is 40 percent...4000. Most who go to a store spend more

It’s their store, they can pretty much do what they want, no matter how stupid. I am thankful that I have a dealer that is as accommodating as the one I go to. With that, they have earned my business time and time again. Mutual respect is what we have.

Back in the late 70's/early 80's I worked in a high-end store and we would take someone's credit card number or a check we would hold onto, in case the customer didn't return the loaner, but I've never heard of having a potential customer having to "rent" a demo unit.

One of the dealers I visited when shopping for speakers, on a hot, humid, rainy day in August asked me if I had "an appointment".  Though the store was empty they would only allow me to audition speakers in their secondary room, the models I was interested in were in their high end room.  Too bad for them, as I spent my $ elsewhere.

Hello,

The fact that he gives in-store credit solves the problem for me.
 
Personally I would really value a good shop and a salesperson who could give me critical information, guide me in my purchases as well as offer second-hand deals. They meet people all day... clients, reps, technicians and quite often know things in and out.

If you are seriously considering to buy those 17k amps then why not spend several hundred dollars on something you something and then ask him if he would do a brief demo. If he sees that you are a genuine high-end client with the budget, he'd be stupid not to serve you.

A amp demo can be very brief or it may take one hour or more with different speakers, DACs and cables etc. With the previous shop I was dealing with, they would routinely loan me expensive items for multi-day demos and let me know when some great second hand item came into the shop.

If a shop spends considerable effort in giving me good advice and service I will do all my purchases there meaning I will even pay extra than going to the dealer of that product but use them as an intermediary. Good advice and extensive demos saved serious money for me by making proper purchases.

mk00