so sorry, that was '.....marginally felt advantages....' ; )
Convincing your local dealer to let you try speakers at home
So, I had a great experience listening to some Devore 0/96 speakers yesterday. The challenge for me is that the room I heard them in is wildly different than any other room I’d ever listen in. (I’ll share a photo, below.) I really have no idea if spending $13k plus on these speakers would work out. I’d need to try them at home.
For all I know, these dealers might be ok with me trying some speakers at home. I don’t know and am not yet ready to ask.
But I’m curious whether folks here have any stories to tell about the reactions they’ve gotten when they’ve asked to try speakers at their home. If you have a story, especially if it’s a more expensive speaker, I’d love to hear your story. How did you convince them? If they turned you down, what was the reason? Did you agree?
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- 99 posts total
@kevn thanks for explaining your position; it's very thoughtful and I need to reflect a bit on it. My first thought, which I'll offer tentatively, is that it makes sense insofar as the fine car is already put together, where an audio system is not -- you're right about that! At the same time, the elements of what make the car a good one would require learning and there would need to be learning, too, to know how that car fits my terrain, my driving style and expectations, my expectations of driving experience. Same with golf clubs, though there the parallel with audio is an easier fit insofar as the set of clubs need to be put together -- for my body, skill level, etc. So, I guess, on first pass, the circumstances between audio and those other product purchases (need to make an educated and "right fit" decision) seem similar enough to argue that if one pays a fee for audio, one should pay a fee for the others. In my own view, no fee should be paid because it's just part of the sales job and whatever the costs are can be amortized into the purchase price. Take care, and thanks for your nice reply. |
Not being a hi fi dealer but a wholesaler to them, I can tell you that every single time I loan pair of speakers to anyone, no matter how skilled, the speakers come back with some form of damage. Especially if they are shipped. Enough damage that I can no longer sell them as new and must discount them by 10% to account for damage. The cost is real for the dealer and he cannot pass this cost on. No one blames the user, we all know this happens, but nonetheless you can't loan all your new speakers out for trial as your entire inventory is damaged. Some dealers do this by having a dedicated loaner inventory. Or are good about having enough sales that they can sell off the "B Stock" as they go, and keep shipping new stock. But it's worth considering that demoing a 50,000 pair of speakers in your room will cost someone 5,000. This is why not everyone does it. Brad
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+1 Also a great approach… offer to pay. This way no one looses. The automotive analogy does not work. This is a high volume / value business and driving from the lot and returning. My Toyota dealers sells several cars a day… so ~ $200K or more a day. Completely different business and set of circumstances. |
- 99 posts total