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My experience trying to buy a REL subwoofer...

There's something funny going on over at Sumiko (REL's US distributor). I got an email saying a guy could get me a Q150e for $750. Retail is $1100. I asked him how he could get it that cheap and he said REL had a special through the end of the week. Being skeptical I called Sumiko and was told that indeed there was a special through the end of the month of October but it was up to the dealer whether or not to pass it on to the consumer.
So I called my local dealer (Tweeter / Bryn Mawr). I told them I was in there a couple weeks ago and wanted to know if the price had dropped from retail due to the special. The guy said he knew nothing about it and told me he'd call me back after he talked to Sumiko. Ten minutes later he calls and said he talked to the president of Sumiko and his sales rep and that there is no special.

Now I was really confused and the guy at Tweeter sounded mad at me while at the same time telling me he wanted my business. He told me that the $1100 price was a 30% mark up and that there is no way someone was selling it for $750 since that would be below cost (circa $840).

Again, I called Sumiko and this time the same person I had talked to before reluctantly told me they had made a mistake and there was no special!!!

My friends and I think that Tweeter called and complained that a "consumer" was informed of a dealer incentive that I shouldn't have known about and that Tweeter wanted to keep the extra profit (not that I can entirely blame them). Either way it sounds like a pile of horse doo-doo. I think I'm going to stick to buying my REL used. Let Sumiko and Tweeter jerk someone else around (which is why I'm writing this in hopes no one else gets fed this BS).

Comments?
leoturetsky
ed_sawyer
588 posts
 
I would guess that REL is way more than a 30 point line for tweeter, esp. given how in bed REL/Sumiko is with tweeter. (eg. very in bed with them. would think at least 40-45%. Maybe 50%. tweeter is their largest dealer/customer by far.) If there was a dealer incecntive, it was likely on the order of 5%. Ultimately the dealer is in control of the price to the customer. Find a friend at tweeter and they can cut you a deal at 10 or 20% over cost. BTW, Tweeter is not really high-end. They have some nice lines (sumiko=Sonus Faber & rel) in speakers, but nothing in the way of good electronics to back it up. The best they have is proceed which = blah-pretty-good-midfi-bordering-on-hi-fi-maybe. IMHO.

-Ed
sugarbrie
3,854 posts
 
Call Ambrosia Audio in LA. Website is www.ambrosia.com -- The people there will be fair and honest. Anyone will do I guess, but the person I have dealt with for REL is Mike Smith. First rate guy. They will ship.


Tweeter is like dealing with Circuit City. Forgetaboutit.

danvetc
527 posts
 
Dealers do not have a resonsibility to reward consumers with periodic discounts from suppliers. These type discounts are often periodically given to offset/reward retailers for their continued, and paid for, inventory that they carry. Inventory, for a small business, is often bought with borrowed money, and the interest paid contributes to overhead. A supplier may have an oversupply of a particular model and will seek to move it with incentives such as this. This is not a rip off. How do you think these guys pay salaries and light bills?
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