I have been told that dealers, on most hi-end products, pay 60-65% of list plus shipping -- that would mean your speakers cost a dealer $1200-1300 plus shipping from the factory to his location. Another way to judge cost is to investigate the dealer demo sales on Audiogon. Looking at 18 speaker dealer demo sales today, the wt.avg selling price was 57% of list(plus shipping), with the "cost" ranging from an incredible 35% to 88% of list.
A friend of mine sells several high end products out of his house and he has told me that all of the manufacturers strongly advise him not to sell their products for more than a 10-15% discount.
However, as you know, the discount available is more a case of the popularity of the item than anything else -- if you want a product that the manufacturer can't give away, you'll get a great discount from a dealer. Since Revel speakers have all gotten good "press", I'm assuming you won't do better than your 15% discount offer of $1695.
A friend of mine sells several high end products out of his house and he has told me that all of the manufacturers strongly advise him not to sell their products for more than a 10-15% discount.
However, as you know, the discount available is more a case of the popularity of the item than anything else -- if you want a product that the manufacturer can't give away, you'll get a great discount from a dealer. Since Revel speakers have all gotten good "press", I'm assuming you won't do better than your 15% discount offer of $1695.