restocking fees

Frankly, over the past year I have bought many items directly from the Manufacturer (Fi, Wright, Cain, Pass).

Pass sells direct to the customer? Do you mean drop ship to a customer through a Dealer? If Pass is selling directly to a customer, and I was a dealer, I would drop his product from my store.

The current dealer system is the most useless thing to me: An 2 hour in-store audition under unknown environment just does not help much; a 2 day at home trial is better but not enough either. A longer at 30-60 day at home trial with reduced prices from the start (as there is no dealer needed then) sound much better to me.

Maybe in your area, not mine. The two remaining dealers in my area will check out a piece of demo equipment for a home audition. Screw that waiting for something that is being shipped. I'll take the local dealer first over mail order.

The whole point of a restocking fee is to discourage the non-serious buyer.
As with virtually anything, the amount is negotiable. If you've done you
homework and you're serious restocking fee aren't a barrier.

Restock, great post.

Many higher-end companies are seeing that their non-HT products are not finding a market. The local dealers are catering to Home Theater almost exclusively (excpet the big boutiques in the biggest major markets). Some mfg'ers have too small of a dealer network to begin with. In both cases, they need market coverage and in-home auditons are their only choice. I am not open to any restocking fee, but gladly pay the shipping. These costs are the mfg'ers cost-of-sale and they need to accept that. If the product comes back, make it available as a demo via their website, etc. Companies like Zu, Ridge Stret Audio and others should be applauded for generous "get-to-market" strategies that include 45-60 day in-home trials, and even include the ability to return products that were custom ordered (specific cabinet colors, etc.). Zu and RSA will pre-burn in their hi-effiency speakers before you take delivery, realizing the small SET amps will never properly prepare the speakers for a decent evaluation.

The high-end audio business is in turmoil right now, and some restocking fees are a natural outbirth. I won't go there, though.
Ted

A Restocking fee of 10 - 20% is reasonable for a retailer if you've bought a Brand New item, assuming that they in turn will resell it as a returned item. They obviously cannot or should not sell it as New again.
In the case of a local High End dealer, they should not charge anything other than shipping expenses if any are incurred.
We still need the Brick and Mortar Guys/Gals in this Hobby/Business...........at least IMHO. I know it's nice to find it Cheaper on the 'Net sometimes but I would not like to think of the Scenario without "Dealers".