Re: Price sharing etiquette

[Chris Chovit <cho@newdream.net>]

OK...here' my 2 cents:

It appears to me that sharing price information (or any non-proprietary
information, for that matter) can only benefit us all.  The only ones who
don't benefit are the retailers who are overcharging for their products,
and I have no problem if they lose business.  It has always bothered me the
way the music equipment industry (at least the Guitar Center type
businesses) do not give their best price initially.  They start with list
price and force you to negotiate your way down.  Many times they will only
give you the "best price" if you quote prices from other retailers.  This
business approach  probably works for a lot of unsuspecting consumers, who
don't know any better and think that any price below list price is a good
one. We, as consumers, must demand more from retailers!  In this spirit, I
try to avoid Guitar Center (etc.) and give my business to establishments
like Sweetwater Sound (etc.) that don't bullshit you.  Exchanging price
information on a list like this is a great way to keep these places in
check.

- chris


>Okay, as soon as I get an Echoplex, I'm going to hook up
>a mic and record the following: "If I don't have something
>good to say, then I won't say anything."
>
>Apologies to the person I quoted earlier. I didn't mention
>a name, but if you save your messages you could figure out
>who that was. No, I still haven't received a response from
>him, but I should have given him the benefit of a doubt.
>There could be many reasons why he wasn't able to respond.
>And I have heard from someone else that did get a response
>from a similar inquiry. So, he is obviously somebody that
>will share his good fortune.
>
>I've also received some interesting private e-mails about
>peoples' different perspectives on sharing price info on
>the list. I would hope that we could discuss those things
>publicly.
>
>Thanks for constructive comments, public and private!
>
>-Peter