Re: Musicians friend Price politics

[Mech <mech@m3ch.net>]

At 12:14 AM 7/26/2004, Mark Hamburg wrote:

>I have had good experiences with:
>
>American Musical -- Various items. When I had a manual get water damaged 
>in transit, they rapidly sent me a new one. There's a theory that AMS = 
>zzounds.
>
>Nova Musik -- Great guys. I got my Microwave XT from them and would 
>happily do business with them again.
>
>Alto Music -- 2 EDPs and both transactions went smoothly.

I've bought more stuff mail order than I care to think about.  To the list 
above, I'd add:

Sweetwater -- Anytime I need any sort of Sales input (which ain't often), 
I 
turn to these guys.  Local store interaction from a mail order 
vendor.  Good service, good prices.

Sam Ash -- Something about these guys always set off my "scam 
radar".  Actually, that started after having visited one of their NYC 
stores, and getting bad vibes.  However, I've ordered stuff for way cheap 
from their "blowouts" page (has a different selection than most of the 
other online vendors) and never had a problem.  So, I guess I can't 
complain about success.

Of course, Zzounds has been mentioned a couple times.  And I've gotten 
some 
blowouts from Music123, but I've never used them regularly.

One other thing to mention here: every mail order dealer from which I've 
ordered will do a price match, as long as you can show it to them cheaper 
elsewhere (yes, that includes Musician's Fiend).  I regularly call up 
Sweetwater and ask them to match a competitor's price.  The only 
repercussion I've ever found is that "free shipping" usually only applies 
to the advertised price.  Big deal.

For items where the price seemed to match across all sites, I've even gone 
to vendors and told them I'd place my order with them if they beat the 
advertised price (including shipping) by $10.  It's more a gesture that 
they're willing to work with me than anything else.  However, I've never 
had anyone tell me no.  Just spend a few minutes on the web or Froogle, 
and 
you'll be able to find the rock bottom figure to take to them.

The point is: negotiate.  Nothing is ever set in stone.  The worst that 
will happen is that they'll refuse, and either you pay the listed price 
(just as you would have otherwise) or you go to a different vendor and get 
the price you want.  At best, you'll end up with a primary vendor who -- 
like Sweetwater, Nova, or Alto -- gives you valuable service and advice, 
as 
well as the cheapest available prices.

         --m.

_____
"i want to reach my hand into the dark and *feel* what reaches back"
                                                 -recoil