They are jacking up the prices on Hartke gear

[glenb73]

A little rant:
I was ready to pull the trigger on the Hydrive 410 which was $599 and then suddenly on all of the sites its $699!!! Also, the LH500 which I bought a few months back for $297 is now $399!! *** isn't gear supposed to go DOWN in price, not up?? It's bad enough gas costs $4.27 a gallon and going up daily, but do they need to jack up the price of music gear too?

[fleabee]

Trust me, its not just Hartke...higher costs get passed down to the consumer in all aspects of business unfortunately.

[AMJBASS]

I think for the time being we just have to accept it. For myself, I am glad I picked up an LH500 a few months ago. But $399 is still IMO ridiculously cheap for how great these heads sound(if that is any consolation).

[billfitzmaurice]

Originally Posted by glenb73

It's bad enough gas costs $4.27 a gallon and going up daily, but do they need to jack up the price of music gear too?

How do you think the materials used to build amps get to the factory, and how they get from there to the stores? They don't walk. When the cost of energy goes up the price of everything goes up.

[nukes_da_bass]

Its the price of oil (gas too). Oil goes up and then both manufacturing AND shipping costs go up. I'm about to raise my prices too.
"aren't prices supposed to go down?" you asked. No. That is the hyperbole of Global Free Market insanity and its sad that they got you believing that.
Even China has to make some sort of profit on what they manufacture but it takes oil to ship and manufacture the goods, so therefore when oil goes up costs go up then retail goes up to keep the same thin profit line they already had.
Lets not even get into how China is being forced to raise wages- it was bound to happen, as people get a taste of what it might be to approach a middle class income they might actually want to make more than .95 an hour!
China got you strung out on cheap prices based on cheap labor- now that they have cornered the manufacturing market by say 85%, they will raise prices because THEY CAN.
*this preceding message NOT brought to you by the "Ron Paul 2012" campaign (but its a good idea anyways!).

[I<34080]

IIRC those are the initial prices of the stuff.

[NKUSigEp]

Originally Posted by glenb73

A little rant:
I was ready to pull the trigger on the Hydrive 410 which was $599 and then suddenly on all of the sites its $699!!! Also, the LH500 which I bought a few months back for $297 is now $399!! *** isn't gear supposed to go DOWN in price, not up?? It's bad enough gas costs $4.27 a gallon and going up daily, but do they need to jack up the price of music gear too?

I wish but sadly you can't get a 1960's Jazz bass for $2. If your cost to manufacture something goes up, why would you lower the cost of the item? Great for the buyer but you'll soon find yourself out of a job!

[bassplayer8953]

As time goes by, the US dollar is becoming worth less and less on the world market. That means that the cost of products produced in other countries increases, in addition to the costs of transportation, and desire for better wages in manufacturing countries already pointed out:

Investors lose interest in US dollar | Exchange Rates, US Dollar | News.com.au

I realize discussing international finance is not a point of interest on a bass forum, but the subject does impact the products we use, buy, & GAS for.

[waleross]

IMO , Hartke stuff was priced too low to begin with. That being said, if I needed a full rig today their prices are low enough to begin with. I'm sure with the demand being high for Hartke, deals and sales will be along if they aren't already. Quality aside,the Hx410 cab is still 2 or 3 hundred less than Ampeg.............So, you can still save money...........................

[Nightlyraider]

You shouldn't have a problem finding anything used so long as it is older than a few months.

New doesn't mean much beyond looks most of the time. Don't buy something that was abused, but otherwise a dent might save you 50%

[CrUiSeR]

in all fairness to hartke, they along with GK lowered their prices quit a bit years ago.
I'm not really sure what they would say was their reasoning, but IMO it was because they were taking a hard hit from
SWR and Eden.
the XLs are still less than the HXs and sound better; also IMO
it is good that you don't like the price increase. don't buy it and don't help china
become the #1 economic country in the world

[ulynch]

Originally Posted by glenb73

A little rant:
I was ready to pull the trigger on the Hydrive 410 which was $599 and then suddenly on all of the sites its $699!!! Also, the LH500 which I bought a few months back for $297 is now $399!! *** isn't gear supposed to go DOWN in price, not up?? It's bad enough gas costs $4.27 a gallon and going up daily, but do they need to jack up the price of music gear too?

This is why the used market is where it's at right now.

[kesslari]

For what it's worth, the price of Neodymium has gone up significantly, so all cabs loaded with Neo's are jumping up in price.
It's a conspiracy, bro - they're just doing it to get YOU.

[Bassman316]

Hartke HyDrive HX410 (4 x 10") | Sweetwater.com


Still $599....

[TheNightLife]

everythings going up. the cost of materials went up. a small increase is acceptable to me but not a huge increase. i mean look at orange over the last 2 years they practicaly doubled in price for no legitimate reason.

[Marko5657]

Originally Posted by Bassman316

Hartke HyDrive HX410 (4 x 10") | Sweetwater.com


Still $599....

Amazon, best buy, Buy.com, and a couple other places, and with low shipping.

OP might want to get it now, ’cause a lot of stores have jacked up the price.