Can someone help me understand this? Amazon.com vs. Musician's Friend purchase.

**Blackbird** · #1 07-13-2007, 09:23 PM

I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.com. Since I shop there so much I decided to see if they sold bass strings and sure enough they do. Or rather, Musician's Friend does, through Amazon.

I decided to get a D'Addario EXL170-5TP Twin Pack, and since it was coming from MF, I figured I'd just buy it from their site and eliminate the middleman. Well, not only are the strings the same price on the MF site, but the shipping is higher! $5.95 at MF vs. $4.15. That's a $1.80 difference!

So, what are you paying for when you get it shipped from MF? That catalog? How can they charge more on a purchase from their own site than from a third party's where they have to pay a cut? Makes no sense to me...

markjazzbassist · #2 07-13-2007, 11:33 PM

strange.

Munjibunga · #3 07-13-2007, 11:51 PM

Bizarre.

**Blackbird** · #4 07-19-2007, 09:45 AM

Eerie.

Any other opinions?

Astronomer · #5 07-19-2007, 10:02 AM

Economy of scale, methinks. You or I purchase one or two sets of strings, at a fixed price. Amazon, or some other big distributor buys several thousands of sets of the same strings, and can therefore command a discounted rate, part of which they can pass on to you and me.

The downside is that smaller business can't survive on the low margins which the big distributors force upon them.

hth

Oh, and "spooky"

**Blackbird** · #6 07-19-2007, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astronomer

Economy of scale, methinks. You or I purchase one or two sets of strings, at a fixed price. Amazon, or some other big distributor buys several thousands of sets of the same strings, and can therefore command a discounted rate, part of which they can pass on to you and me.

The downside is that smaller business can't survive on the low margins which the big distributors force upon them.

hth

Oh, and "spooky"

Well, Musician's Friend is hardly a "Small" business. Besides, that's not the point. The strings came from musician's friend, but were bought on the Amazon website. The question is why Musician's Friend would charge less for shipping from a third party website that costs them money to maintain.

Astronomer · #7 07-19-2007, 12:38 PM

Hmmmm... 'twas just an idea

OK, I am now oficially baffled.

PolkaHero · #8 07-19-2007, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackbird

I buy a lot of stuff from Amazon.com. Since I shop there so much I decided to see if they sold bass strings and sure enough they do. Or rather, Musician's Friend does, through Amazon.

I decided to get a D'Addario EXL170-5TP Twin Pack, and since it was coming from MF, I figured I'd just buy it from their site and eliminate the middleman. Well, not only are the strings the same price on the MF site, but the shipping is higher! $5.95 at MF vs. $4.15. That's a $1.80 difference!

So, what are you paying for when you get it shipped from MF? That catalog? How can they charge more on a purchase from their own site than from a third party's where they have to pay a cut? Makes no sense to me...

I buy the same set of strings through Guitar Center, show them what MF sells them for, and they match the price. This way I end up spending only $1.50 in sales tax versus MF's $5.95 shipping charge!

**Blackbird** · #9 07-19-2007, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PolkaHero

I buy the same set of strings through Guitar Center, show them what MF sells them for, and they match the price. This way I end up spending only $1.50 in sales tax versus MF's $5.95 shipping charge!

Great idea. Thanks a million.