I have a connection to someone who owns a store. I may be able to get some gear about at cost to him. I don't want to pester him if stuff is not in my range. What is the average markup on amp gear?
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Average Markup on amps
- Thread starter King David
- Start date
well... GC sells GK 1001rb-II's for $750 while I can get one from RMC for $600....
talk about markup!
talk about markup!
most manufacturers give dealers a 50% dealer discount, i.e. they pay $500 for an item that lists for $1000. boutique manufacturers typically give less. for example mesa boogie gives a 30% dealer discount. (this is one reason stores won't budge off list for mesa gear, the other is their dealer agreement with mesa prohibits them from doing so.) larger stores also sometimes get additional discounts for volume orders, and manufacturers sometimes give discounts for a multitude of reasons. epiphone is a good example of this. their list price is high on their guitars but the dealer discounts allow dealers to sell them for way below list and still turn a profit.
Is GC the only store sellling them for that amount? Maybe RMC has a special arangement with GK.
To the origional poster:
I think it would be rude of you to come to him with a price already in mind since he is giving you a deal as a favor. What if you work up a price lower than he would offer before you speak to him?
If you get a price get it from him.
it may vary and very well could be dependent upon several factors. Authorized dealers recieve a better cost than a bootleger. Bigger volume dealers may well recieve better costs or at least some more perks than smaller dealers, like every 100th guitar free or some such..
You may wish to leave a few extra sheckles behind to cover his overhead and maybe even maintain the friendship.
Typically , not that long ago, most amps and guitars could be had for about 30% off of list. This left enough coinage for the dealer to make a profit and keep the doors open, feed people etc.. Peavey gear (I was told) was the exception as it was already budget priced. I do not know about the boutique type instruments.
The largest discount off of list I ever recieved was on an Ampeg Baby Bass, two were in stock and as I was trying it out, two more were delivered (great timing). I think it might have been around 50% off. The store owner was great guy and my extended family had been doing businees at that store since before he owned it. I needed a supper club sized amp and walked out the door with a new Ampeg B15S, no money down, no held check or anything. Simply a promise to get the money in their as soon as I could. He lent a DJ friend of mine a spare in the box new power amp and mixer to act as back up for my sisters wedding. My friends other stuff had just been serviced.
Best Of Luck
Wesley R.
You may wish to leave a few extra sheckles behind to cover his overhead and maybe even maintain the friendship.
Typically , not that long ago, most amps and guitars could be had for about 30% off of list. This left enough coinage for the dealer to make a profit and keep the doors open, feed people etc.. Peavey gear (I was told) was the exception as it was already budget priced. I do not know about the boutique type instruments.
The largest discount off of list I ever recieved was on an Ampeg Baby Bass, two were in stock and as I was trying it out, two more were delivered (great timing). I think it might have been around 50% off. The store owner was great guy and my extended family had been doing businees at that store since before he owned it. I needed a supper club sized amp and walked out the door with a new Ampeg B15S, no money down, no held check or anything. Simply a promise to get the money in their as soon as I could. He lent a DJ friend of mine a spare in the box new power amp and mixer to act as back up for my sisters wedding. My friends other stuff had just been serviced.
Best Of Luck
Wesley R.
CrackBass and Wesley have given you the basics, now you need to figure out what a reasonable price to offer is. I almost always get 25% to 30% off everything. Somethings are discounted more. But anyone with a shop has to make a significant profit to pay all of their costs. When I am offered a killer deal by a friend I always stop him and ask him if he is sure he wants to sell at that price and if he is sure he won't regret it the next day. Take care of your local retailer so that he is there for you tomorrow and next year and five years from now. I have been offered items at cost and it is usually something that has set in the shop for quite a while and it "just needs to go away" so that the shop can buy something that will sell quicker.
Also the volume of amps you sell, will get you a better %.
If a store sells, say 50 Ampeg amps a yr. to say a store that sells 8 amps a yr.
1 thing we are all overlooking. Most places will sell a amp or speaker at the msrp unless they put them on some sort of discount, IE green tag sale, labor day sale etc, or if they have been sitting in the store for a long time and need to go away. Some stores can sell at below msrp because they make up the difference somewhere else or because of the volume they sell at. There is probably very little mark up going on because the msrp already has the profit margin built in. a good case to look at is , say a chain music store sells a amp or speaker that you can buy direct from the manufacture. you would think buying direct would save you a little money, but when you go to the site their price (the manufacturer) is the higher than the chain store. Why? because the chain store is selling at a volume discount that is below the msrp. I've seen this myself in a lot of places. If you can get a good discount from a friendly store, I say go for it and count yourself lucky 
Nickman, my intent is not to be rude to the dude. It is more of a before I bother him to get a price, I want to be sure that what I am interested in is in my price range first. If the amp is 1200 and his estimated cost is 800, and I only have 600 to spend, I don't wish to bother him with it because I can't afford it and I certainly would not want him to take a loss.
