Close-out Deals on Markbass at GC

I have not seen this in VA and I know the store manager and have asked. I do not understand how these Gc's work. One store will blow out items that another would not think about letting go at even 10% off. Can anyone explain that? I know there are parameters that each store has to follow as they are a chain.........

 

I checked my local GC (South Bend Indiana) and they have great deals on the huge cabinets (6X10s for $550) but its pretty much regular prices for those of us who aren't filling arenas.

 

Hmmm...I'll have to check my local GC and find out.

 

i assume because some stores could sell those items more easily without dropping the price. depends on the demand in a particular location.

 

It's extremely complicated, assuming the process is still the same as it was when it was explained to me by a store manager a couple of years ago (pre-Bain). It has to do with sale discount "allowances" of a certain fixed dollar amount on certain brands of gear which vary from store to store, but which allow the local managers to apply them largely as they see fit, particularly on discontinued or stale stock.

That's a vast oversimplification. Policies may have changed.

 

markbass is discontinuing the 6 x 10 cabinets, it is shown clearly on their website (www.markbass.it). that might explain the aggressive pricing at least on the 6 x 10.

 

This past Saturday I bought a F1 head for $499. I am assuming this is because of the imminent arrival of the F500 so the F1 is possibly being closed out/discontinued. Fine by me, as I think the F500's control layout is more cluttered than need be. The F1 is an amazing little amp, although it does sound virtually the same as my LM II. I may off the LM II or keep it and run my Rickenbackers in stereo.

 

Dunno about GC sometimes ...


Picked up another new Mark Bass LM II at a price you don't even want to know the other day.
I honestly don't think the sales guy knew what it was.





... Just gonna keep it in my office for testing cabs

 

that is pretty much it, but way deeper. All products have a code associated with it.
A is always stacked in all stores
C is not going to carry (might be discontinuing soon)
D is discontinued
Y is special order only
H is select stores only
and so on
Im guessing the Mark Bass stuff is H coded or the like. Only the big stores are going to carry them. If a smaller store sells off there stock, they get something else that they can sell better.
What a mess. glad i dont work there anymore.

 

I must live near a really slammed GC because I never see sales like that. Best deal I ever saw there was a blizzard pearl AmStd Jazz for $600. Would have bought it if it wasn't too heavy for my shoulder. It was a sweet bass...just needed a setup.

 

One thing that people might be interested to know about GC's decision to pick up MarkBass stuff is that GC likes it because it tends to be small compared to other brands.

One reason they dumped SWR is that it tends to be big. They started dropping SWR upper-end stuff several years ago simply because it had a big footprint and didn't turn over quickly enough because it was too expensive. I got a new Black Beauty for nearly 70% off just because they discontinued carrying the Professional Series combos as having a poor footprint/turnover ratio.

Space is gold at GC.

 

My guy there once ran me through this, but I've forgotten most of it. There was an X code and something else that turned up on sale stuff...I can't remember.

The hearing loss alone would be prodigious. I never understood how come nobody ever ran some OSHA beef with them over sustained SPLs without industrial hearing protection.

 

I got that amp at gc hollywood for 650 on july 4th, I thought that was a pretty good deal. This is much better

So then, it doesn't seem like gc is dropping them then?

 

I haven't seen any blow out deals at the local GC in Maryland.
Could it be the high volume stores don't need to have aggressive sales?

 

+1 I assume these deals are for 'in stock' stuff. Many stores will blow out any gear that's been on the floor for a while (and similar models that are sitting in the back room), especially right at the end of their fiscal year and prior to NAMM.

As is often the case, you can get real deals if you want something that most others don't in those particular stores!

 

No blow out gear at GC in Birmingham, AL. Did get a confirmation that stores across the chain were blowing out the TA501 for $494.99 and that many were NIB.

 

I saw a Classic 300 head for $999. Too heavy for me.

 

WHAT??? Now that seems like a smokin' good deal!