Fender selling direct

[Runnerman]

As part of a warranty replacement I got to experience a fender tech setup (twice in fact) It was far from cherry.

LOL...I hear you. I said condition would be cherry.

Setup....it's might not be perfect...factory specs might not be your thing, but if you could have seen the Steve Harris P I tried to play in SA a week or two ago. It was unplayable. Almost a backwards bow in the neck. And they had the audacity of hanging a tag on it with the name and initials of the tech who set it up.

 

[RED J]

Peavey has been selling online direct to consumers for a few years now, but the local dealer is responsible for delivery and gets a percentage. I wonder if Fender would be taking this route.

This is a good arrangement. The local hardware chain I deal with does this. Order online , they ship a whole load of stuff weekly to the local retailers, they get a cut, The distributor and buyer save on shipping. The only catch is whether or not you're willing to wait a week. As usual, this or that. Choose what you want to trade off. Hopefully everyone wins.

 

[Mustang Surly]

With so much of the rough machining being computer controlled these days, it seems like it should be easier to accommodate individual customers' taste than it might have been in the past.

I'd like the idea of being able to get a particular model bass or guitar with a fretboard wood/radius, body color, nut width, scale length or p'up configuration which isn't offered "stock". But maybe Fender's bean counters have determined that my options wouldn't appeal to a wide enough market to merit a full production run. This new arrangement would allow them to satisfy my whims without getting stuck with a pile of otherwise not-so-popular inventory.

Maybe this is an attempt to appeal to people who would like to buy from the boutique market but can't afford boutique prices. If that's the strategy, perhaps the price point for these "custom" instruments will be set someplace in between standard production models and the boutique makers.

 

[Hapa]

One thing I have to throw in the mix is that, love or hate Fender the sheer size of the Corporation can not be compared to other companies like Carvin or Peavey. What works for them wont always work for a company 10 times larger.

Dealers are the reason why Fender is as big as it is, that and everyone buys a fender at some point...(I may flame myself writing for that). Going direct may have a small negative effect on the dealers but I see a lot more benefit. Ordering customs, hard to get/ rare, special orders will no longer be extra time/cost to the dealers. They can focus on selling MIM, MIA, non custom shops, squiers - the money makers for the stores. It keeps the trouble makers (us) dealing with the company direct with guys that I can only hope are specifically trained to talk musician. If we don't like it, the store doesn't have to deal with returns. Then strategically it will reduce sales to the small shops that take orders that start like "I just wanted a Fender built like...".

 

[Emprov]

Destroy the middle man! It's the American way!

There are a lot of small time shops that keep their lights on by selling Fender basses and guitars.

Makes me wonder if music shops of the not to distant future will be mainly showrooms that are subsidized by manufacturers.

 

[Malak the Mad]

If Fender decides to sell them using their MSRP price and not the music store street price then they wont be selling many basses

I suspect it would look like Invalid Link Removed, with a "FENDER DIRECT" price and the MSRP faintly below.

Personally, I'd love to have a Fender bass put together with to my specs without having to cobble one together from hither-and-yon (although that's kinda fun in it's own right ). That being said, I doubt I could actually afford one of their built-to-spec-american-made basses…

…but I am still quite curious nonetheless. Something to save up for, perhaps?

 

[srxplayer]

Destroy the middle man! It's the American way!

There are a lot of small time shops that keep their lights on by selling Fender basses and guitars.

I find more and more small shops no longer carry Fender because of the order / inventory requirements to be a "Fender Dealer". Some shops have a parts only deal but do not / can not order Fender guitars and basses. Redlands Guitar, small store in my city is like that. A couple of years ago I was talking to the owner of another small music store who I like to buy gear from and he said they were considering dropping Fender because of the pressure Fender puts on them to order larger quantities of inventory. They were the only small store around in the Inland Empire that kept a decent stock of Fender equipment.

Fender probably went this route due to the distribution being limited to G.C. and S.A. type of stores and smaller stores dropping the Fender line.

 

[godblender]

Let me guess...available colors: Olympic White, Black and 3 Tone Sunburst.

 

[Handyman]

Fender probably went this route due to the distribution being limited to G.C. and S.A. type of stores and smaller stores dropping the Fender line.

Step 1 - Create practices that make small dealers walk away
Step 2 - Sell to big box retailers that can't pay their bills
Step 3 - ????
Step 4 - Profit!

 

[SirMjac28]

It works for Carvin.

+1 People keep posting how they love Carvin's because of this very reason I think it's a great idea and long overdue.

 

[ShoeManiac]

I find more and more small shops no longer carry Fender because of the order / inventory requirements to be a "Fender Dealer". Some shops have a parts only deal but do not / can not order Fender guitars and basses. Redlands Guitar, small store in my city is like that. A couple of years ago I was talking to the owner of another small music store who I like to buy gear from and he said they were considering dropping Fender because of the pressure Fender puts on them to order larger quantities of inventory. They were the only small store around in the Inland Empire that kept a decent stock of Fender equipment.

Fender probably went this route due to the distribution being limited to G.C. and S.A. type of stores and smaller stores dropping the Fender line.

This is something Fender's been engaging in for a number of years. Lots of people have suspected that Fender was making their dealers do such a large annual inventory buy that they would then be unable to stock some of their competition. Top that off with FMIC's purchase of Kaman, and I think they've made a serious play at cornering a lot of the market.

 

[narud]

Destroy the middle man! It's the American way!

There are a lot of small time shops that keep their lights on by selling Fender basses and guitars.

from the small time music store owners i know, being a fender dealer hasnt kept their lights on but been a p.i.a.

 

[Bassamatic]

It all depends on the pricing. There are people that don't buy Fender because they don't have a dealer nearby. However, if I can get it cheaper online, I won't go to the dealer at all. If I was a dealer, I'd drop them.

This has been well tested over time, and also with other products with online vs. retail sales. You simply cannot undersell your dealers. If all the dealers quit them, where would you go to test or service a Fender?

It will be interested to see how this pans out.

I thought Carvin sold ONLY direct. Do they have dealers also? If it is possible to sell ONLY direct, the manufacturers make a TON more money, as they don't have sales reps to pay and dealer margins. You can sell fewer items and make more money.

SRX player is correct - Fender is squeezing the smaller dealers for larger and larger buy-ins every year to keep the dealership. My friend's little store is now Squier only, no more MIA or MIM and they keep raising the minimum. This is prevalent among many of the brands. Martin and Taylor are doing the same thing to him, making impossible demands. They are trying to get the small guys to make a huge commitment for the year to force them to sell more (this doesn't work).

 

[GregC]

There is no way on earth that FMIC is going to alienate their dealer network with a move like this. Whatever the details are, they've been worked out with the dealers in advance.

One thing I have to throw in the mix is that, love or hate Fender the sheer size of the Corporation can not be compared to other companies like Carvin or Peavey. What works for them wont always work for a company 10 times larger.

Dealers are the reason why Fender is as big as it is, that and everyone buys a fender at some point...(I may flame myself writing for that). Going direct may have a small negative effect on the dealers but I see a lot more benefit. Ordering customs, hard to get/ rare, special orders will no longer be extra time/cost to the dealers. They can focus on selling MIM, MIA, non custom shops, squiers - the money makers for the stores. It keeps the trouble makers (us) dealing with the company direct with guys that I can only hope are specifically trained to talk musician. If we don't like it, the store doesn't have to deal with returns. Then strategically it will reduce sales to the small shops that take orders that start like "I just wanted a Fender built like...".

+1 to these.

I very seriously doubt this is going to become Fender's main sales channel anytime in the near future. I'm hoping they offer a lot more options for not too much more $$.

 

[lpdeluxe]

Our local mom and pop store carried Gibson/Epiphone and Fender/Squier for years until the those companies decided to go with high volume dealers. Gibson was the first to go and more recently, Fender. Luckily I got my Classic '50s P, AVRI '57 and Jazzmaster Ultralight guitar amp there before Fender went away.

Anyhow, the store now carries G&L and Heritage, so all is not lost (and I have all the basses I want).

 

[Natropath]

GC is in big trouble and Fender has to come up with something to make up the 1/5-1/6 of product that GC moves for them. Going direct makes a ton of sense. And as for local retailers, I don't think there's one hard and fast rule why Fender hasn't succeeded with them.

 

[T-MOST]

Sounds like they are trying to get in on some of that "Carvin" money... especially the SB Basses which surely has taken a bite out of there market share these last 5 years.

 

[brownie_bass]

I find many of these Comments Interesting......but there's a down side to what's happened and WILL happen to the Music Business and affect YOU Directly. ...

IMO these are much like the arguments trotted out by car dealers for why the franchise laws need to remain in place, and we all know what a silly scam that is. There are lots of things that we all used to think absolutely had to be tried in person that are now routinely purchased online. The reality is that a decent return shipping policy and a serious home tryout probably beats the pants off of a few minutes of noodling around in the chaotic atmosphere of a music store for figuring out what works and what doesn't.

As for service... consumers have proven time and time again that, complain as we might about overseas call centers and whatnot, the vast majority of us are just not willing to pay a penny for enhanced service. Look at how everyone shops for flights: "Sort by Price - Ascending".

I for one am looking forward to the brave new world.

 

[dougjwray]

There is still no substitute for going into a store and trying out basses. However, the way FMIC got burned by GC, who can blame them for wanting to do more direct sales? It affects my opinion of Fender's business model in zero ways.

That's exactly right.

What I WOULD like to see is a actual Fender brick & mortar store in every city.

 

[two fingers]

Wow. NOBODY can WIN with you guys!

You piss and moan that your store doesn't have enough options in it for you to touch and hold. But you piss and moan when it is revealed that Fender forces dealers to buy a lot of inventory. You can't have it both ways.

You piss and moan that Fender doesn't offer a Pearl Pink Tele bass with a split P at the neck and a triple J at the bridge with active/passive and a birds eye maple neck and roasted gold plated frets (cuz EVERYbody would want one, right?) And then you piss and moan because they are now offering you everything you could ever want.

Glad I don't have to sell to you guys.