How much will Guitar Center come down on a price ???

[John Bigboote]

So, it looks like they will price match and give you some additional money to cover taxes (the 10%).

That 10% is of the *difference,* not of the purchase price. IOW, if they're selling something for $500 and someone else is advertising it for $450, they'll cut the price by $50, then subtract another $5 (10% of the $50), for a net of $445. They won't match, then knock another 10% off the price.

-jb

 

[cassanova]

Some tips to remember when dealing with sales reps:

1. Its your money, you hold the power not them.

2. Be willing and prepared to walk out of the store if you don't think you're getting a good deal. You'd be surprised at how quickly they change their mind when they know you have cash and will leave.

3. Unless you think its a good deal then do not accept the first offer they make. Counter with a reasonable lower offer.

 

[BigDaveyTwinkle]

plus one to that....spending money helps get you a better price on futures!

al

My locally owned shop is forever giving me freebies (T-shirts, picks, strings) for being a good customer but the Guitar Center where I've also dropped big money just looks at me like another sheep to be fleeced. GC has never done anything nice for me, and it's not that I am seeing different faces/salesmen that don't recognize me ...

 

[skb5string]

Figure what you think is fair to pay...in this case if they are asking $549 street, then go in, ask for a MGR first! Sit down and play it for about 15 20 min. Then go find the MGR again and tell him, your interested and ask what his bottom line is...( now he's not going to give you the "real bottom line" just be aware of that) and what ever it is say $500.00, tell him you could do say $475.00..see what happens......NEVER PAY STICKER. In this econ pricing is to OUR (Customer) advantage. Name your Price! Be firm and walk out with your goods!

 

[Davyo]

Thank you all for the input so far to my thread question.

Very helpful

Cheers
Davyo

 

[Foamy]

They will still cut a deal. But, it is usually not the kid runnign around the floor with whom you'll deal. So a couple things to keep in mind....

First, don't make the sales kid feel like an idiot - don't insult him. You already know he cannot make the deal, so try something like 'Hmm, I like this bass. I was thinking more along the lines of $nnn. Do you think you or your manager can work that out for me?'
That takes him off the hook directly and gets the manager involved up front.

Next, know what a "fair" price is. You should be willing to pay a fair price. Of course, a steal is a steal, and you may start there. But often, this can make them not take you seriously, so you may not get to counter with a "fair" offer.

Finally, I'll echo what's been said because it is important. Be ready to walk out. And then walk out. No need to wave cash - that just makes you look like an idiot. Just take your business elsewhere for this purchase. Try again next purchase.

 

[rbonner]

Figure what you think is fair to pay...in this case if they are asking $549 street, then go in, ask for a MGR first! Sit down and play it for about 15 20 min. Then go find the MGR again and tell him, your interested and ask what his bottom line is...( now he's not going to give you the "real bottom line" just be aware of that) and what ever it is say $500.00, tell him you could do say $475.00..see what happens......NEVER PAY STICKER. In this econ pricing is to OUR (Customer) advantage. Name your Price! Be firm and walk out with your goods!

Yeah this is one way... When you are playing, keep turning the volume up... When the Sales goofs come over and tell you to turn it down, do it and then turn it back up... Keep doing this until the manager comes over... Then tell him you make the price good enough and I'll buy this...

If he throws you out order it online and get free shipping.

BOB

 

[xbrandonx]

No need to wave cash - that just makes you look like an idiot. Just take your business elsewhere for this purchase. Try again next purchase.

no need to physically pull cash out, but offering to pay cash can help. Credit cards charge a percentage of the transaction and if they can avoid paying that they'll have a little easier time coming down on it.

I offered that once on a deal that I was made on a used bass, with something like "can you knock off another $20 or so in cash" (there wasn't much other haggling I asked how much they could sell it for and just dropped another $20 off it for the cash offer) When he said no I pulled my card out and he asked about cash and I told him I'd spend the cash elsewhere. It seemed like he was close to saying ok but then ran my card anyways.

 

[Eminor3rd]

All of you people get joy from saving $25 and ripping all of the commission out of the hands of the people that are working there trying to make a living. Buy used or save the money. Jesus.

 

[xbrandonx]

All of you people get joy from saving $25 and ripping all of the commission out of the hands of the people that are working there trying to make a living. Buy used or save the money. Jesus.

didn't know guitar center pays on commission. The one local to me the customer service really doesn't show.

And I haggle more on used stuff then new because they should have a little more headroom to wiggle on used stuff. Thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever bought ANY of my bass stuff new. Ever.

 

[ricknote]

I worked for GC years ago. I
t's great that you want to get a better price.
But keep in mind that the kid your staring at is working on
commission. Every dime you hammer him or her on is coming out
of their pocket.
They don't get paid squat as it is!
If your a poor musician, I get it. But if you have a day job and make a good living,
take a little out of the collection plate on Sunday and just pay the
sticker price for gods sake.
You might make a friend and at the very least you might put some
milk on a kids table.
Just had to weigh in on the other side for the less fortunate.
I've been there...

RT

 

[Crazyeelboy]

My GC experience is pretty simple - we look it up online and use the lowest advertised price. They are happy to do it and it takes about two minutes. Then again, I am probably the easiest sale they have - I know what I want, I pick it out and buy it. Also, I almost never leave a store without buying at least something (no matter how small).

I don't understand why so many people hate GC - my experience has always been good (I generally go to the store in Tampa) and I look forward to popping in.

 

[Munjibunga]

I bought a new Mustang Bass at GC a couple months ago. It sells for $839 on line. This one was marked $649 and I bought it for $519. It's a long story, but they forgot to mark the bass up when Fender raised their prices, as they did for every other Fender in the store. It had been on the wall since before the price bump, so I knew they didn't have more than about $400 in it. I didn't feel too bad about it.

You can still talk them down on prices, depending on how bad they want to make a sale. MAP is usually about 70% of list. I can ususally get them down close to 60% of list. That's about a 14% discount off the advertised price.

 

[Eminor3rd]

didn't know guitar center pays on commission. The one local to me the customer service really doesn't show.

And I haggle more on used stuff then new because they should have a little more headroom to wiggle on used stuff. Thinking about it, I'm not sure I've ever bought ANY of my bass stuff new. Ever.

I worked at Sam Ash for summers during college. There was a Guitar Center right next door, so you can imagine how that went for haggling and price matching. At that time (almost two years ago) they definitely paid on commission at GC, as I had friends that worked there, but it's possible things have changed. They definitely still pay commission at Sam Ash.

The margin on the big name items isn't as high as you might think. Every sales rep has the authority to knock of tax, but it KILLS the commission rate. Any significant discount beyond that and it isn't worth the trouble to sell. But, in a crappy economy, you have to take every penny you can get, even if you feel like a hobo peddling garbage on a corner because the customer insists on saving $7 on a $200 guitar. The customer doesn't know (or just doesn't care) that that $7 means a lot more to the struggling salesperson who is trying to break his weekly base sales than it does to the customer.

Profit margins in retail are very low. I hate when people feel like stores OWE them a huge discount just because they've bought something in the past. It's business, and the salespeople don't make jack. You're not a "valuable customer" if you go in and bust everyone's balls to give you something at purchase price. You're just an arrogant consumer trying to nickel and dime at other people's expense. You're not "sticking it to the man," you're just making it harder for the workers to get by. And these are guys that are making a crap of a lot less money than you.

I fully understand not being able to afford something you want. Fortunately, with the internet, it's easier to buy used than ever. The prices on used stuff are better than you can screw Sam Ash/GC over for anyway. If you insist on haggling for a deal, do it on the used market. This widespread ball-kicking of the retailers and the manufacturer's is NOT good for the industry, it's making everyone poorer. If this trend continues, it will lead to them NOT being able to provide the gear in the first place. If you don't believe me, do a TB search for LOUD TECHNOLOGIES.

Anyway, this rant was not directed at you personally, xbrandonx.

 

[thirtypoint87]

Three words: Music-Go-Round.

They buy/sell used gear so the prices are good, and -in my experience- seem to have a more relaxed environment and a more knowledgeable staff. I can't stand dragging my 34 year old @$$ to GC to have yet another brand new 19 year old saleskid tell me "I don't know, bra" (or "bro") when I ask a rudimentary question.

 

[Munjibunga]

The margin on the big name items isn't as high as you might think.

That's right. It's higher. Most of the high-volume stuff, like Fender guitars, is "keystoned." That is, wholesale is 50% of retail (list). So a $1,200 (list) bass cost the store $600. They sell it at 70% of list, or $840, leaving a gross profit of $240, or 40% gross profit (240/600). Now, they have to pay labor and overhead (rent, insurance, shrink, etc.) so they aren't making that much profit in the end, but they have quite a bit of room to move.

Also, GC has tremendous buying power, which translates into the ability to negotiate even better deals from manufacturers. My wife worked at Price Club (now Costco) for many years in merchandising. They put many vendors on the map and, if the vendor lost Price Club as an account, it might mean going under.

 

[Eminor3rd]

That's right. It's higher. Most of the high-volume stuff, like Fender guitars, is "keystoned." That is, wholesale is 50% of retail (list). So a $1,200 (list) bass cost the store $600. They sell it at 70% of list, or $840, leaving a gross profit of $240, or 40% gross profit (240/600). Now, they have to pay labor and overhead (rent, insurance, shrink, etc.) so they aren't making that much profit in the end, but they have quite a bit of room to move.

Also, GC has tremendous buying power, which translates into the ability to negotiate even better deals from manufacturers. My wife worked at Price Club (now Costco) for many years in merchandising. They put many vendors on the map and, if the vendor lost Price Club as an account, it might mean going under.

Well, those aren't the numbers that I saw. That doesn't mean you're wrong, just that all of the overhead is already factored into to what the computer told us was "cost." Come to think of it, when we had items that were damaged, we had to decide what to discount them to based on a magic number called "replacement cost." I assume that number was the base of the 50% markup you're of which you're speaking. The "cost" that I saw showed Fender markups of more like 17% on average.

Nevertheless, it doesn't change my point, which is that the peons get peed-on when you drive back and forth between GC and Sam Ash to haggle your item down 7%. I know, I can't stop this behavior, I'm just trying to point out that everyone's "smart buying" is actually affecting people negatively, and it isn't just the corporate scumbags. Hopefully this knowledge, coupled with a realization that you can get way better deals used anyway, will help slow the extinction of shopping for musical instruments at stores and stop people from pulling money from the pockets of minimum wage salespeople.

 

[Pitbull Growl]

Also, GC has tremendous buying power, which translates into the ability to negotiate even better deals from manufacturers. My wife worked at Price Club (now Costco) for many years in merchandising. They put many vendors on the map and, if the vendor lost Price Club as an account, it might mean going under.

And that's what causes the "Post-Sam" WalMart economic decline we currently suffer. The retail outlet becomes "the customer that's always right". Their volume buying power enables them to dictate the price that they're willing to pay per unit. The manufacturer doesn't want to lose the acct. so they send their manufacturing overseas to reduce production costs. (think Ampeg) As a result you're forced to accept lower wages @ work because you become more expendable due to the increase of unemployed workers here willing to do your job for less than you. In the end, the $75 you save on a piece of gear costs you an extra $10K/yr. (The ironic thing is: This is a business model developed by a company who's founder was dedicated to the preservation of the American workforce and originally sold only goods manufactured here in America.)

My point to my li'l rant = You're better off buying used and putting the $ in the pocket of your neighbor rather than spending your hard earned cash overseas during these tough economic times. [/soapbox]

OP- sorry for derailing the thread. I'll STFU now.

 

[rpsands]

I worked at Sam Ash for summers during college. There was a Guitar Center right next door, so you can imagine how that went for haggling and price matching. At that time (almost two years ago) they definitely paid on commission at GC, as I had friends that worked there, but it's possible things have changed. They definitely still pay commission at Sam Ash.

The margin on the big name items isn't as high as you might think. Every sales rep has the authority to knock of tax, but it KILLS the commission rate. Any significant discount beyond that and it isn't worth the trouble to sell. But, in a crappy economy, you have to take every penny you can get, even if you feel like a hobo peddling garbage on a corner because the customer insists on saving $7 on a $200 guitar. The customer doesn't know (or just doesn't care) that that $7 means a lot more to the struggling salesperson who is trying to break his weekly base sales than it does to the customer.

Profit margins in retail are very low. I hate when people feel like stores OWE them a huge discount just because they've bought something in the past. It's business, and the salespeople don't make jack. You're not a "valuable customer" if you go in and bust everyone's balls to give you something at purchase price. You're just an arrogant consumer trying to nickel and dime at other people's expense. You're not "sticking it to the man," you're just making it harder for the workers to get by. And these are guys that are making a crap of a lot less money than you.

I fully understand not being able to afford something you want. Fortunately, with the internet, it's easier to buy used than ever. The prices on used stuff are better than you can screw Sam Ash/GC over for anyway. If you insist on haggling for a deal, do it on the used market. This widespread ball-kicking of the retailers and the manufacturer's is NOT good for the industry, it's making everyone poorer. If this trend continues, it will lead to them NOT being able to provide the gear in the first place. If you don't believe me, do a TB search for LOUD TECHNOLOGIES.

Anyway, this rant was not directed at you personally, xbrandonx.

Man I call shenanigans on this. Seriously. The margins are higher than you, the salesman think, and you're getting stuck to by your employer - not by us folks who insist on getting the most out of their dollars.

We work damn hard for our dollars too - hell, who knows, the schmoe you deride for "sticking it to the poor salespeople" may have worked hard to get to the point where he can afford music gear, and want to get the most for his money.

You don't want to give up some of your commission to make a sale? Learn to be a better salesperson or get a real job. I know guys who take home 50k/year selling gear peddling overpriced crap to idiots and selling extended warranties.

It's a pretty damn good living for a completely unskilled occupation, even if your commission isn't always the best. Maybe you should go try comparing other jobs with the same skill requirement as a GC employee? Try being a gas station clerk or something with no commission and 8 bucks an hour.

 

[Buster Brown]

All of you people get joy from saving $25 and ripping all of the commission out of the hands of the people that are working there trying to make a living. Buy used or save the money. Jesus.

That's ridiculous. (1) I, while not trying to keep ANYONE from making a living, am there for ME, not the salesperson. (2) If said salesperson can't make the deal, so be it. The store AND the salesperson loses the sale.

Here's an idea for you. Go buy a car. Pay sticker and then, on your way off the lot, listen to them laughing at you......