Markbass distribution in the USA

[mgauge]

just go Aguilar

 

[BassyBill]

Hey, thanks for the cultural condescension! Feel better?

Please re-read my post. The parochialism I referred to is evident from the very existence of this thread (as it was originally titled). But I never said it was universal.

 

[MikeBass]

I still like waffles and you can get them just about anywhere.
And GC doesn't carry them!

 

[edbass]

Depends on how you define "house brand", I suppose. To me, that term would imply a product specifically made to be sold by a single retailer. The fact that you can only buy Markbass stuff from GC in the States doesn't make their amps fit that criterion, regardless of the predictable American parochialism some TB members regularly exhibit.

I bought my Italian made amp from a little place in Crumlin, South Wales. I don't think GC were part of the deal.

YMMV, of course.

Oops! Sorry for being a self absorbed American.

In my understanding "House Brand" is sort of marketing "slang" for an exclusive distribution agreement between a manufacturer and a retailer/distributor. It can be regional, national or international depending on the particular retailer/distributor's demographic reach.
Some products are the "house brand" for one retailer in one market, and also the "house brand" for an entirely different and unrelated retailer in another market; sometimes within a few miles of one another. Some manufacturers only manufacture "house brand" products, while others may market the same product under their own brand label in some markets while private labeling in others.
In the case of Markbass, Acoustic, etc. and GC,MF, Music 123, et al, I am pretty sure that the exclusive extends to anywhere the latter does business; I can't imagine that they would waste marketing dollars advertising for the competition.

I blame society. Its not our fault that we think that things sold exclusively at a store mean House Brand..

Actually, that's pretty much exactly what the term "house brand" means.

Thats just the way people market them. And anyone can buy factory direct. There are many ways to get around a bind like the one Guitar center has on MarkBass.

Where did you get that information?
Not Markbass gear (or any other brand I know of with a franchise/marketing agreement with a retailer/distributor). If Markbass were to direct ship gear to the US, I'll betcha that Bain Capital would use that "testicular grip" I referred to in my initial post to flat twist them off.

This is directly from the Markbass website:

"We do not sell direct from our factory in Italy, or direct from distributors. In some countries we are sold by online retailers, and in some cases the dealers in your country will be able to ship products to you. Check the "Find a Yellow Point Dealer" locator on our homepage at Invalid Link Removed for our dealer listing, and contact the dealer closest to you for more information. Yellow Point Dealers carry a large selection of Markbass products, always have them connected and ready to try out, and are able to explain the difference between Markbass amps and all the others!"

I don't know of any manufacturer that GC, or Sam Ash, or for that matter any retailer carries that will sell direct to the end user.
What manufacturer do you know of that will?

I guess I also don't understand why it matters. IMO, because of the affiliation with the Bain group, Markbass gear is readily available, can be demo'ed in any major US metro area, has a built in customer support network, and by virtue of Bain's deep marketing pockets is well known, and largely because of their ability to import them by the boatload affordable to the average player.

Pretty much a win (Markbass), win (GC et al), win (end user) situation as far as I can tell.

 

[steamthief]

Please re-read my post. The parochialism I referred to is evident from the very existence of this thread (as it was originally titled). But I never said it was universal.

I read your post six times before posting my remark, and I felt your comment was biased considering the context of the thread. The OP is an American, talking about the dominant US-based retailer's stranglehold on MarkBass, which then devolved into the notion of house brands. Every post prior to yours referred to the realities of Guitar Center and the US market, as well as shady small shop employees.

In this context, I just found it interesting that you saw "predictable American parochialism some TB members regularly exhibit." If a bunch of Canadians were talking about the exclusivity and house brand status of Traynor gear in Long & McQuade's, would you call out "predictable Canadian parochialism" if you could get the same amp from a retailer in the UK?

Not that I don't think it exists. If somebody posted, "MarkBass! I wouldn't even try out that Italian piece of crap! Remember Fiat? Fix it again, Tony? Nope, I'll stick with my dependable American Mesa, made in the good ol' USA!," that's parochialism.

 

[BassyBill]

Oops! Sorry for being a self absorbed American.

That's okay. We're kind of used to it here in the rest of the world now.

 

[wideyes]

I am not saying all GC people are dolts--just a noticeably large percentage of them. Some of the (few) smarter and better-informed ones happen to be TB'ers.

I'm gonna go ahead and apply that to ALL music store employees I've encountered throughout my years of playing many instruments. There are a few gems, and the majority of the rest of them are either uninformed or just plain unfun to deal with. I'm sure the wage has something to do with it. But if brick and mortal retail music stores ever wonder why they're losing sales to online sources, well... It's sad for them that I trust reviews on TB much more than I trust the opinions of music store employees.

 

[BassyBill]

I read your post six times before posting my remark, and I felt your comment was biased considering the context of the thread. The OP is an American, talking about the dominant US-based retailer's stranglehold on MarkBass, which then devolved into the notion of house brands. Every post prior to yours referred to the realities of Guitar Center and the US market, as well as shady small shop employees.

In this context, I just found it interesting that you saw "predictable American parochialism some TB members regularly exhibit." If a bunch of Canadians were talking about the exclusivity and house brand status of Traynor gear in Long & McQuade's, would you call out "predictable Canadian parochialism" if you could get the same amp from a retailer in the UK?

Not that I don't think it exists. If somebody posted, "MarkBass! I wouldn't even try out that Italian piece of crap! Remember Fiat? Fix it again, Tony? Nope, I'll stick with my dependable American Mesa, made in the good ol' USA!," that's parochialism.

Hey, apologies if I struck a chord. Not my intention. I just saw some aspects of this (especially the remarks by the guy in the store) as indicative of something that almost any visitor to this site from elsewhere in the world notices fairly quickly - some guys here (as I said, not all) seem to think the world begins and ends with the USA.

The idea that a European manufacturer like Markbass signing a distribution deal in the US with GC amounted to some sort of "takeover" (as the original thread title suggested) was one that I thought illustrated this pretty well. To adapt your own example, would a Canadian imply that Long & McQuade had "taken over" Markbass if those stores were distributing MB there? I suspect not.

For the record, the European market for Markbass is considerably larger than the North American one - not that one should draw any conclusion from that, of course.

Anyway, I don't feel my original post was inaccurate, as the fact remains that some Americans (again, by no means all) do exhibit a very parochial outlook, here on TB and elsewhere (I do acknowledge the fact that youre not disputing this). I honestly don't see that as in any way controversial. Maybe we're using the term differently? What you describe as parochial I would call jingoistic. Two nations divided by a common language...

 

[bongomania]

Oops! Sorry for being a self absorbed American.

Link Removed

 

[edbass]

For the record, the European market for Markbass is considerably larger than the North American one - not that one should draw any conclusion from that, of course.

Interestingly enough, although I have absolutely no hard data to confirm this, During this year’s NAMM I heard verbally from a source that I would consider "reliable" on the subject that well over 50% of current Markbass production goes directly to the Bain subsidiaries.

Usually end user price pricing is an indicator; of overall volume for a given market.

This is not scientific, but I did a little research and found this;

On the "Bass Direct UK" website, the "special" price on a MB Little Mark lll is 736 GBP, which equates to 1132.45 USD. The same piece is on the GC website for 599 USD. That equates to 389.45 GBP. Just to make sure that this apparent “half price” retail number wasn’t skewed by average household income factors, I also did a perfunctory check of household income and came up with 50233 USD for the US vs. 33682 USD for the UK (21892 GBP), so that would appear to widen the affordability gap even further, AND the gear doesn't even have to take the big expensive boat ride across the pond!

Which would seem to directly correlate to...

and largely because of their ability to import them by the boatload affordable to the average player.

Again, my figures are a result of 10 minutes on Google, but… How can you guys afford to buy them!

 

[BassyBill]

Interestingly enough, although I have absolutely no hard data to confirm this, During this year’s NAMM I heard verbally from a source that I would consider "reliable" on the subject that well over 50% of current Markbass production goes directly to the Bain subsidiaries.

Usually end user price pricing is an indicator; of overall volume for a given market.

This is not scientific, but I did a little research and found this;

On the "Bass Direct UK" website, the "special" price on a MB Little Mark lll is 736 GBP, which equates to 1132.45 USD. The same piece is on the GC website for 599 USD. That equates to 389.45 GBP. Just to make sure that this apparent “half price” retail number wasn’t skewed by average household income factors, I also did a perfunctory check of household income and came up with 50233 USD for the US vs. 33682 USD for the UK (21892 GBP), so that would appear to widen the affordability gap even further, AND the gear doesn't even have to take the big expensive boat ride across the pond!

Which would seem to directly correlate to...


Again, my figures are a result of 10 minutes on Google, but… How can you guys afford to buy them!

Pricing differences between here and the US are influenced by a huge range of factors, many of which we unfortunately can't discuss here, but the data you present are still very interesting. Thanks for taking the trouble to dig them out. It's refreshing and most unusual to see an American taking an interest in anything that goes on outside the USA!

(Just kidding, before anyone gets all upset.)

For the record, my comments on potential market size were based purely on population and therefore undoubtedly over-simplified (US + Canada population about 330m, EU 500m).

 

[nostatic]

Pricing differences between here and the US are influenced by a huge range of factors, many of which we unfortunately can't discuss here, but the data you present are still very interesting. Thanks for taking the trouble to dig them out. It's refreshing and most unusual to see an American taking an interest in anything that goes on outside the USA!

(Just kidding, before anyone gets all upset.)

For the record, my comments on potential market size were based purely on population and therefore undoubtedly over-simplified (North America population about 330m, EU 500m).

What is critical is that population and buying habits do not necessarily equate. And perception is everything from a business perspective. For better or for worse, many manufacturers in many different product areas view the US as the "make or break" and will price almost as a loss leader to get market share. This is especially the case for things that are manufactured outside of the EU or US as the production costs somewhat even out. If something is actually made in the EU, then I believe that it tends to be more expensive in the US relative to EU markets. If however an EU based company builds something in China, then often it can/will be priced lower for the US market.

 

[MikeBass]

Anyone want to take a shot at what I'm gonna have for breakfast tomorrow?????
http://www.sodahead.com/entertainme...ey_shrek-1.jpg&q=shrek+donkey+waffles#_slide1

 

[JimmyM]

Link Removed

this is what i stand for, if you know what i mean.

great discussion, btw! thread of the week!

btw, let's face it...americans can be a bit arrogant. one could say we've earned it, but the most arrogant among us really haven't

 

[OldogNewTrick]

That's okay. We're kind of used to it here in the rest of the world now.

+1, even tho I'm surprised you stuck your neck out this far, being a mod 'n all... this forum is not always that tolerant...

 

[Jeff Scott]

It's refreshing and most unusual to see an American taking an interest in anything that goes on outside the USA!

I have been a subscriber to the UK Bass Guitar Magazine since it's inception!

 

[steamthief]

Hey, apologies if I struck a chord. Not my intention. I just saw some aspects of this (especially the remarks by the guy in the store) as indicative of something that almost any visitor to this site from elsewhere in the world notices fairly quickly - some guys here (as I said, not all) seem to think the world begins and ends with the USA.

The idea that a European manufacturer like Markbass signing a distribution deal in the US with GC amounted to some sort of "takeover" (as the original thread title suggested) was one that I thought illustrated this pretty well. To adapt your own example, would a Canadian imply that Long & McQuade had "taken over" Markbass if those stores were distributing MB there? I suspect not.

For the record, the European market for Markbass is considerably larger than the North American one - not that one should draw any conclusion from that, of course.

Anyway, I don't feel my original post was inaccurate, as the fact remains that some Americans (again, by no means all) do exhibit a very parochial outlook, here on TB and elsewhere (I do acknowledge the fact that youre not disputing this). I honestly don't see that as in any way controversial. Maybe we're using the term differently? What you describe as parochial I would call jingoistic. Two nations divided by a common language...

Nah, jingoistic would be, "Nobody I play with will use any Eye-talian crap," as the amp is thrown across the room. To me, jingoistic would imply virulent and militant.

Thanks for hearing my take and your civility - it's refreshing to take part in a discussion on tb without it crumbling into a flamefest!

 

[BassyBill]

Thanks for hearing my take and your civility - it's refreshing to take part in a discussion on tb without it crumbling into a flamefest!

I'll certainly agree with that! Thanks.

 

[mongo2]

btw, let's face it...americans can be a bit arrogant.

Arrogance is apparently a globally available commodity and not in short supply.

 

[JimmyM]

Arrogance is apparently a globally available commodity and not in short supply.

true. i guess back before the american revolution the english were considered the most arrogant