Klarinet Archive - Posting 000730.txt from 2000/03

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausman@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] "Price of Used Buffetts Drops by ??%" Re: [kl] A
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 22:55:20 -0500

At 07:41 PM 3/23/2000 -0500, Topper <leo_g@-----.com> wrote:
>The established dealer base is not always the best route these days in my
>polling, and especially now with these very large mail order houses. What
>if you want to buy your clarinet from your favorite technician and they are
>not a dealer for that brand? What if you do not want a particular dealer or
>music megastore to handle your warranty work or are too far and you don't
>want to ship back and forth.
>
If by "best" you mean "cheapest," maybe not. But remember, some of the
large mail order houses, like Woodwind and Brasswind, ARE authorized
dealers! Our store, which used to be an authorized Buffet dealer, can
still sell you a Buffet clarinet, if our tech happens to be your favorite
person. We will not get a discount from B&H, though, so you will pay top
dollar for your preference. Can you buy a new Ford from your favorite
Chevy dealer?

>The dealer system is a highly political game of power and corruption where
>the little man (small store) or even the most skilled tech cannot compete
>and these are the people who are in danger. Smaller dealers are forced to
>purchase incredible quantities of instruments to be put in the discount
>percentage where the megastore can still sell at that cost and still make
>10% - 30% in some instances.
>
Smaller dealers face many problems, this being only one.

>We as players are not only paying the Sole Import agent but we are keeping
>stores in business which are driving out the mom and pop stores where we
>can takes our kids down to have a warranty repair and try out a new
>mouthpiece; or send our favorite best instrument to a well known dealer who
>has the skills but not the big inventory. We as Americans liked doing
>business with a person which we grew to trust or we moved on to find
>somebody we could--right in our neighborhood.
>
One of the things the limited dealer network does is help small dealers
STAY in business, by protecting them from competition by other nearby
dealers. You have to be able to sell the instruments at a profit or you
can't stay in business. Period.

> Clarinets are probably impossible to counterfeit and in the least very
>expensive and not worth the tooling. I do not feel the far east nations are
>at the level of producing a clarinet of French quality. If there is a worry
>about counterfeit Buffet I would hope there would be a verification process
>even with Grey Market goods.
>
Maybe not clarinets, but counterfeit electronics and watches are extremely
common. Same basic thing. Besides, Mr. and Mrs. Smith buying a clarinet
for little Sally probably couldn't tell a Buffet from a Chinese Skylark.
They could easily be fooled by an inferior product masquerading as a good
instrument. That is proven every day, every time someone orders an
instrument from the Sears/Penney's/Ward/etc. catalogs. The instruments
LOOK good! And why do you put the onus on the manufacturer to prove the
instrument is NOT theirs? If you bought it outside of their distribution
channels, it is up to YOU to prove that it IS!

Benjamin Maas (I think) wrote of his local, highly reputable dealer which
offers its own warrantee on clarinets they import themselves. That's OK
with me, I guess. As long as they are reliable and you are satisfied with
their service, great. But if something happens and they decide NOT to
cover it (or if the trouble occurs while you are on the road), the
manufacturer is under no legal obligation to do anything about it. You and
the dealer bypassed them and gave up the right to hold them responsible.
You'll have to sue the dealer for satisfaction.

Bill Hausmann bhausman@-----.com
451 Old Orchard Drive http://www.concentric.net/~bhausman
Essexville, MI 48732 http://homepages.go.com/~zoot14/zoot14.html
ICQ UIN 4862265

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is too loud.

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