 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-10-05 05:36
I have decided to go ahead with the purchase of new horn and am going to buy the best instrument I can. I know I can not currently do justice to this instrument but with a bit of hard work who knows (besides my brain tells me that if I have the best I have no excuses and hopefully limitless possibilities). I, being a rather meek individual have given my spouse the job of finding me the best deal possible. What I want to know is who makes up the ludicrous "Recommended Retail Price"? So far we have been able to get stores to cut a whopping 33% off this price which is a huge saving when you are talking thousands of dollars worth of instrument. Is the retail price a joke or do some unsuspecting people actually pay that much for an instrument?
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Author: Accompaniments for Woodwinds
Date: 1999-10-05 11:54
Many do pay retail, but in a competitive market there are discounts. It's like a car purchase - you can pay retail, or there are various incentives to bring the price down. If someone rents to buy - that is where the real markup is - folks often pay that $35 month for 3 years and end up paying a lot more than retail for the instrument. Typical store discount is anywhere from 10-20% off retail. At Pressers Music (publisher) they sell Clarinet reeds - AT LIST. You can end up paying $35 for a box of reeds if you don't know prices.
http://www.mytempo.com
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Author: Doug P.
Date: 1999-10-05 15:17
I live in a city of about 100,000 where the local music store does indeed charge the "retail" price, especially for the beginning music students. It's scary when one thinks that parents are paying more than $500 for a plastic Bundy!
Whenever possible I let people know about the discount houses. By the way, as a general rule the cost to a dealer for an instrument is about 55% of the retail price, the 45% markup supposedly being needed for overhead expenses.
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Author: William Fuller
Date: 1999-10-05 15:23
I buy most of my "professional" supplies at Cascio Music in New Berlin, Wi. (nationally known as "Interstate Music") and always get a discount from retail. The Brasswind-Woodwind is also a good source for discounted purchases and is a national enterprize. You should be able to get a top line professional clarinet for about a thousand dollars less than the advertised "retail" price.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-10-05 16:57
I use market competition as much as possible to bring the odds into my favor. Remember the phrase "caveat emptor" a.k.a. "let the buyer beware"? It still applies today, perhaps even more than ever. That's why I like hitting the Web when it's time to go shopping, especially for big ticket specialty items, such as musical instruments. Even if I go shopping in my metro area, all I have to do is mention one or two of the popular web site's names and the retailers get concerned. Then, when I drop a print-out page with a price quote on their counter, the local retailer starts to get really nervous. I find it really amazing how much power accurate information gives me in a negotiation. That's the power of the Web for us common consumers. Use it whenever you can.
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Author: Gary Van Cott
Date: 1999-10-05 21:27
Doug P. wrote:
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. . . By the way, as a general rule the cost to a dealer for an instrument is about 55% of the retail price, the 45% markup supposedly being needed for overhead expenses.
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In my experience this is too low with the possible exception of something like an R-13 (lots of competition). Generally about 60 percent of the list price is the best you can get.
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Author: Doug P.
Date: 1999-10-05 23:03
I probably should have put a range of percent for the dealer's price because it does vary from instrument to instrument, e.g. the dealer's cost for either an A or Eb soprano clarinet is a higher percentage than for a Bb. Another factor that changes what the dealer pays from year to year even on the same "retail" is the fluctuation of the US dollar in relation to foreign currency (read: French Franc). All in all, 55% or 60% is still quite a difference from the 100% some dealers think can be charged.
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-10-06 01:15
The internet is wonderful for the consumer. It was by searching on the net that I managed to get the first significant drop in price from a retailer. I just wish we had your American prices in Australia and more of our major retailers had internet sites.
The instrument I am interested in also has very low turn over being a Besson Sovereign tenor horn (I play in a brass band on weekends and teach clarinet during the week). There are only 2 in the country and there is only one distributer. The company I have ended up buying through had the biggest buying power and were able to get the best price. It will still cost me a bomb but I will enjoy playing it every day for years. My band master thinks I'm crazy but I have spoken to him and the only way I will get a decent instrument in the forseeable future is to buy my own.
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Author: Sarah Ann
Date: 1999-10-06 02:17
My parents payed 1,895(and not a demo) for my brand new R-13 and the list price was 3,900(something like that)! The music store has to keep up with mail-order businesses so they mark the prices down. I think it was a pretty good deal and I have been looking around for awhile.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-10-06 17:24
Counter to the arguement in this thread about retail prices, let me make a plausible reason for quoting the retail price. The only time I'd quote the exhorbitant retail price is for insurance purposes. If you have a good horn and you are an amateur player, you might want to consider getting "all risk" insurance for it. Typical losses such as theft, fire, flood, etc. are covered under this type of policy, obviously. But "all risk" means that even if my dog chews on it, I can get a new horn. Many home insurance companies will write a specific subpolicy for expensive musical instruments for amateur players (my intermediate grade and pro grade clarinets qualified for the special policy). I'm paying a higher insurance rate for the full retail replacement price of my premium pro-grade horn just to make sure I can fetch another one just like it under the worst case retail scenario. In this case, the extra few dollars per year for full retail price and "all risk" insurance coverage is worth it to me.
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-10-06 23:42
Point taken for the insurance reasons but aren't these instruments then over insured. If I get my pro grade clarinet and tenor horn insured on the recommended retail price it will come to just over $10 000.00. Seems a little ridiculous when I only paid half this much for them.
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Author: Dee
Date: 1999-10-07 00:23
Merry wrote:
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Point taken for the insurance reasons but aren't these instruments then over insured. If I get my pro grade clarinet and tenor horn insured on the recommended retail price it will come to just over $10 000.00. Seems a little ridiculous when I only paid half this much for them.
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I think that the point is that if you had to replace them immediately and did NOT have time to shop around, you might find that your only choice might be to pay full retail so that having them insured for full retail does make sense.
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Author: paul
Date: 1999-10-07 18:08
Full replacement retail price premium (i.e. $5000 coverage): $60/yr
Wholesale (or mail order via Internet) price premium (about half the above dollar figure): $50/yr
The difference in premiums for about twice the price allowable for a replacement is nearly trivial. You see, it's not necessarily the horn that I'm insuring. Rather, it's the investment. How much insurance I buy is not necessarily tied directly to the price I actually paid for the horn. Rather, it's exactly what Dee said. I'm covered up to the worst case scenario - full retail price. As long as there is a realistic basis for the price that can be independently verified and I'm willing to pay the premium, my insurance company is okay with it. Be sure to check with your own insurance company to get accurate quotes on premiums. Most of all, if you suffer a loss, make sure the insurance company doesn't talk you out of your full benefit that you paid for dollar-for-dollar. It's a contract and it's your job to see that it's enforced to your full benefit. For instance, if I suffered a loss with my Buffet Festival, I will refuse to accept the insurance company's offer of an R-13 as a suitable replacement. They are not the same horns, especially in price.
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Author: Al
Date: 1999-10-07 23:12
I think Sarah Ann has the right idea. NO ONE should pay $3,900.00 for a new R-13 in the US. The price she paid is just about right. There sources for $1,895.00 that anyone in this country in this country can access.
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Author: Merry
Date: 1999-10-08 04:32
Definitely I see your point. The Buffet festival and R-13 aren't even close in value. The insurance company should provide you with a replacement clarinet exactly the same as the one you lost not merely the same brand. Getting instruments insured here is a tricky business. There are just so many ways for the insurance company to get out of giving you your money. I will have to get my instruments insured so I am going to have to do a bit of research first.
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