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Re: GOOD BYE

Author: Jordan Selburn
Date: 2023-08-17 04:35

There are 2 sides to the "buy local" coin. Back in the 1990s (so pre-Internet), I was looking to buy a new pair of clarinets. I wanted to try out Buffet's then top model, the Prestige (this was before they had 471 different models). I live in one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United States, with a lot of live music and musicians, and not a single music store in the area had them in stock for me to try. One told me something similar to what Reuben posted above - "people come in and try an instrument, then they mail order it elsewhere."

Ok. ... but they followed it up with "We are happy to order you a pair if you want to buy them." In other words, they offered me the option to do business with a local shop IF:

- I was willing to pay the local shop full retail price rather than the discounted price I could get via mail-order.
- I was willing to accept whatever pair of clarinets the local shop happened to get (in a few weeks, maybe?), rather than getting a selection of 3 pairs of horns to try from the mail-order shop.
- I was willing to accept no option to return the clarinets to the local store if I didn't like them, rather than pay a small restocking fee to the mail order store if I didn't like any of the 3 pairs they sent.

Perhaps buying from the mail order shops was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

We had a similar situation when looking to buy my wife an instrument. In this case, a local shop had the make/model she was looking for, and it played well in the store's practice room. However, we wanted to try it in a more realistic acoustic environment, and to see how it blended in a group. We were willing to pay the full retail price for the horn.

- I asked about a weekend trial: no.
- I asked about a weekend trial if we gave them a 100% deposit: no.
- I asked if we could *rent* it for the weekend: yes, for $100 (this was a $4k instrument). OK, great!
- I then wanted to verify that if we bought the instrument, the rental fee would apply to the purchase price : no, we would have to pay the full retail price on top of the rental fee.

30 minutes later, I was back home and online, bought the instrument from a store in the middle of the country at a discount with a 1-week trial period, had it 3 days later and my wife has been happy with it ever since.

Jordan

Post Edited (2023-08-17 05:35)

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GOOD BYE new

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2023-08-10 22:37