daredrummer
Gold Member
Dang the closest sam ash to me is in Jeff City, 100 miles away or so...
I disagree a bit here. My getting the stand for a good deal isn't my fault. There are actually shops on the internet that are selling for less in this case. The bigger picture is that my saving a few bucks on a stand gives me more elbow room to inject more of my money into the economy by being able to buy something else. If I paid the original $99 price, then that seriously cut into the money left over that I used to buy lunch for my wife and myself at another retail business who has people doing a job that sucks with a high turnover rate.
And regarding this high turnover rate that music retailers seem to be enjoying, after having worked for Guitar Center and a chain now dead, Goodman Music in California, the problem isn't the customers, it's the people they attract into the job. For years music instrument prices were negotiable, and the people attracted to this job were not sales-minded people, but the musician-dreamers we all are. We all want to be cool - so how cool is it to get to go a job where you get to play with stuff you intend to own? Or the story goes. Then these people figure out that to survive in it has more to do with your people skills ability to get them to buy stuff then it does your musical ability, and since California is an at will state decide to leave because the job isn't really for them, or the owner decides to fire them for not figuring that part out.
If the music retailers weren't making a profit, then he wouldn't have given me a break on the price. Why don't they just drop the price to their lowest profitable level and tell me that's as low as they could go then? At a Guitar Center just last week this happened to me: I was looking at their $35 straight cymbal stands and asked if he could do better. He was honest and said no. He even showed me on his computer he was only marked up 5% over cost. I bought them and he was being honest. Nobody else could sell them that low. The salesman wasn't a frustrated musician frustrated at me trying to get a deal, he just laid it on the line, there was nothing to haggle. If all music retailers ran their stores like all other retailers, there'd be less frustrated musicians working for them and customers wouldn't expect a better deal. It's interesting to go into a BestBuy these days.
So I was at a drum shop the other day, planning to try out some cymbals. I told the guy there that I might be interested in a new cymbal, and I went to try them out. Well, I was pretty sure I wasn't gonna buy a new cymbal, because I am planning on getting one used. But i still wanted to try them out, to see if i liked them or not.
Thanks for all the replies guys...
And to be specific, what I actually said was, "I'd like to check out a few rides"
I didn't really say I'd be interested in buying one.
And actually Travis this was guitar center! Do they have a reputation for being rude to customers who don't buy?
Fortunately there's a drum HQ nearby, which cover's most of my drum needs. They hardly have any paiste stuff though, which is why I went to GC.
Bo, your assumption that the dealer could still make a profit on that stand isn't necessarily true, or at least isn't the whole picture. Some places will sell certain items at price that they cannot afford to do, day in and day out, just to make you happy and keep you as a customer. But it isn't really accurate to think they could do that all the time. A 5% margin won't cover your cost of doing business, normally, for a brick and mortar store.
Make no mistake, I look for good deals, too. But I also understand that, when the main driving factor in a purchase is price only, then service will suffer. Sadly, most people buy on price alone - think WalMart, not really known for outstanding service, but still an enormous retailer - and to be competitive, businesses cut labor costs. The reality is, you will not have consistently excellent service when you've bought the cheapest labor available.
I agree with the people who say that a person working retail shouldn't be rude to a customer. But I also know there are a lot of customers who deserve it. Among them, in my opinion, are people who waste the time of a retailer and use that retailer's investment when they have no intention of buying there. Also, there are customers who think that, because they have money to spend, they have no responsibility to treat the retailer respectfully. The "I have the money, and without me you are shit, so you have to do whatever I want and I can treat you however I want" mentality. In my opinion, this type is just a crappy human being - at least this aspect of their personality is crappy. To me, it's the adult version of the playground bully. Anyone who works retail has met this person. Unfortunately, retailers have to learn to let that stuff roll off their backs somewhat. But it's tough.
Live Free or Die Man! I have always loved the great state of NH!LOL, you need to move to NH, we do not have most of those taxes......Yet!! the liberals are trying harder and harder every year though.
Stores around here are great to buy from, especially ones that are on the borders of Maine and Taxachusetts they make a living off of those states citizens having to shop here to avoid ridiculous sales taxes. maine even tried to pass a law here in NH saying that we had to ask for ID's and if they were from Maine we had to tax them...LOL how ridiculous that it even got to a vote but eh what are ya gonna do. Hopefully NH can hang on to it's policies for the rest of my life anyway.
if someone gave me an attitude at a store I would go back when I knew I was buying something and seek out another saleman and hope the A-hole was there watching me buy : )
Live Free or Die Man! I have always loved the great state of NH!
I spent every summer of my childhood at Lake Winnipesaukee. (I can even spell it without help!) LOL!
yup! Something to be said about buying a drum kit in Portsmouth vs Hartford or Boston eh?