Price increase question

pto
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1482Post pto
Mon Jul 08, 2019 4:04 am

i'll go for whatever allows Collings to stay in business; build at the same level of quality as we've come to expect; while perhaps throwing a few new fun surprises our way from time to time. as they say, don't judge another by what you know, but rather by what they know. i have no idea what constraints they may be subject to since Bill's passing. regarding stock, say, 3-years-old - there's the ol' BC signature on the label. i'll take it.:)

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elambo
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1483Post elambo
Mon Jul 08, 2019 5:49 pm

northernbreed wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 8:46 pm
elambo wrote: Sun Jul 07, 2019 7:28 pm Are they allowed to discount older guitars, after a year or so, or at some point? I can't imagine that a 3-year-old D2H still on the shelves *must* be sold for the same price as a fresher specimen.
Nope - that’s their new (dumb) rule. I talked to a dealer who had an 8 year-old NOS D model for sale, and the price was now exactly the same as current models. He said I could call on the phone and they’d discount it, but it had to be listed at current prices.
Wow! That is indeed a dumb rule. Why would anyone buy an 8 y.o. when the brand spanking new one is right next to it for the same price? It doesn't feel very "Collings-like" to me. And forcing dealers to deal via the phone is unnecessary and awkward.

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elambo
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1484Post elambo
Mon Jul 08, 2019 5:50 pm

Who is technically CEO of Collings Guitars at this point?

Greg Y
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1485Post Greg Y
Mon Jul 08, 2019 8:41 pm

As with any business partnership there are stipulations & agreements. I can see why, for example, guitar models need to be advertised at one price. It establishes what the price is. Having 3 D2H for sale, listed at different prices would lead to confusion. Eric, as for the " deal via the phone is unnecessary and awkward.".... buying guitars for me involves human interaction .....i like to talk to someone (knowledgeable) when spending thousands on a guitar. "Which in sounds better? Which has prettier wood? Any runout on the top? Are the necks the same?" All seems hard to achieve on line....

I don't know all the details of Collings new pricing plan, but unless we hear the details from Collings themselves, the "a dealer told me that..." has lots of room for omissions, misinformation & unintentional misinterpretation.

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elambo
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1486Post elambo
Mon Jul 08, 2019 9:37 pm

Greg Y wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 8:41 pm Eric, as for the " deal via the phone is unnecessary and awkward.".... buying guitars for me involves human interaction .....i like to talk to someone (knowledgeable) when spending thousands on a guitar. "Which in sounds better? Which has prettier wood? Any runout on the top? Are the necks the same?" All seems hard to achieve on line....
I was suggesting that it's awkward to force the *negotiations* to the phone. Certainly human interaction re: the guitar itself will never be awkward.
Greg Y wrote: Mon Jul 08, 2019 8:41 pmI don't know all the details of Collings new pricing plan, but unless we hear the details from Collings themselves, the "a dealer told me that..." has lots of room for omissions, misinformation & unintentional misinterpretation.
True. But we purchase from those dealers -- not from Collings -- so dealer policies are the protocol we must follow. If Collings states that their protocols are wrong, then we can suggest to the dealer that they get in touch with Collings for clarification.

pto
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1487Post pto
Mon Jul 08, 2019 11:54 pm

I don't know all the details of Collings new pricing plan, but unless we hear the details from Collings themselves, the "a dealer told me that..." has lots of room for omissions, misinformation & unintentional misinterpretation.
... and born out most recently by the quote in another post attributed to an email from Mr. Caruso. an error or two in that.

as for the statement that the rules are dumb, that's why they are Collings, and we're not:)

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Fidalgo
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1494Post Fidalgo
Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:08 am

The shop I worked in always raised prices on our in stock instruments when the companies implemented a price increase. A 2015 OM1A, that is still clean with no shop wear, is no different than the 2019 OM1A hanging next to it. There is no "sell by" date on a guitar. It all comes down to which one the customer prefers. I have seen many instruments hang around for awhile and get passed over as others come and go. Then a customer shows up who is completely inspired by it and can't wait to take it home. There were times when I thought that a particular guitar or mandolin was just waiting for that specific person to find it. We also usually had a couple special guitars stashed in back for one reason or another. Those could be around awhile, but their distant past born on dates never precipitated a beyond standard discount.

We were very strict on the 10% discount policy set forth by Bill. We knew of one store that lost Collings due to one too many discounts beyond 10%. Our boss was not willing to risk that. If we had to sweeten the deal, it never came off the price of the guitar. It came in discounted or free add on sales: strings, straps, capos, books, DVDs, etc.

Greg Y
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1495Post Greg Y
Wed Jul 10, 2019 3:07 pm

Well put Fidalgo. Thank you

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elambo
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1496Post elambo
Wed Jul 10, 2019 6:58 pm

Fidalgo wrote: Wed Jul 10, 2019 11:08 am The shop I worked in always raised prices on our in stock instruments when the companies implemented a price increase. A 2015 OM1A, that is still clean with no shop wear, is no different than the 2019 OM1A hanging next to it. There is no "sell by" date on a guitar. It all comes down to which one the customer prefers.
I have never asked the model year of any particular new guitar, I just go with the best of them, in my opinion. There are, however, some people who are bothered by this and will only buy the newest iteration. Unlike cars, guitars don't tend to add/swap new features every year, nor do they advertise their model year so clearly on the sticker, so there's less of a difference between 2018 and 2019 and it's even less obvious which year the guitar you're holding was built.

But we all know that a guitar which has sat in a showroom for 5 years is a far greater risk than one which arrived a week ago. It may have been repaired, it may exhibit hidden damage, it may have blemishes which we won't notice until we get home, etc. In general, an older product which has sat on the shelf for years is considered less valuable than the brand new version. This is why I think Collings should allow deeper discounts for "special case" older guitars. Though, from what I'm gathering, there are dealers who will do so if you don't make big noise about it afterward.

Flakyfoont
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Re: Price increase question

Post: # 1516Post Flakyfoont
Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:27 pm

Hi. Can anyone provide the new price list?
Thanks,
Tom

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