In a recent post it was mentioned that Fender was going public offering shares of stock. In the article attached to the post Fender is cited as listing ebay and Craigslist as competitors along with Gibson. Could someone explain why?

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TOO MANY GUITARS, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Current Stable:
Fender Stratocaster MIM 07
Squire II Stratocaster MIK 89?
ESP LTD MH-100QM
Jackson KE3 Kelly MIJ

Hi cullenszoo: couple of things. First, that article also says:

Without being unkind to Mayer, neither he nor even Eric Clapton could reasonably be described as having "inspired" the Stratocaster. So what we deduce is that, while we know that Bloomberg does number amongst its employees people who definitely know their guitars, the writers of this particular article are not amongst them.

In other words, as with all journalism, we need to take what has been written with caution at least, and often with a truck-sized pinch of salt. An article like this isn't really constructed to withstand close textual analysis.

The other thing: I guess what they're getting at with the Ebay reference is that these days there is a more aggressive retail market than ever before. Market places such as Ebay and Craigslist keep a hard downward force on the prices for which new goods can be sold.

We know that Fender, like most manufacturers, issue "list" prices, or RRPs. But when was the last time we heard of anyone actually paying the list price for a guitar? A moment's search of internet sites such as Ebay finds us a row of competing prices for goods which makes it impossible for Fender to influence the price charged in shops in the way they were able to in the past.

All of this puts downward pressure on their income, making their trading conditions that much harder.

When the article describes Ebay and Craigslist as Fender's "competitors" in truth that is just sloppy prose (see my first point). However, I suspect my reading of what they're getting at is more or less right.

People have been puzzling over the interpretation of Leviticus for about 3000 years without arriving at a consensus. I doubt a hastily written article by journalists who likely have limited specific knowledge of their subject should be expected to bear detailed scrutiny.

Cheers - C

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My take of what the author is saying is not that Clapton or Mayer inspired the stratocaster. I believe what they're saying is Fender created stratocasters inspired by these artists.

Thank you Ceri, well said!

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you can save the world with your guitar one love song at a time it's just better, more fun, easier with a fender solid body electric guitar or electric bass guitar.

I can understand the idea of after market prices effecting new prices but I can't help but wonder if Fender didn't drink the kool-aid when it came to the bill wanting to stifle internet sales SOPA? something like that. Seems they should only list competitors as other companies both domestic and abroad that manufacture the same thing. Places like Ebay and Craigslist don't manufacture anything. In fact you could say Fender is calling it's customers competition. Because a lot of people bought their guitar, amp, etc, new and is now selling it. Often times to buy more expensive gear from Fender. Looks like they don't know how the after market works in the real world. Something isn't quite right there.
As far as Clapton etc, it's obvious which came first. Maybe they had a sports writer do the article.

_________________
TOO MANY GUITARS, TOO LITTLE TIME!

Current Stable:
Fender Stratocaster MIM 07
Squire II Stratocaster MIK 89?
ESP LTD MH-100QM
Jackson KE3 Kelly MIJ