I'm looking at buying an American Standard and the best price I can find listed is $999. How negotiable are the listed prices? I imagine it varies from place to place, but does anyone have any experience negotiating with any of the big stores or online retailers? Or know what kind of price would be reasonable to offer for a new Am Std? Thanks for your input.

Hi 36 chambers,

I often shop at GC and IRC and they both will deal, and usually at least 10% off, even more of a discount if you but a lot from them (which I do). Many places will also have good used gear for even less. It seems to be a buyers market now, so most every place will deal some. $900 wouldn't be unreasonable to offer for a new Am Std, you have to be willing to walk away though, if they don't want to deal. Some salesmen are more willing to deal than others.

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---> "The amp should be SWITCHED OFF AND UNPLUGGED before you do this!" <---

Por favor, disculpe mi español, no se llega a la práctica con mucha frecuencia.

Once you understand how the manufacturers' mark-up works it's a lot easier to make a reasonable offer.

Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

yea, 999. seems to be the number, 500 more would get you a deluxe...the s-1 pickup switching is very nice, and color choices ...gr8 guitar. either choice is a good one. stores arent in the business to save us money, they wont bargain to much on premium guitars.

+1

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"C'est parti mon Kiki "

Care to enlighten me?

i'd Say Most Music Stores Will Negotiate If They Want To Move Product. First Forget List Price It Isn't Real. I Usually Just Look At Any Tag Then Ask If They Can Do Any Better. If It Doesn't Work I Bring Up A Shop That Will Deal. That Usually Works. If It

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Vintage Hotrod '57 Strat, 81 G&L L2000 Series E Bass, Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Not me, pal -- you think I wanna get banned......again?



Arjay

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"Here's why reliability is job one: A great sounding amp that breaks down goes from being a favorite piece of gear to a useless piece of crap in less time than it takes to read this sentence." -- BRUCE ZINKY

Post Got Cut Off... If It Doesn't Work I Walk. Look At Every Shop That You Can That Has What You Want Before You Buy. IE Do Your Homework Before You Buy.

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Vintage Hotrod '57 Strat, 81 G&L L2000 Series E Bass, Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

Read a book on how to negotiate/bargain from the library it will save you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. If you get good at it people don't even know your doing it.

If I was to give anybody the most important piece of advice.

Don't think you have to buy several items as a package deal to get a discount.
Especially if you don't know what the extra items cost or if they are consumables (with a high markup). This only makes more profit for the stores (not you) it is a sales technique that is part of upselling.

e.g. a discount on a guitar and then paying MSRP on an amp = pointless

The only times you want to negotiate extra items in the same deal is when they are very expensive items (where the premium your paying works in your favor) or if you are leaving them with a very slim profit margin or purchasing multiples in bulk.

When there is labor included in the deal often (like installing pickups) its best to negotiate that on the spot. If you go in later on they may try to recoup profits if they remember you or sometimes if it's a small dollar amount there is no incentive for them to discount.

Most people are content with a free pack or strings and a string winder when they buy guitar. Me I'll take the big cash discount and buy those later for $8.

All prices are negotiable.
10% at GC is easy to get by asking. You can usually get 15-20.

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-T

"You can't spend what you ain't got, you can't lose what you ain't never had" ~ McKinley Morganfield

Where I Live We Have Over 15 Independant Music Stores And GC'S. The Average Savings Is $500 Off List. If You Ask You Can Get $600 Off At Most Places. It Really Does Pay To Shop Around.

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Vintage Hotrod '57 Strat, 81 G&L L2000 Series E Bass, Fender Musicmaster Bass Amp.

I'll take 5 Squier Bullet Strats for free and keep the change.

When I'm buying a guitar, my opening offer is 50% of list. Once they get over acting like they're insulted, we settle on a price.

Depending on how expensive the item is (thus more wiggle room) and how hungry they are to sell (i.e. if ther are 5 people lined up behind you to buy the same thing, forget it). I try to settle somewhere around 60% of list as the price I'm willing to pay.

List price $1,500, I'll try to pay around $900 for it. If they won't come down to the $900 price, I try to get some "incentive" thrown in as freebies to come closer.

Not all things work that way, some items are hot sellers and there's no negotiation, some sotres have a different profit margin calculation and won't come down that much.

It all really depends but the only way one knows is to ask.

One tip, don't be nasty or arrogant. Just ask. If they say no, move on to another store but don't leave angry or get into a debate. Just politely say you'll have to think about it and be nice.

Price negotiation should never be an angry thing. It's nothing more than a little match of tug of war between peers. Don't ruin your day or the day of the salesman over a few dollars. If they won't / can't meet your price, be friendly, and go away and think about it. You may learn they were giving you the best price and if you go back to that store, you don't want to walk in eating a bunch of crow. (been there, done that and didn't like the taste).

It's really simple. The store doesn't make money until they sell it. Sitting on their shelf is costing them money and the faster they turn the inventory, the better off they are. They are motivated to sell the item to you and really (usually) are not out to cheat you (yes, sometimes, but for the most part, no). They just want to make a buck the same as you want to save a buck.

Likewise, you shouldn't expect them to take a loss just for you. It's a gentleman's game and when played by gentlemen, there's nothing wrong with it. When it's all said and done, it's really not worth getting yourself all worked up over $50.00 and it's not worth messing up someone else's day over the same. I've seen haggling turn ugly when there was just $25.00 difference on a $1,000 purchase. Silly really when you think about it.

Just my .02 worth.

good info jeff, very good.
ok, i bought a tele, the GC exclusive, from a guy
that worked for a couple that either had a huge interest of actually owned a local GC.
its the same tele im always braging about, you know the one. i bought it for like
$250. it was weeks maybe a month or so old at the time. i felt like i was ripping the guy off in a way and asked him if he was sure he wanted to sale it and at that price. he said he did so i bought it. he later told me that he still made money on it at the price he sold it to me at. not a lot mind you but still a small profit was made, but nothing to brag about.
the couple he worked for let him buy 1 guitar a yr at cost from them while rest of the yr he got big discounts. that tele normally sold for $499.00 so this should tell you something.

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63supro
"The good thing is in a club situation, most of the patrons are trashed and really can't tell the difference."