Dealer price gouging?

murtaghstyle · Post by **murtaghstyle** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 1:59 pm

So I called a dealer about an instrument that they have in stock and they quoted me more than 2x the street price of the instrument but said they could order one for me for the street price with the usual 2-3 year wait time.

Is this breaking any dealer agreements with ric?

Scastles · Post by **Scastles** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:01 pm

What model? And when you say 'street price', are you referring to the normal price a retailer would sell it for?

dswp · Post by **dswp** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:02 pm

I am not a 100% sure about the dealer's agreement Santiago, however I do not believe that a dealer is restricted to any guide line of what they can charge for an instrument.

jimk · Post by **jimk** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:19 pm

What's the difference between "street price" and MSRP?

JimK

murtaghstyle · Post by **murtaghstyle** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 3:19 pm

Model is a 4003fl. The one in stock is going for $2599 but they can order one for $1199.

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:02 pm

The dealer can sell for any price he wishes as manufacturers don't control dealer's prices. But it seems to me maybe he doesn't want to sell this one!

beatlefreak · Post by **beatlefreak** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:30 pm

It sounds like they're taking advantage of the fact that a 4003FL is not as readily available as a standard 4003, and not run nearly as often.

From what I've seen, dealers' street prices for new Ricks are generally 75-80% of the MSRP. Of course, YMMV.

jdogric12 · Post by **jdogric12** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 5:51 am

What is the finish? Perhaps it's a NOS COY. (new old stock, color of the year)

squirebass · Post by **squirebass** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 6:23 am

I've always had very good luck dealing with the Rickenbacker Page and Mike Parks. Ask for his assistant Jake, as he is very knowlegable and will make you the best deal! And I know that the wait time, while interminable to us Rick-O-Philes, is not 2-3 years...

ben_hall · Post by **ben_hall** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:10 am

Speaking of which, a substantial number of 4003FL's will be completed in late July/early August.

murtaghstyle · Post by **murtaghstyle** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 7:51 am

Finish is plain jane jetglo, nothing special about it.

phlemmy · Post by **phlemmy** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 8:15 am

Thanks for the heads up, Ben. Now how about the 5 stringers?

soundmasterg · Post by **soundmasterg** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 11:22 am

"The dealer can sell for any price he wishes as manufacturers don't control dealer's prices."

Too bad Mesa Boogie never heard that memo as no matter where you go, all their stuff sells for the list price, and there is no wiggle room for the dealer, or Mesa pulls their dealer's licenses. I wonder if they get away with that because no one has complained or what?

johnhall · Post by **johnhall** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 1:21 pm

Yeah, that's always been an interesting situation. Obviously the dealers don't care because they don't have to compete with others this way on price. The loser in the consumer.

I honestly don't know why this has remained so for so long; however, the FTC is already going through the musical instrument industry with regard to the MAP pricing issue and I wonder if it might extend to this type of situation.

leesh · Post by **leesh** » Tue Jun 19, 2007 2:00 pm

MAP pricing issue?