Guitar Center No Longer a RIC Dealer

aceonbass · Post by **aceonbass** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:33 pm

I just read on RIC's website in thr "News" section that as of 2.18.05 Guitar Centers were no longer RIC dealers and that all of their orders have been cancelled. Musician's Friend was exempted. Gee....I wonder why?..NOT!

lowendbob · Post by **lowendbob** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 2:54 pm

Dan, read "Bye Bye Guitar Center" thread under the general section.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:23 pm

isn't there a minimum order per year to be a Ric dealer? ... musician's friend moves many units ... where GC doesn't ... the local GC makes a most of its money from low end sales ...

rickenbrother · Post by **rickenbrother** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 3:45 pm

When I was a RIC dealer, there was a minimun order per year to get the dealer price. Maybe it was every six months, I forget, it was a while ago, but they were very easy to work with and my sales rep at the time was a really nice lady.
I don't know how it is now.

apollo11 · Post by **apollo11** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 4:51 pm

Glad to see them part ways with GC. In two years at the local store, I've seen 1 Ric. I've asked about Rics and they just beat around the bush and say they don't sell well. Baloney! How come the used 4003 they had hanging sold in one day, and most of the other used basses, roughly 50% on my count. have been hanging for the last year or so? And the total amount of used basses is only about 18-20, in the entire store.

If the truth were to be known, I think they’d rather sell 5 clunkers for the price of a Ric, knowing that the 5 will turn into 10 or 15 when it comes time for the buyers to realize they need something better.

One Ric lasts a lifetime, and GC probably doesn't like that---no more sales to the Ric buyer. Poor philosophy, but it is probably true to some extent.

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 8:23 pm

I noticed that after they sold the last of the V63's they had for reduced prices that they stocked very few basses and not many guitars either. I think I bought the last new 4003 they had a few years ago in Natick, I'm not positive about that but I think so. That one was only there a few weeks and I grabbed it. Their attitude changed after that, they stopped trying and now they lose. They missed the boat, they are hotter than ever and they have none.