Lefty Production question

[tamere]

I am sorry but this is just shameful practice, not dissimilar to discrimination, no matter how you look at it...and since this is a Rickenbacker dealer, it actually hurts Rickenbacker's reputation too, which is already quite low among lefty players. Most other brands have been fighting to impose identical price structures across both lefties and righty models.

[walker]

Is Rickenbacker not establishing an equal price for their left & right handed models? Are other brands successful in keeping their L & R prices the same at all their dealerships? What do we know about this policy that's actually based on fact?

[RicukStu]

Well by my reckoning using the latest conversion rates from UKP to USD a lefty 330 would cost $3219. I'd love to know if any lefties in the U.S would be prepared to pay that?

[admin]

Stuart: I don't think it is right that sinistrality should have us left out in the cold. In English we are what's left, in French gauche and in Latin sinister.

Trying to find a left handed baseball glove, golf clubs and yes nibs for my fountain pen was no easy task and that only scrapes the surface.

But how does the market resolve this inequitity? More time and energy often goes into designing left handed models at least in the setup and design stages and dealers spend extra time trying to hunt down the more obscure. Whenever anything is in short supply the price seems to go up.

But the differential that you report drives the inequity home. There must be a better way to do this. Perhaps lefties could buy directly from manufacturers as they represent such a small number of sales? Perhaps there is a maximum price for left handed products that could be set.

[epitreture]

The market determines the price. If they don't sell, the price comes down. Economics 101.

[admin]

Yes Brian, I get the economics perspective. I am just wondering if there are options that might make it fairer for those who are left handed. Sometimes social development 101 gets lost in the translation. I don't anticipate things will change but it is important sometimes to ask what else we might do.

[epitreture]

Yes Brian, I get the economics perspective. I am just wondering if there are options that might make it fairer for those who are left handed. Sometimes social development 101 gets lost in the translation. I don't anticipate things will change but it is important sometimes to ask what else we might do.

As a left hander I completely understand what you're saying. I guess I just reacted to the idea of setting a maximum price on a product. Price controls have historically been a failure and were an important part of communist economic policies. Believe me, I'm all in favor of getting more Ricks in the hands of southpaws everywhere. Especially mine.

[admin]

Interestingly for me, when I started to play guitar as a young teen, I could not find any left handed models or teachers that were left handed either. So I learned to play right handed. It was a tough few months in the beginning but I saved some money in the long run.

[johnhall]

As a left hander I completely understand what you're saying. I guess I just reacted to the idea of setting a maximum price on a product. Price controls have historically been a failure and were an important part of communist economic policies. Believe me, I'm all in favor of getting more Ricks in the hands of southpaws everywhere. Especially mine.

Just to be clear here- there's nothing about this issue related to price control. Our distributors and dealers are free to sell goods at any price they wish. As far was whether they are able to generate a sale, it's strictly a function of whether a buyer is willing to pay their asking price and nothing whatsoever to do with us at the factory.

[epitreture]

[quote="epitreture]As a left hander I completely understand what you're saying. I guess I just reacted to the idea of setting a maximum price on a product. Price controls have historically been a failure and were an important part of communist economic policies. Believe me, I'm all in favor of getting more Ricks in the hands of southpaws everywhere. Especially mine.

Just to be clear here- there's nothing about this issue related to price control. Our distributors and dealers are free to sell goods at any price they wish. As far was whether they are able to generate a sales, it's strictly a function of whether a buyer is willing to pay their asking price and nothing whatsoever to do with us at the factory.[/quote][/quote]

Exactly. The dealers should charge as much as their customers are willing to spend and only they can determine what that price is.

[admin]

Thanks John. It is certainly understood that this issue has nothing to do with the Factory. Your clarification is appreciated, however, and valuable information here.

[phill1012k]

It really is up to the consumer if they pay the price being asked. I know that over the years while looking for lefty guitars I've seen some listed at extortionate rates that i'd never pay. I got good prices for my lefty Ricks when I ordered them along with good service so really it does depend on the shop I guess. And also how patient you can be.

It is really appreciated that Rick do produce left handed models for us all to enjoy

[tamere]

Are other brands successful in keeping their L & R prices the same at all their dealerships? What do we know about this policy that's actually based on fact?

The answer is a resolute YES for some brands and a sad NO for others. Martin has done an incredible job in achieving equality: every single Martin guitar is available LH on order and they insist the price remains the same without surcharge. Looking at retailers worldwide, online or brick & mortars (shopped around a long time for my 000-15M), there is great consistency and Martin prices are always the same whether lefty or righty. I do not know if Martin enforces this or not but it works.

Gibson, is much stranger since they just overload the market with dozens of different lefty LPs and SGs,with little or nothing else available lefty. The prices are the same whether lefty or righty for LPs and SGs but are incredibly inflated for any other rare LH models.

The fact is, lefties are now much more aware, globalisation and online lefty communities have made it easy to choose with your wallet...To those saying lefty Ricks will just sell at whatever price, that is just not the case anymore. I found my Rick 360/12 from a UK dealer at a higher price than normal but it had stayed on their shelf, "new" for over 3 years...Plenty of Ricks are available in online UK shops that have been sitting there for years because of the shop's absurd prices...The reputation of the brand (and PRS's) among lefties was poor with a lot of online lefty posters calling for boycott and looking elsewhere, but the recent effort in producing lefties again after what I think was a 4 years interruption is a good start!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Rickenbacker guitars. I LOVE Rickenbacker artists. I always try to find a way to incorporate my 360/12 in my productions, even for the tiniest overdub, I have a strong emotional connection with this instrument, its history & its players...

[johnhall]

The fact is, lefties are now much more aware, globalisation and online lefty communities have made it easy to choose with your wallet...To those saying lefty Ricks will just sell at whatever price, that is just not the case anymore.

More power to the consumer! I have no problem with that, as it's just the free market economy at work.

Regarding the second statement, that's been true right up to today, however if things were to change, my gut reaction would be to simply drop leftie production altogether and use the resources to make Hawaiian guitars instead; there'd be a bigger market.

[sloop_john_b]

Regarding the second statement, that's been true right up to today, however if things were to change, my gut reaction would be to simply drop leftie production altogether and use the resources to make Hawaiian guitars instead; there'd be a bigger market.

Sorry southpaws, but that would be awesome.