Guitar Center's Change in Policy - No More Haggling

[Jenix]

Some trusted friends that work at GC are all torn up about some change in policy by corporate that will make it much harder - near impossible for a salesman or manager to lower the price on anything. I'm not sure what level of employees this is gonna effect (my friends are obviously on the bottom). Maybe someone else here knows but I'm gonna hurry up a bit more to buy my Taylor acoustic now.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying I like guitar center by posting this I actually really dislike it but its convenient and is the only high end instrument seller in the area for me.

Effective next monday the 21st.

 

[Telewilly]

You know it's funny, everytime I go into a GC anymore, they never have what I want...BUT they say that they can order it. From guess where? GC online! shipped to your door! But don't try to pay cash for that order, it won't work....you have to buy a gift card for any online orders. Sheesh, I shoulda stayed home and did it myself.

It's like they are trying to eliminate their own jobs.

 

[SMPTE]

It's ok, I can only hear "Dude" once in a sentence before I start giggling at someone.

 

[Yoni]

Haggling on price for anything is getting harder and harder cars, guitars anyplace will not go anywhere on price.

 

[JayFreddy]

"Friends don't let friends shop at Guitar Center."

The prices aren't as good as they used to be, and at least in Dallas, there are better places to get music gear now.

 

[studio1087]

Effective next monday the 21st.

That's news. Or a rumor of news. The no haggling policy is old news; people have been talking about this for months but I've been skeptical because I got a nice discount on a Boss Looper Pedal about 5 weeks ago and I also go a nice discount on a guitar case about 8 weeks ago.

I keep hearing the daunting news but I'm sure not experiencing it in Brookfield (Milwaukee).

Bain would set a date. This is the first rumor of an actual date. We'll see.

I've bought a few guitars and a couple amps in Brookfield. Nice group in Brookfield. I don't want GC to get any weirder.

Perhaps it's time once again to hear this delightful troubadour from Chicago...

 

[ibobunot]

You know it's funny, everytime I go into a GC anymore, they never have what I want...BUT they say that they can order it.

The last time I was at GC...

You can have it here in two or three days?

If I hadn't wasted my time coming down here I could have ordered it myself
and it would be here tomorrow...

.. that was two years ago...

 

[HOBBSTER01]

This is news to me.
I have always gone to GC after researching the product I want and have only once not gotten my price honored.('52 RI)
I hate what they do to the little mom and pop stores but at the same time I can't get what I need there on my budget.
I can honestly say that if this is true then they will lose my business.

 

[boris bubbanov]

I still call this the April 7 Edict.

I have spent too much time in recent years learning the ins and outs of the Guitar Center corporate mind set. The acquisition by Bain Capital was supposed to be no big deal business as usual they said back in October. But all the people I've been talking to over the years that still can be found there say everything has changed. At first some of the guys believed big per unit profits would mean bigger commissions, but Bain has to service their debt and give their stakeholders a dividend, so someone has to be screwed and that means the sales guys. But at some point, people will adapt and start shopping for used guitars; new ones were stupid cheap for a while and now that will no longer be the case.

I'd say some of yer guys were in denial and they've finally smelled the coffee.

Maybe Bain will find this tiresome and dump this asset; there just ain't enough suckers who want to pay top money and still be called dude.

 

[hondo76]

theres a guitar center bout 30 miles from my house i want to go but havent yet- i will not buy from there though i will order through glen my local fender dealer

 

[Telenator]

I think it's great. I've said this before.

I don't haggle when I buy of sell gear. I have seen people walk away from a $2000 deal over $40. At that point you have to ask, "Am I buying a price, or an instrument?" It seems such a shame to let an awesome piece of gear get away over a few bucks.

Now that the sales people will be less burdened with chiselers trying so save $5 on an Affinty Strat, they'll have more time to assist more people who have questions and need info on the gear they're buying.

I'm not saying the Affinity guy is any less important, but I am saying that it's a shame when I'm trying to decide between 3 brands of powered PA speakers and Joe-cheapskate consumes 20 minutes trying to weasel a few more bucks off the price.

Personally, I'm thrilled with the no haggle policy and have already begun to experience better customer service at the GC I go to.

 

[gibsonjunkie]

I think it's great. I've said this before.

I don't haggle when I buy of sell gear. I have seen people walk away from a $2000 deal over $40. At that point you have to ask, "Am I buying a price, or an instrument?" It seems such a shame to let an awesome piece of gear get away over a few bucks.

Now that the sales people will be less burdened with chiselers trying so save $5 on an Affinty Strat, they'll have more time to assist more people who have questions and need info on the gear they're buying.

I'm not saying the Affinity guy is any less important, but I am saying that it's a shame when I'm trying to decide between 3 brands of powered PA speakers and Joe-cheapskate consumes 20 minutes trying to weasel a few more bucks off the price.

Personally, I'm thrilled with the no haggle policy and have already begun to experience better customer service at the GC I go to.

Although, when we sent strat shopping your buddy did give me a nice break on my MIM strat!

 

[superchicken_VI]

Although, when we sent strat shopping your buddy did give me a nice break on my MIM strat!

It's funny you mention that...Back in my days as a commissioned retail salesperson (hifi and high-end home theatre), we had pricing power at 4 different levels, from "A price" to "D price", with A being the tagged price and D being the private sale pricing. Too much D pricing would get you called into the owner's office.

The guys that would beat us up on prices never got past B price, and if they were jerks they were told that the grocery store didn't dicker on milk, so do you want the 13" TV or not??

However, our regular customers and their friends and family always got B prices, because they were the bread and butter of the business and usually a pleasure to deal with. These are the customers who change the shops they do business in because I found it time to change shops to work in. This was the culture of those businesses, not something isolated to my shops.

If you want bad service, spend hours asking questions about gear you never buy. Then whatever you do buy, return it during the pay period after the salesperson has received the commission. Nothing like starting day one of a new commission cycle in the hole. You will be branded in that store as a waste of time, and nobody will help you or it will feel like pulling teeth if they do. Also, go in and ask about an esoteric piece of gear and act amazed that they don't have it and would have to order it, usually at a higher price than you would get off the web.

Be sure to ask for high-margin items for free with a meager purchase. I always loved "If I buy these $400 speakers will you throw in some Monster Cable?" Hmmm...Let's see...Monster Cable sells for $1/ft, you want a 30 ft pair, so $60 worth for free....That's 15%....Nope.

 

[gibsonjunkie]

I understand that a lot. I sold Hifi for years and the "rumdums" never got the deals...

The fact is, in my case, and apparently yours, you actually did have some discretion to lower prices and people understand that on some level. I never took offense when someone asked "Is that the best you can do?" and frankly, if they asked I'd often do something (but not always!). Sometimes a small gesture ( a couple dollars off) got you a customer for life (Primary rule of a good salesman "Qualify! Qualify! Qualify!")

On the other hand, when I went into GC a couple months ago to buy my new DRRI, I told the salesman that I was buying from him because he'd helped me often in the past and I wanted to make sure he got the sale. I was also looking at bass amps I told him that I knew GC no longer had a discount policy, but if he could do anything at all I'd probably be able to buy both (and appreciate it a lot). He knocked off 5% - that was cool for me (I got two amps) and he knows I'll be a loyal customer. All the free catalogs and discount coupons won't bring me into their store, but the way he treated me will...

 

[mrmanley]

I generally don't dicker on lower-price items. The seller has to make a living too, and I'm not gonna haggle over a few bucks. Even on high-end items, I try to do some research and see if the price they're asking is worth it -- "worth" being determined by what similar items are going for, how available they are, and how badly I want it.

My beef with GC is mainly that they take all the pleasure out of buying a new instrument. The stock guitars tend to be beat-up, out-of-tune, and almost always have dead strings; the salespeople (with some exceptions) don't know their stuff; and the prices -- even with a discount -- don't match what you can easily find on-line. I'd rather go through a local music store if I'm going to pay more for my gear, because I know I'll get after-sale support if something goes wrong. With GC, once they have your money they don't want to see your face again unless it's to buy more gear.

I really hate the "lowest price wins" mentality as it pertains to musical instruments. A well-crafted instrument costs more, but is worth the money because it will last for years and repay the price manyfold in the service it gives. Even if you're a hobby musician, think about the hours, months, and years you will play a guitar: is getting twenty bucks knocked off the price really that big a deal? It's this mindset that is driving many smaller music stores out of business, and it's a damned shame.

 

[lunchbox]

I have always worked in some sort of sales capacity. The minute people start asking for a deal I have always walked away period. I have lost sales but my core customer group would not trade the service they receive for a million bucks.

 

[Telenator]

I get an automatic 10% off the tagged price at most stores where I shop. I never asked for it and never negotiated on anything. GC gives me 10% off as "pro discount." I have gigged with some of the guys that work there and they know I don't give them a hard time. I do take several hours to buy something when I get serious, (just ask gibsonjunkie LOL!), and the salespeople know enough to leave me alone during these times. When it's time to buy, the price is the price. If I think it's too high, I just don't buy it.

 

[ajgus]

I'm so done with GC. Everything in stock is either used or a factory second. I've only had maybe two cool sales people that I've dealt with in the 15 some odd years I've been going there. They are always trying to push certain items over others to meet sales quotas. The place just has an "icky" vibe to it. From now on I'm gonna support my local mom & pop guitar shops....Who am I kidding?..you know I'll be at Guitar Center within a week or two. But I stand by my original statements.

 

[vjf1968]

I never haggle on an item in a music store and never felt the need to except for a few exceptions. If a guitar was haging on the wall and I liked it but it had a few dings in it then I would ask for something off. If it was a guitar fresh in the box untouched by human hands then no, I would not expect any extra off the guitar.

 

[mrmanley]

One of the things that bugs me about GC (and other big retail outlets) is that if they don't have something you're looking for, they say, "But I can order it!" Well, I can order it just as easily as you can, and I don't have to pay sales-tax either, or drive all the way back to the store to pick it up. GC is all about immediate gratification; there's absolutely no point in letting them order something versus doing it yourself.