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stechmann
Joined: 14 Feb 2007
Posts: 31
Location: Denmark
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Pow Lee
Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 208
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 Posted: Fri Dec 25, 2009 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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seems so indeed, although it surprises me too.
they usually have very good prices, but it's again infuriating to see how yet another EU shop does not pass on the low dollar to its customers and thus results in totally unfair prices for Suhr and other US products:
an S4 pro : 2550 EUR=3667 USD
I criticized this before and am still angry to see it has not changed a bit, although the dollar keeps falling and falling. I for one refuse to buy a Suhr product in the EU cause it's still cheaper to buy the thing in the US and pay shipping and taxes than to fill the wallets of those dealers that make these kinds of additional and unfair profits. Suhr prices have not changed over here since the dollar was equal to the € years ago, and now 1 € is 1,43 USD, experts saying that it might fall to 1,7 USD.
A lot of people already buy direct in the US and I hope it will keep putting pressure on our dealers to rethink their policies. |
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Moltisanti
Joined: 10 Nov 2009
Posts: 7
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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Thomann are considerably more expensive than the UK dealers, at www.guitarguitar.co.uk you can pick up an S4 for £1799, it's £2135 on Thomann which is a HUGE difference.
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PRS Custom 24
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digitalkettle
Joined: 06 Sep 2008
Posts: 255
Location: Lincolnshire, UK
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| Posted: Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Moltisanti wrote: | | Thomann are considerably more expensive than the UK dealers, at www.guitarguitar.co.uk you can pick up an S4 for £1799, it's £2135 on Thomann which is a HUGE difference. |
Aye, I think I'll buy my geetars from somewhere I can drive to thanks 
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juicemaker
Joined: 09 Mar 2009
Posts: 150
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 3:55 am Post subject: |
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A very good Suhr dealer in Germany is Realguitars in Leverkusen!
http://www.realguitars.de/
I ordered my classic there and the support, knowledge and care are great. Ulli is a builder and guitarplayer himself and knows where it's at. Another one is station-music down south, they have around 15 to 20 Suhrs on display.
http://www.station-music.de/
greets
Juicemaker
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in the end it's only about the music! |
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tkharris
Joined: 21 Apr 2008
Posts: 442
Location: American in Germany
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 8:36 am Post subject: |
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| juicemaker wrote: | A very good Suhr dealer in Germany is Realguitars in Leverkusen!
http://www.realguitars.de/
I ordered my classic there and the support, knowledge and care are great. Ulli is a builder and guitarplayer himself and knows where it's at. Another one is station-music down south, they have around 15 to 20 Suhrs on display.
http://www.station-music.de/
greets
Juicemaker |
Great selection of Suhr products just crazy prices.... I feel from my European Suhr fans....
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"Tell John you need the "Andy Wood's deep fried, covered in gravy, redneck mod" A Wood
2008 Suhr Modern Candy Orange
2008 Suhr Modern NitroBurst
2009 Suhr Modern w/QuiltTopTransNitroburst
2009 Suhr Modern "Non LTD" 10th LTD |
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Pow Lee
Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 208
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 5:28 pm Post subject: |
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"crazy" is a diplomatic way of describing those prices. make this quick comparison:
a 2009 limited Modern for $ 4199 in the US:
http://guitarhangar.com/vmchk/Suhr-Modern-2009-Limited-Edition-Carve-Top-Whale-Blue-NEW.html
a slightly differently spec'd 2009 limited edition Modern in Germany for: 4250 €
http://www.station-music.de/
4199 $ = 2,921.47 €
4250 € = 6,108.94 $
get my point?? it's simply outrageous.
If i buy the thing in the US, I pay 2921 €, add 125 € or so for shipping, and around 16 % taxes depending on where in the EU you live, which amounts to roughly another 470 €, so I pay around 3600 €, a difference of 650 € ( 935 $)!!! to the shop price. Don't tell me this is healthy marketing, it's an insult to the EU consumer and certainly not good for Suhr sales in the EU. The fact that a private US order ends up cheaper than the official shop order clearly shows that something goes very wrong here.
Add the fact that a shop pays even considerably less for a Suhr order than the end consumer because of the profit margins etc, and you see that there is absolutely no justification for those EU prices other than almost doubling the shop's profits.
Last edited by Pow Lee on Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:17 am; edited 1 time in total |
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makka
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 343
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Sun Dec 27, 2009 7:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Pow Lee wrote: |
4199 $ = 2,921.47 $
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4199 $ = 2,921.47 $ ?!
Quick tell me which retailer is doing this currency conversion. I've got some orders to place 
Actually those EU price examples are definitely over the top but two things come to mind. First, when actually approaching EU shops to buy or place an order are they a little more "flexible" in their pricing to what they advertise?
Second, the EU dealer has to factor in local support costs. Not that I'm saying local support in the example you give above should amount to €1000+ but there is more cost to a non-US retailer if the instrument needs warranty service. If there is an problem with an instrument for a US dealer it's significantly cheaper to freight to Suhr then it would be for an EU dealer and it's the EU dealer that would have to bear that cost under the warranty.
If you do import from the US it's you that will have to bear the cost of any freight associated with warranty issues (that's freight both ways!) and you wont get any local maintenance and support.
I think that your pricing example does show how outrageous the price differences are but I would still expect to pay maybe €250 or so over the equivalent shipped US price to get full local support. |
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Pow Lee
Joined: 27 Jan 2005
Posts: 208
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| Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 3:26 am Post subject: |
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hey makka,
mistake corrected above...it should of course read
4199 $ = 2,921.47 €
The warranty issue might be a point with other products, but I highly doubt that there will ever be a warranty issue with a Suhr, given their quality control and the excellence of their products.
I for one never ever heard of someone sending a Suhr back because of a serious problem.
But even if that were the case, I still consider that a pretty lame argument for the absurd pricing policy. |
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juicemaker
Joined: 09 Mar 2009
Posts: 150
Location: Germany
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| Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:41 am Post subject: |
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Well one thing is that the guitars on display instore where actually ordered by the shops a while ago when the exchangerate was probably different.
What I did is I placed a specific order for a classic with Realguitars and they then got a quote from Suhr about the price including custom, tax&shipping. And I can tell you it was a much better price then I calculated from the optionslist on the Suhr website!
On the other hand, when I asked the guys at Suhr if it's possible to order directly from them, I was told to order through a german Suhr-dealer. From the list of around 8-10 dealers they sent me, only three where still selling Suhr stuff at all...
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makka
Joined: 07 Feb 2006
Posts: 343
Location: New Zealand
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| Posted: Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Pow Lee wrote: | The warranty issue might be a point with other products, but I highly doubt that there will ever be a warranty issue with a Suhr, given their quality control and the excellence of their products.
I for one never ever heard of someone sending a Suhr back because of a serious problem. |
There are occasions on this very forum where Suhr employees have recommended to customers to send their Suhr in due to issues such as electronics, stuck truss rods etc. None of these I would consider serious problems but Suhr take care of their customers. If you ordered outside of the US from a US dealer you would either need to pay to international freight direct to Suhr or to the dealer before you could get this type of service. If you got repairs or maintenance done locally you'd still need to pay and you may void your warranty in doing so.
If you ordered locally you could take your guitar to your shop and have the service done for free. Whether the shop sends the guitar to Suhr or a Suhr approved local repairer is the shops concern.
| Pow Lee wrote: | | But even if that were the case, I still consider that a pretty lame argument for the absurd pricing policy. |
Lame argument? I totally agree for the example you posted the pricing is outrageous but I'm talking a small amount extra to get full local service - that's not a lame argument. If I have an issue under warranty whether it's a setup problem or something more major I expect to take my gear back to my dealer and have them fix it for free. I do not however expect to pay more than a 1000€ to get this level of service - that would be lame.
If all the dealers in your area are quoting similar prices then I for one wouldn't even hesitate to import a guitar direct from a US dealer. Indeed I've done exactly that on other brands. In NZ it's been common practice for years (we have GST but we don't have import duty so it's quite cheap to import gear) and the result is that shops have finally started to be more competitive. Nothing like having old overpriced stock on the shelf to put a bit of pressure on. |
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