[braillediver]

Heck even if the repair were free you'd still have to pay shipping both ways.

I personally don't commit to any repair or anything without first verifying the cost. It seems you assumed the repair was free and didn't get anything in writting in advance.


Mitch

 

[Finzup]

I agree, Grado's Canadian distributor is totally ripping us off.

I posted this comment in another thread....

"I looked for a pair of SR60s just after Boxing Day and found 2 stores in Vancouver offering them for CAD$139.00 (Actually one store had them on sale for Boxing Day @ $120.00... WOW, such a deal

).

I have emailed Grado Labs for a list of authorized resellers in Washington State (Bellingham to Seattle). I plan to look for the SR60s there. If I buy the headphones in the USA I will pay USD$74.54 ($69.99+6.5% tax) = CAD$87.96 (approx.). The phones are Duty Free but lets say I do have to pay Canadian GST (I might not have to if the Customs Officer lets me go). I will pay 7%GST on CAD$87.96 = CAD$94.12. I save CAD$44.88 by driving to the USA (If I do not have to pay the GST I will save CAD$51.04)! This is too big a difference to justify buying your headphones in Vancouver. I could buy a pair of SR80s in the USA for the price Vancouver dealers are charging for the SR60s.

I like to shop local but I don't like to get ripped off and this is what the Canadian Distributor is doing. Nothing can justify this premium on the Canadian Grados.

I would consider this a protest against the price gouging that the Canadian stores/distributor are doing. If someone is going to try and screw me over I ain't gonna' bring my own vaseline

. I would much rather give my $$$ to someone charging a fair & reasonable market price.

Then, I'll email Grado to tell them what I did & why I did it. I understand Distributor Agreements but I know that Grado can crack the whip and ensure that the Canadian MSRPs are the same or close to the US prices. The two countries are just too close to hide a 100% mark-up."

Obviously this scam is no better in T.O.

 

[Miller-8]

It isnt just the Canadian distributor that rips customers off it's the UK one as well. The RRP for SR60 in UK is £90! That's $160 US!!!!

ok so that includes our VAT at 17.5% but if you take that off it still works out at $135 US without VAT(sales tax)

Grado's price fixing in foreign countries sucks ass.

 

[Clutz]

To be honest, I don't understand what is going on with the pricing of headphones in Canada. Sennheiser HD580s at Tom Lee Music is about $450, and the 600s are quite a bit more than that. At the same time, Tom Lee has the AKG k24p's for $45 (after tax), which is a good price compared to what you can get them for in the US. Tom Lee also has good prices on the Audio Technica headphones they carry.

Hi Fi Centre quoted me a price of $399 for SR-225s when I asked and $299 for the 125s - that's even way more than the Bay Bloor Radio charges for them.

The Sound Room in Vancouver is charging over $500 for Beyerdynamic DT880s, but you can get them for about $250 CDN from Jan Meier..

So far that means that Beyers, Grados, and Sennheisers seem to be way over priced in Canada, but the AKG's may be reasonably priced. I believe Long and McQuade has AKG products at very reasonable prices.

So it doesn't seem like it's strictly a Grado thing. It's a Canadian thing.. I don't get it.

 

[Miller-8]

I think it's the distributors being greedy. Because they're the sole importers of the product they feel they can take a nice chunky cut, so the price gets wacked up.

Grado should really say to the distributor, look, you're taking too much cut on these, if you dont lower your prices we'll find another distributor.

 

[McRat]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Miller-8 I think it's the distributors being greedy. Because they're the sole importers of the product they feel they can take a nice chunky cut, so the price gets wacked up. Grado should really say to the distributor, look, you're taking too much cut on these, if you dont lower your prices we'll find another distributor.

Actually afaik it's Grado themselves that are fixing the international pricing. It's pretty much the same everywhere in the world outside the US.

I don't know about the other manufacturers though.

 

[yaufei]

I am curious. So what do the Canadian dealers ask for a pair of RS-1?

 

[McRat]

Dunno about the Canadians, but here is the price list for a major finnish hifi dealer (it's in finnish and the prices are in euros, but I think you'll manage):

http://www.audiostar.fi/2004/hinnasto/kuulokkeet.html

 

[Miller-8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by McRat Dunno about the Canadians, but here is the price list for a major finnish hifi dealer (it's in finnish and the prices are in euros, but I think you'll manage): http://www.audiostar.fi/2004/hinnasto/kuulokkeet.html

That's about the same as UK prices.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeadRoom Note to International Customers: Grado Labs has asked us to respect their distributor and dealer territories and decline all orders from the following countries: Canada, Mexico, France, Italy, England, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Austria, Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, Ukraine, Israel, Slovenia, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Oman, Peru, Argentina, Iceland, Lebanon, Thailand, Brazil, Malaysia, South Africa, South Korea, Antartica, the Larsen Ice Shelf, Timbuktu, Outer Mongolia, Inner Mongolia and, of course, North Korea. Please address all dealer location requests, policy complaints, and infraction reports to: info@gradolabs.com

Take Five Audio sells RS-1s for C$999.99 = US$860 (US price is $695). Add 15% sales tax in Ontario...

 

[raisin]

Wait, you forgot to include the cost of electricity over the 4-5 years of ownership, not to menton the gasoline costs for driving them around town, and don't forget to pro-rate a portion of your rent for storage while you're not using them! Damn- What a rip-off!

 

[nabwong]

Wow, those finnish prices are incredibly high.

 

[HiWire]

National Sound on Queen Street West in Toronto sells Grados exclusively for far less. I have been tempted, but I'm really a fan of the Alessandro/Joe Grado sound at heart. The shopkeeper had trouble getting a pair of RS-1's in stock. He has everything else there, though, for very reasonable prices.

I was severely tempted by the SR-325i and RS-2 that he showed me. He is absolutely committed to selling Grados well in Canada.

 

[Chri5peed]

Putting a lifetime warranty on something with such shoddy build quality would be idiotic. Everyone and their dog with Grados would be getting more free repairs than units sold.

 

[Miller-8]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chri5peed Putting a lifetime warranty on something with such shoddy build quality would be idiotic. Everyone and their dog with Grados would be getting more free repairs than units sold.

Good point.

I think Grado's price fixing in foreign countries is to try and give their brand an image of quality - high price = good quality, when in fact they arent that good quality at all.