[sawdin]

$339 from Audio Advisor, no S/H!

I had just placed an order w/ Audio Advisor for a pair of HD600's ($199 after rebate) and a Perreaux SXH1 amp ($350) last Friday. They took an additional $35 off as a "package" deal. Another thread mentioned that AA's newsletter had a $50 rebate on the Perreaux. This thread got me thinking again...I decided that I didn't want to get the 600's and then keep kicking myself for not just biting the bullet and going for the 650's to begin with. I finally reached my sales contact at Audio Advisor today (Joe, ext. 670) and requested that I be charged the sales price of $300 for the Perreaux. "No problem", he said. I then told him that I had decided to get the 650's instead of the 600's and that I had seen a price of $350 (ecost.com, $339 +$6.95 handling, I rounded the cost up to $350) from an authorised US dealer whom was not selling gray market stuff. He asked who it was from and when I said ecost.com he said, "oh yeah, some other people have called in with that price. I think it's $339. I can do that."

I'm very, very pleased. If Joe Schmo logs onto the AA site, they will pay $800 for the 650's w/ the SXH1. I'm saving $160!!

For me, purchasing the 650's at $339 (no tax, no S/H) is a better deal than getting them from Europe. Why? AA offers 30 day money back guarantee....if I don't like them or if there is a problem with them, the return shipping is minimal....AA is an authorized Sennheiser USA dealer (I'm not even sure if ecost.com is an authorized dealer) and SennUSA will honor the warranty (I'm not sure if they will if purchased from overseas)....I don't have to spend my time setting up a wire transfer....and AA has them in stock and they will ship on Monday.

If you do purchase from DVD upgrades, I wish you all the best and sincerely hope that you can get a much lower price than $339. But I do suggest that you check w/ SennUSA to see if the warranty is valid in the US.

Anyway, thanks Emilius for starting this thread!

Dino

 

[zeplin]

sawdin,
thanx big time for that hookup!

i had thought that there was only one or two sites where i could get the HD650's for really cheap, but apparently there are a lot of places. i feel relieved now! thanx again man

looks like i'll (as well as many others) be enjoying the HD650 beauty's really soon.

 

[davidmiya]

Thanks for the head-ups sawdin. I think that going AA is definitely a secure options for those who would rather not take the extra risk of buying overseas. (though, I'm cheap, so I'll take my chances)

 

[jboehle]

Thanks for the heads-up sawdin, I will be calling AA tomorrow to check on that deal. Did they have them in stock?

I've received a little bit of an update from DVDupgrades. They updated my order today to say it's waiting on dealer to set stock and ship date. I conferred with them a bit through their awkward web interface about payment options, I'm not 100% sure (didn't directly answer my question), but got the impression that bank transfers can take up to 40 days vs. 30 days for credit card. I think a bit of the conversation was lost due to the English abilities of the customer service rep. I'm sure they're on the weekend now and don't expect to hear from them again until next week.

davidmiya - did you get any update along the same lines as I did?

It would be great to hear from that poster that said he'd bought successfully from them, to relay his purchasing experience.

-Jason

 

[asdfeproiu9]

I may be interested in a group buy, if the price drops to somewhere near $250.

 

[davidmiya]

jboehle,

My inquiry has not been answered by them yet. I'm not sure why. I did put in the original inquiry a few days ago. Anyways, I'll tell you what happens next week when they reopen.

asdfeproiu9,

I don't think the price will drop that far because I'd guess that DVDupgrades probably get's the HD650's at around $200 USD. So, they don't get much of a markup as it is. Though, it doesn't hurt to try...

 

[asdfeproiu9]

I may still be interested, hehe. I'm not quite sure yet. Do keep me informed.

 

[Calanctus]

Quote:

Originally posted by jboehle Good to hear of a successful order from there, makes me feel a bit more at ease. Did you do a bank transfer or credit card payment? How long did the express shipping take to get to NYC? Is the Sennheiser warranty valid on purchases from them? Glad to hear you like your 650s....are you using an aftermarket or stock cord with them? BTW, I've been using onlineconversion.com for doing the currency conversions - anyone else got a better site for up-to-date currency conversions? Cheers, -Jason

The process seemed excessively complicated. I had to wait for a couple of emails and log back in to the site to "confirm" my order. I used a CC. I seem to recall that shipping was about a week. No idea about the warranty...how would I check that?

I'm using the Cardas cord, mainly because I need a 20' cord to reach to my computer.

 

[jboehle]

Well, after getting some more info from DVDupgrades, I decided to cancel my order. As far as I could discern, it was going to take a month before they would ship the 'phones. Here is my log of conversations with them:

----------
Jason Boehle
03.01.2004 18:30:43 Ok, no problem. I am going to cancel this order due to the delay in shipping. Sorry for any inconvenience!

Frédéric Steinfels
03.01.2004 16:08:46 The US is not a country with a lot of cc fraud (but still more than >2%) but there are countries with up to 100% fraud like mexico, almost all african countries and some south american countries.

Frédéric Steinfels
03.01.2004 16:06:30 to be honest here in europe or at least switzerland, small companies (if you do not make billions), have to pay around 4% of the billed amount to the credit card company. As i am having a margin of around 10%, I do have to charge the customer for this. Furthermore the credit card supplied to us could be ANYONES credit card on this world. I do have a certain amount fraud where I can't do anything. For example if you write down the credit card number of somebody else in a restaurant and supply me this card when ordering, I won't find out. The other guy who was charged without placing an order, will get his money back from me. I would then have to sue you in your country which does not pay obviously. These are the reason why I do charge 5% more when ordering by cc. As the cc companies don't like this, I have to offer the other very unattractive option waiting 30 or 40 days.

Jason Boehle
02.01.2004 17:18:54 So, if I pay via credit card, it will take 30 days for you to receive the money, right? And if I pay via credit card, the order total will be 5% more? And if I pay via bank transfer, it will take 40 days for you to receive the money? I was hoping to complete the transaction this week and have it shipped out next week, why does it take so long for you to receive the money?

Frédéric Steinfels
02.01.2004 16:33:51 it's almost the same; cc might be up to 5 days faster

Jason Boehle
02.01.2004 16:23:55 I just want to pay whatever the quickest way for me to get it shipped would be. Are you saying that for wire transfers it takes 40 days? Or was that for credit card? I have no problem paying 5% more if it means you can ship it very soon. When can I expect it to be updated with stock and delivery time information?

Frédéric Steinfels
02.01.2004 14:25:47 there are two options: either pay 5% more by credit card or wait 40 days till we have the money for sure.

Jason Boehle
01.01.2004 02:14:05 Please cancel my previous order #040101001, I placed this new order to replace it, I decided to pay via wire transfer instead of credit card, due to the delay required by the credit card charge.
----------

So I used AudioAdvisor's online chat tool this morning to inquire about them price matching eCost.com's price, and here is the chat log from them:

----------
Welcome Jason Boehle ...
Connecting to server. Please wait...
Connected to chat.audioadvisor.com
http://www.audioadvisor.com
Thank you for joining us here at Audio Advisor On-Line
Joe Darmogray has joined this session!
Joe Darmogray says, ok
Joe Darmogray says, we have them in stock
You say, my question is that eCost.com is selling them @ $339.99, and I've read about you guys matching that price...can you do that?
Joe Darmogray says, I know....I can match it
You say, how do I need to go about ordering, then
Joe Darmogray says, you can either call me or if you order on the web...put it to my attention and I will fix the price
You say, ok, will do the web thing....thanks!
Joe Darmogray says, ok
Joe Darmogray says, I'll look for it
You say, thanks!
Joe Darmogray says, no problem
----------

So I went ahead and ordered them from AA, and since they had them in stock, I got next-day FedEx shipping. I was surprised to find that next-day shipping was only $10!

-Jason

 

[davidmiya]

We here in a America are used to instant gratification so often that we expect it, and nothing less. Though, I must comment, some of the best things in life can be had for less if you wait. Quite frankly, with the $40 I'm going to save, I'm gonna buy myself a bunch of CD's

Though, I don't disrespect anyone who takes the AA price, 'tis your money

 

[OakIris]

In some ways, I wish I had waited to buy my HD650s - I bought them from Todd the Vinyl Junkie and paid about $410

- but that's the way it goes! They seem well worth the price, though saving another $70 would have been nice. Next time I'll see what Audio Advisor is selling things for!

I hope all of you can get the 650s for a decent price; they're really nice headphones.

 

[sawdin]

Davidmiya,

As I posted earlier, "to each his own"! Under different circumstances, I might be going the dvdupgrade route myself. Best of luck and please keep the rest of us updated.

Dino

PS...I really do hope it goes well and you get a fantastic price!

 

[sawdin]

jboehle,

My understanding is that the 650's are in stock and that my order was going to ship out on Monday.

Dino

 

[jboehle]

That was my understanding, too, sawdin. Can't wait to get them on Tuesday!

-Jason

 

[Calanctus]

When I read the legalese on the DVDupgrades site, I was afraid of a scenario just like what jboehle went through...but for some reason, everything worked out really easily, with no delays at all. I guess I got lucky.