no we dont know that, but we can make educated guesses, using logic. the only reason that stores may outsell online outside the USA is because there is little sales, and only large B&M can afford to stock low sale items.[/qupte]
An educated guess is wonderful for academics but HORRIBLE for businessmen. You try pulling up a company out of the deep red and then ask yourself, would you after years of struggle, attempt to jeopardize the company? If the answer for John is no, then that is a very understandable no! I live in Canada. Our dollar is nearly at par with the US, for while we were even worth a bit more. Did the Grados in Canada drop significantly? At some stores yes! At others, no. The smaller stores, hoping to make a sale any way possible, did adjust for the exchange rate, but even now, the cost is still about $100 more just because we are in Canada.
As for your argument that only big stores are making the sales, perhaps that is true. But perhaps not. YOU HAVE NO DATA! This is what is irking me the most in these types of threads. A lot of hot air is blown without any real data, just theories on how the world works, on how it should work and how Grado should fall in line with whatever theory is put forward by the poster. This is great from a first year student with a single macroeconomics course under the belt but it is absolutely amateur and illogical thinking from the point of a sucessful business man, parent, husband, employer etc.
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| the only mistake was writing real instead of no. |
Well, so long as we are dealing with realism instead of idealism, my "real logic" is the way the world actually works, and the hypotheticals put forward are merely hot desires by folks without all the data. Anyone making a strong argument which necessitates data which is absent uses no logic. I'm waiting for your metrics.
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| you seem to think that just because someone does something wrong, others are allowed to as well. the reason grado is mentioned time and time again is because more people want to buy them, than say something worth 2 grand. and even with the exchange rates, and not including VAT, shipping etc, that is a 50% mark up on the HP4 mentioned, rather than the often 150% mark up on grados. grados are rare only and only because they are made to be. |
Um...no offense but your math is horrible. UK = 2200, Canada = 6500. If you don't include VAT and shipping...we are still talking 3x the cost! That IS TWICE THE 150% markup. Dude, if you want to continue arguing your point, at least get the math straight. The HP4, if bought in Canada has the SAME markup you folks are complaining about in some European countries on Grado products. There are a lot of people who would buy the EAR if it was readily available in North America for $2200. The cheapest I've seen it? Headroom, at $4k, and it used to be $5k.
And as for doing something wrong...I'm not defending a "wrong" practice, I'm stating that there is a practice, that some are very offended by, and I'm trying to relay the fact that 1) we don't know what the original contract details, 2) Grado makes less on sales outside of the US so this is no massive profiteering for him 3) we can't be certain that arranging business strategies any other way would benefit him.
1) Would be near impossible to get details on
2) Is a fact revealed to us.
3) We know from experience (Headroom) that selling online is VERY VERY hard. Headroom nearly went under at one point and struggled for a long time. Headroom is THE name in headphone amps. They are Web only point of sales and they sell pretty well every type of headphone. The internet is not a sure fire way of getting rich. Moreover, it might tank a business.
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| Because they sell high end gear. somehow, even the GS1000 doesnt compare to something worth 5 times the price. People who spend taht kind of money expect person to person contact. i dont expect when i want to spend 30 or 40 quid on a pair of SR60s. |
Okay, fair enough, though I wouldn't argue this for everyone. Your unique impression of necessary person to person contact with a listening period is distinct from someone else. There are those that would want to hear it no matter what the cost. But that isn't the point. You can order online within your country, you can buy without talking to anyone. What you can't do is order from the US. There is a distinction here that needs to be made. My point is merely that the B&M network the predates the web was the established method of selling items. This is the same means Grado uses predominantly and we don't know how long they have their contracts for with the individual distributors or whether it would be good to sever or alter them significantly to permit online inter-territorial selling.
I paid $147 for my SR60's in 1997. Double what they cost in the US. I bought the RA-1 for $600 in 2001, double what it costs in the US. I'm not some guy who hasn't been stung by the high prices. When I bought the RS-1's in 2001, I couldn't afford the $1k asking price at the time (I was lucky to get them at 1k with taxes in, vs the 1200 + taxes they were MSRP'd at). I could however afford the $400 USD (600 converted to CAD) at the time so I bought used. I wanted them badly enough to go the used route.
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| exactly how are companies international, oh because they CHOSE to be, just like grado chose not to be. I would also rather have them stay alive, but that doesn't mean that extorting international consumers is the way to do it. They can always expand. I understand that they dont want to, and that they can charge high prices because they have the sales they want and expect, but that doesn't mean that it is right for the consumer. And don't say you can go spend money elsewhere, because that is exactly what most of us already do. |
Grado does not charge the high prices. They charge less to the international distributors who set have an established MSRP which the dealers must advertise. The dealers can sell at cost but they choose not to. This has nothing to do with Grado directly in terms of profits on the margins.
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| BTW, sorry if i appear to be rude, I am not trying to be. |
That's fine, I understand how people can get heated and words don't relay tone or body language which is 80% of communication
I understand the frustration, what bothers me is that folks seem to think that Grado is doing this on purpose. They aren't purposely organizing high prices internationally when they make less on them. They may be locked into long term contracts. They might really need distributor/dealer networks that currently exist and cant' take the risk or choose not to take the risk of permitting other vendors to invade the territories or rather siphon sales.
We have some data, we have very little overall. All I want is balanced statements. When I read a lot of theoretical nonsense, mumbojumbo or idealism in economics...then it does bother me because it paints Grado as a tyrant personally, which I think is heinous to do to someone, anyone, when it is undeserving.
