Something strange with prices

[ponty]

I have long been a fan of USA made guitars.

Even when living in the UK, it made sense to buy US made guitars from the US,

as they were cheaper to buy (Of course you don't get 'try before you buy')

Similarly, the US price for a Lowden was sky high compared to the UK.

All to do with exchange rates,import duties and tax. The strange thing though,

is that a fair number of gibson guitars sold by Thomann, in Germany are cheaper than in the USA.

The B-25 is what comes to mind. Must be a Euro/Dollar thing.

[Lars68]

I live in Sweden and I have also noticed that it makes very little economic sense to order a Gibson from the U.S. Thomann in Germany is the yardstick I use for comparing prices in Europe and you can get a Gibson here in Sweden for about the same as from Thomann, which in turn is not far from the import U.S. price. However, this only seems to be true for Gibson. When doing the same math for Martin, the price locally is not even close. The import price is way cheaper. I don't get it.

 

For someone set on buying a quality Gibson from a dealer in Europe, the new J-35 is just a spectacular deal.

 

Lars

[Jayyj]

I saw some figures a while back to suggest that Thomann's turnover is more than that of the entire turnover of most countries in Europe - so their buying prices are pobably more akin to those of European distributors rather than other retailers.

[rar]

... The strange thing though,

is that a fair number of gibson guitars sold by Thomann, in Germany are cheaper than in the USA.

The B-25 is what comes to mind. ...

I'm curious what you're comparing. Is it Thomann's price to Guitar Center's, et al., advertised price? I couldn't find a U.S. price for the B-25, so I looked at the J-45 Std. The Thomann price is around $2300 U.S., which is less than the U.S. MAP of $2449, but is hundreds higher than a knowledgeable U.S. buyer would actually pay (well under $2000).

 

-- Bob R

[ponty]

Bob,

there are only a small number of new B-25s to be had online in the US.

The price I saw was at The Music Emporium at $1895.

It is possible that that price is MAP, but it dosen't say so.

I live in Bermuda, and can get a B-25 from Thomann for $1890.

That price includes 25% import duty. If I bought it from TME, 25%

import would be on top of that.

[rar]

Bob,

there are only a small number of new B-25s to be had online in the US.

The price I saw was at The Music Emporium at $1895.

It is possible that that price is MAP, but it dosen't say so.

I live in Bermuda, and can get a B-25 from Thomann for $1890.

That price includes 25% import duty. If I bought it from TME, 25%

import would be on top of that.

Wow! That seems like a really outstanding deal on the B-25. I don't know what the list was on those, but $1512 would seem like quite a score on that guitar,

or any sort of "exclusive limited edition"-type model for that matter.

 

-- Bob R