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THE WORD FOR TODAY
IS....VALUE!
Been looking
at the market place lately and I thought I would give you some opinions on
what's happening in the world of guitar. Vintage instruments have
been holding their own in terms of asking prices. Of course, this is tied
directly to the condition of the instrument (originality, cosmetics,
etc.). New instrument prices have also continued to rise, due to material
costs, labor, and a lot of marketing/advertising expenses! For us, the
high end instruments have been slow, while on the Mainland, it has remained
steady. The middle market has been very soft. The amplifier market
was extremely strong these past few months, both on the high and low end of the
price scale!
With the
fluctuations of the stock market and the slowing of the economy, consumers are
not being as "reckless" with their spending dollars. Manufacturers are
very aware of this trend and are aggressively attacking the under $1000
category. The almost unlimited resources of cheap labor in China and
Indonesia coupled with high tech manufacturing techniques has fueled innovations
in many product categories. They are packing more features and options
into a single product than ever before. The bar for price/performance
ratio keeps being raised from competing companies, which ultimately benefits
you, the customer. Everyone is trying to show you what a good deal
this (fill in your own blank) is! So, right now I would like to explain
how we as guitaraholics and gear heads perceive "value" when we are out spending
our money.
We
usually perceive the concept of value in two different ways. There is a
practical and a non-practical value we place on something we are trying to
buy. And let me say right here and now, that both views are
legitimate. Neither view is better than the other. When dealing with
a customer, I will usually point out both sides. I feel it helps a
customer recognize what it is they "need" versus what they
"want". By doing this, the customer can actually save himself
some money and get better performance to boot.
When a
guitar has a particular feature (like a built-in tuner) that makes your
gig much easier, you "value" that particular feature. You use
it, you depend on it, and therefore, it has a practical use. The other
side of this viewpoint is when the feature you want in this guitar is the color
black. A black guitar won't make you sound better, it won't make you play
better, and it will cost you more money versus buying a clear natural finished
guitar. But it's GOTTA be black...an example of a non-practical
feature. You put a "value" on both of these
features.
This
concept is also best illustrated in the purchase of an acoustic-electric guitar
with a cutaway body and an on-board preamp/pickup system. When a customer
comes into the shop looking for one, I usually like to ask questions on how he
plans to use the instrument. How often does he plan to "plug
in"? Does he like to play single note leads high up the neck a
lot? After answering all the questions, the customer decides on a
NON-cutaway model with NO built-in preamp/pickup system. In addition, he
buys himself a separate sound hole mounted pickup when he occasionally needs to
be amplified. By recognizing what he was really buying, he found out
what he really needed in an instrument, got what he needed, and saved himself a
couple hundred dollars to boot!
In my
next article, I will go into greater detail the thought processes that the
customer went into buying this acoustic-electric guitar. I will also point
out the practical and non-practical reasons he wanted one and how much
"value" he placed on them. You can even apply these concepts to
buying a car and even helps you understand why your wife needs so many pairs of
shoes in her closet! Again, all in the name of helping you make a better
purchasing decision!
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from What's New?, please click here!
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