The price v service/quality argument.

Below I have summed up what I feel are the different variety of shops you are likely to buy a guitar from and how the price & service will differ between each and why they are likely to offer you the products they do! As far as our business is concerned, I know that we aim to provide a blend between competitive prices (sometimes the cheapest, sometimes not) and first class service. The products that we recommend are recommended due to their quality and value in todays "guitar marketplace" (for want of a better phrase!).

1. The General music shop

As with any product these days, the supplier will reward a shop that shows loyalty to the product with discounts. These can often be quite considerable. Very good examples are the UK distributors of Yamaha acoustics and Fender electric guitars. The chances are, your local music shop has only a handful of products on display and probably is not a main dealer. The shop manager therefore has 2 choices:-

To remain competitive and sell the product almost at a loss.
Sell the product at the price where an 'honest profit' can still be made.

Unfortunately, if the shop follows the second choice, the customer will often pay more than if he was to find a 'main dealer' who can offer a more competitive price. You have to decide whether the quality of the service is worth the extra cost. However, a general music shop that only has a small selection of guitars amongst many other instruments is unlikely to offer you the service that you require either. (In relation to buying a guitar). Can the salesman actually play a guitar or have any real knowledge of the guitars on display?

2. The 'Warehouse' style dealer.

Very often, you will see large adverts for guitar shops claiming to be the biggest, the largest, the best. I have seen one lately claiming to be "The largest music store in Europe". These businesses often boast great savings and discounts. It would appear they have cheaper prices than anywhere else. More often than not though, the greatest savings are on end of line products, damaged stock or simply unpopular items that need to be cleared! The Regent Guitars buying power on the products we recommend ensures that our customers get the right service and the right price.

Another point to remember about the very large stores is this.. They have to 'turn over' considerable quantities of guitars every week to cover the overheads of such a large store. Lets say for example 50 - 60? Who sets up all these guitars? Who checks every guitar that arrives from the supplier? Next time you are in one of these stores, don't just ask them 'who' their guitar technician is but 'How many' guitar technicians they have! Regent Guitars however, employs 2 full time guitar technicians to hand finish every guitar we sell. I have seen a Gibson Les Paul at £1500 being taken straight from the shelf and put in a case for a customer at one specific store! No set up? No new strings? Some shops/"superstores" may not even have a trained technician on the premises at all!

So to sum up the 'warehouse' style stores. Yes, there are savings to be made on specific end of line products but with the larger overheads covering shop space, staff wages etc. will mean for the most part, you will get the product no cheaper than buying from any other main dealer - possibly at the cost of quality service too.

3. Mail Order

Most guitarists shudder with fear at the thought of receiving a guitar from a 'faceless' mail order company.

It is clear that a "traditional" mail order company can sell product cheaper because..
They don't have to have trained staff .
Very often they don't require product knowledge.
They don't have to check the guitars.
They don't need substantial sized premises in high street locations.

You may not care about any of this but here is the main problem....

You receive a guitar with a mark on the front. You would have never picked that instrument in your local shop and if offered a second you would have refused. However, can you be bothered to pay carriage to return the guitar? Do you want to wait 7 more days for a replacement? No. The "faceless" mail order companies therefore are free to send out damaged stock with a fairly small amount of comeback. I would not suggest that they do this deliberately but accidents do happen! (Gibson guitars are freely available as damaged stock to the supplier at discounted prices. Funny thing is, I can't remember the last time I saw damaged Gibsons being advertised in the Guitarist magazine! Hmm.) Maybe not so much repeat business for these companies (once bitten twice shy!) but still very effective. If you simply want cheap and are prepared to risk all the problems that can follow, the mail order company is your best bet. I am painting a grey picture here for mail order companies and I am sure there must be some that may have high quality control and fantastic after sales service, the trouble is - which ones?

Regent Guitars has created a niche in guitar sales by providing a level of service via the Internet which is very much mail order - however, our mail order service provides our customers with a level of service that few retail outlets can provide! How many shops near you have:-

* 2 Full time guitar technicians
* A customer services manager employed specifically to see to the needs of customers whilst their order is being processed and delivered.
* Trained staff who not only know their subject but have real passion for it too! Not to mention welcoming at all times!.

4. The Guitar Specialist (That is us!)

I feel that we (as a guitar specialist) fill a much needed niche in the market. We stock brands that we can genuinely recommend and offer a complete service from start to finish. This includes on site tuition & repairs. We are a main dealer for all the product lines that we supply, therefore we are able to offer a blend of quality service and competitive prices. Because we only stock the brands that we feel are necessary, we can keep overheads down, that in turn, enables us to offer better value service.

We also offer a mail order service but with a difference. Our customers are all treated with the same respect, so whether an order is placed in the shop, over the phone or Internet, the very best service is always at hand.

Being a specialist guitar shop, I can give a personal guarantee that our prices are as competitive as any 'Warehouse' style store but with service that cannot possibly be matched by that type of business. They are simply too big to cope with our kind of service. The larger a store is "physically", the more staff you require to manage it. By keeping our physical size smaller, all our customers can be served by only the best quality staff. We don't even pretend to match prices with the 'faceless' mail order companies who you often see in the magazines. The reason? There is nothing to compare! We are not selling the same products. Yes, the guitars have the same names on them but that is where the similarity ends - I promise you that.

The Conclusion

There are many things that I find frustrating. I think that the main one is that people still believe that if they go to the largest shop they can find, the products will get cheaper and cheaper. At times, I have thought about a second shop but it would almost certainly lack the quality of service we provide here. With the advent of the Internet, we have been able to give guitarists around the UK the benefit of our service wherever they live! Also, however competent a manager I could find to run a second shop, he would never have the same passion for his work as I do myself (the Proprietor). What I have tried to illustrate here is that once a shop is a main dealer for a product, the price is really down to the discretion of the salesman. Next time you are looking for a guitar, way up what your local specialist dealer can offer you in terms of price and service.

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