Fender raised their prices bigtime as well.

Not a bad thing for dealers because the margins between retail and MAP were increase a lot as well. The margins on some of the most popular gear were too thin. We took on few another guitar lines with good margins like ESP. Ibanez has good margins. So what do sales guys push? They push MARGINS. Why spend 20 minutes "selling" the Fender story when only 5 minutes is spent on an ESP with the same profit in real dollars to the store?

I had this discussion with Vox and Marshall reps. They tell us how to "sell" their products. If I have to spend a half hour convincing a kid to buy a Marshall with Internet margins vs 10 minutes on a higher margin same priced item, guess what will get the sale 5-1 equally priced Marshall amps. The $400 ESPs vs the $400 (now $650) Mexican Strats generate more profit so we have a larger selection of them than Fenders. Since Fender raised their prices, stores can now make more profit on the Std Strat so sales guys are inclined to push them unlike before. Now the same percentage margin on a $650 Fender generates far more income.

Yamaha raised their prices because they CAN. The Motif is the best selling workstation, the Arrangers are the best selling in their class. Korg lowered their prices to sell more. Roland has the most loyal fan base so they have to be really careful.
These guys know what they are doing.

This economy is bad for a lot of businesses. Music sales, although down, don;t seem to be suffering as much as clothing,toys, and many other retail outfits. Accessories and sheet music are the bread and butter during down turns.



[This message has been edited by Kingfrog (edited 05-15-2009).]