Hey Scott!!
Nice to read your mini-review of your experience with the KN7000! You have always had a love for Technics, so I thought you would like a lot about it. Funny, the fact that the drum fills are lower volume is a plus for me. I always turn the drum track down. Say, where exactly did you play the 7000? East Bay or San Francisco? If you saw it at a local dealer, let me know where. Maybe I'll go check it out, too!
Tom G.

Hi Tom, auditioned it on at one of the Bay Area Piano-Organ Store Chain dealers whose name starts with the letter 'C'. Email me privately and I'll give you the name (if you haven't already guessed) as well as the specific store. The sales guy gave me the typical sleazy sales line: List Price is $6,500 but that he would offer it to me at a once in a lifetime SPECIAL deal of $3,500. I then told the guy I knew that the dealer cost is (closer to $2,000), and then he just shot back with 'hey, I need to make some kind of a profit'. Sounded more like highway robbery to me.

Anyway, I'm really surprised Technics-Panasonic USA doesn't implement MAP pricing (manufacter advertised prices) on Technics arranger keyboard's. This would certainly help prevent dealer's from artificially inflating prices, and would give uninformed consumers at least some reasonable idea of what they SHOULD be paying, and a fairer starting point of which to negotiate a FAIR deal from. I mean HOW MUCH profit should be considered fair and reasonable for a dealer. What upset me more was the fact that the dealer knew less about the keyboard than I, and that it was ME who had to show HIM how to operate it. Geez!

I'm wondering what others of you think constitutes a FAIR dealer 'mark up' price for an arranger keyboard which costs them $2,100 (dealer cost). Do you guys think the above dealer's price was within reason? Am I perhaps missing something?

Feedback appreciated.

Scott

I assume you mean got rid of the PRS6300, not my new KN7000. Yes, that was years ago I had that. I traded it on a Roland E30.

Marilyn

Scott,
After having spent the bulk of my life in retail business with only a few minor diversions....her's what I would say to your Q' ....is that fair for them to make $1400. profit.

Of course the first premise of all sales is to buy low sell high.....that is the capitalist way and is one of the reasons that we are still so strong even though the economy has not been great in the last few years.

Second I'm not so sure one should look or know the cost of any item, because all of us will feel like we are getting ripped off. There would be no fair way to judge what a fair profit is for someone else. Any time I have learned the cost on an item I was buying, I couldn't help but feel screwed. So my point here is as a consumer, one should look at an item and say, this is what I think it is worth and what I am willing to pay for it...."your cost" so to speak. Of course we are always irritated if it drops in price after we buy it and think....well if they can sell it for that now why couldn't they then? That's just the reality of the market place. If you want when it's hot you pay more, when it's not you pay less.

The last thing to consider is this (and I am not saying the 1400. is fair or not, just pointing out other things to consider) the average retailer believe it or not is very luck overall after deducting all thes costs of doing business is lucky to be making between 1.5 - 3% profit across the board. So while you think they are making a 1400.00 off you reality is they are making between $225.00 - $450.00....if they are lucky and running their biz efficiently, Really .... I had about 35 years of retail and know it pretty well, was born into retail family business.

Just some things to consider.
Terry

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 11-02-2002).]

[This message has been edited by trtjazz (edited 11-02-2002).]

Hi Scott
Well, I'm thinking the piano store name rhymes with the name of another arranger keyboard brand that neither you or I own, but Andrea does. Am I right? Cryptic, huh?

I'm glad to see Terry's thoughtful answer to your question about profit. Of course, I agree that $3500 seems like too much. But, at the sleazy Piano-Organ store closest to my house, they would expect you to pay $6500 full price. Oh, they might throw in a cheap bench and stand if you bargain with them. Only a year ago, or so, they had the KN5000 on sale for, yep, $5000! When I asked them about the KN6000, they didn't know about it. They seriously get people to pay list price. They will finance it for you! Even I knew more about how to play the KN5000 than the sales guy. (And, you know how I play).

Anyway, I think dealers should make profits. Not obscene ones, though. And, I think savvy buyers should get great deals & big discounts. All the talk of dealer service is great, but some of us (me) have NEVER used the dealer service at all. I have never called the dealer back on any keyboard I ever bought! And I've owned a lot of them. Oh well... I digress...

I might just buy me a KN7000 to go with my Tyros. But I'm not paying $3500 for one!

Tom G.

[This message has been edited by TomTomSF (edited 11-02-2002).]