So, my fellow Europeans...

[Jimmyb]

I fully agree with you. Europe is now a global market, thus there is no reason to have an inefficient distributor in each country. It would be better to have an efficient distributor for all Europe.

For instance, the French Music Man site does not have any information on the PDN guitars
It's not only Music Man. Several brands have the same problem. The big boys like F or G have their own distribution and it works better.
In France, we have some distributors who distribute a lot of brands : at the end they do not know the products they sell. With Internet, the consumers like us know much better the products (because we have no life, we spend all our time on the Music Man forum ).

The problem with that is a very old fashioned concept called 'loyalty'.

Many years ago, when the EBMM line was in its infancy, some distributors will have taken a gamble and ordered the stock. They will then have set up some advertising within their respective country, tried to set up a network of dealers in the country, purchased stock for review by the magazines and all of the other really great stuff that is just basically an overhead to the business.

I've always been under the impression that BP appreciates the loyalty that the distributors have shown over the years, together with their support in the early days of the company. It is a rare and admirable thing in this day to find someone who sticks to that principle.

Fender and Gibson may have their own distribution, but they also have far more volume sales than EBMM, so they are in more of a position to absorb the overheads. If EBMM went down the same route, then they would need to cover the costs of a storage depot, service staff, sales staff, warehousemen and the rest, all of which would go straight onto the price you pay, so you may find that the cost to you drops by maybe 5%.

 

[fbecir]

I've always been under the impression that BP appreciates the loyalty that the distributors have shown over the years, together with their support in the early days of the company. It is a rare and admirable thing in this day to find someone who sticks to that principle.

That's a good point. But now with Internet and globalization, business is changing. Perhaps, it's not a good evolution, time will tell.
But now, we all do the same : when we want to know the price of a musical product, first we check the price on Thomann site. Yes ... I buy my Ernie Ball strings in Germany
For Music Man guitars, it seems that most of the Europeans check the English shops like Coda, Knighton ...
A few years ago, it was possible to find Music Man guitars in Paris music shops. They had some stock (not a lot, but a few one). Now, you can find some basses and sometimes, second hand guitars, but new guitars are pretty rare.

 

[French Kiss]

That's a good point. But now with Internet and globalization, business is changing. Perhaps, it's not a good evolution, time will tell.
But now, we all do the same : when we want to know the price of a musical product, first we check the price on Thomann site. Yes ... I buy my Ernie Ball strings in Germany
For Music Man guitars, it seems that most of the Europeans check the English shops like Coda, Knighton ...
A few years ago, it was possible to find Music Man guitars in Paris music shops. They had some stock (not a lot, but a few one). Now, you can find some basses and sometimes, second hand guitars, but new guitars are pretty rare.

Well said ; I agree with that statement !

 

[budalash]

I still don't understand one thing. If I want to order a new MM, do I speak to my local shop who then speaks to the Dutch distributor (Voerman) or do I speak directly to Voerman? And If I do, do I pay the prices that they have on their website? Because their prices are retail prices and that's a bit too much...I know, don't buy it if you can't afford it, and that's OK, but...

 

[Jimmyb]

Yes, you place your order through a shop, whether you choose your local one, or ring around and contact a few really depends on your own preference.

The price on the websites (distributors) tend to reflect the RRP, but you should find that some shops will offer a reduction from the listed price (dependent on the shop obviously).

 

[Jimmyb]

That's a good point. But now with Internet and globalization, business is changing. Perhaps, it's not a good evolution, time will tell.
But now, we all do the same : when we want to know the price of a musical product, first we check the price on Thomann site. Yes ... I buy my Ernie Ball strings in Germany
For Music Man guitars, it seems that most of the Europeans check the English shops like Coda, Knighton ...
A few years ago, it was possible to find Music Man guitars in Paris music shops. They had some stock (not a lot, but a few one). Now, you can find some basses and sometimes, second hand guitars, but new guitars are pretty rare.

I think the European market also changes things for us. If there's a certain country importing a lot of guitars, chances are they may be able to lower their overheads somewhat. Then, it's more cost effective for other Europeans to order from that country. It may be in future years that one company will become a dominant importer for EBMM in Europe, due to the savings they can offer by higher volumes.

 

[DrKev]

If I want to order a new MM, do I speak to my local shop who then speaks to the Dutch distributor (Voerman) or do I speak directly to Voerman? And If I do, do I pay the prices that they have on their website?

If a store won't order for you, then call the distributor for advice, they can tell you how or where to order what you want. The prices the distributors list are the manufacturers recommended retail price. The store prices are usually significantly below that (20-30%).

--

Online shopping has changed everything. In effect, many guitar stores are now just showrooms where people test instruments before buying cheaper online. Thomann in particular have made life very difficult for shops and sellers everywhere, not only because the prices are low but the service is good and delivery is prompt. I applaud them for raising the standard of service to where it should be. But even still, local stores just can't compete on price, no matter how good their service is.

Remember, it costs an awful lot less money to run a high-volume business from a low-rent industrial warehouse packed with instruments, than to run a low-volume store, in a high-rent city area, that requires a lot of clear floor space, with little storage or stock space, and more staff, only for customers to try instruments out before ordering from an online competitor.