Any one heard of Fender going into retail?

[g1]

Maybe some of you have heard of this, today someone mentioned to me that Fender will be going in to online retail.
I expect this will have quite an impact on MI retailers.

[Enzo]

That depends on what online retail might mean. Like what does "live music" mean? A guy with a guitar singing folk songs? The London Philharmonic?

Would they be selling their entire line? Or just accessories like straps and picks, cases, and T-shirts? Or like what another maker does, you can order an amp from them, but the sale is done through a dealer.

[daz]

They already are. You can buy the guitars accessories, everything direct from fender now. Just co to fender.com and look.

[Leo_Gnardo]

Maybe some of you have heard of this, today someone mentioned to me that Fender will be going in to online retail.
I expect this will have quite an impact on MI retailers.

Maybe "going direct" is the latest trend. Yesterday I was shocked when one of my customers dropped off some amps he wanted modded, plus a pile of speakers - he just bought DIRECT from Eminence! We got to thinking, who has ALL the Baskin-Robbins 31+ flavors of Eminence speakers at any given time so you CAN get what you want, now or at least ASAP? Eminence, that's who. I'd expect their inventory control would be second to none also. They'll know what's selling, what's not and what's in stock, no BS. Yes I thought this would put a shiver down the back of MI retailers especially the big boys Musicians Fiend, Guitar Center, Sweetwater, like that*. Over the phone Eminence's sales rep also let go a vital piece of info: "Fender doesn't like us anymore." The latest streak of Fender amps have Jensen & other speakers. With the loss of that account, Eminence feeling the pressure now sells direct. Whether there's a deep discount, I haven't found out yet.

*Another thought, it might actually be a relief to MI retailers to not have to fill their warehouses & loading docks with bulky, heavy speakers, have to accept returns (for any reason including "I thought I might like them but I don't."), and also have a very slim profit margin. At this point I tell my customers - get your own speakers - I can't beat the prices you can get online. (IOW I know there's no profit in it, so dear customer if you have a problem, YOU'RE going to deal with your supplier & shipper, not me, heh heh heh... Call it de-headaching.)

[Randall]

Amazon.com has Fender and Gibson direct.

[J M Fahey]

Going direct is more of a desperate move than anything else.
And hints at a bleak future.

That said, online cutthtroat pricing shops are already acting as main brands' "front ends" ; where you pay them, they take their 5% commission (no kidding) and stuff is actually shipped from "a warehouse" .... which not by chance is the actual manufacturer .

Not exactly something new.

In the early 80's workhorse 2N3055 cost around 2 bucks everywhere in the World, but RCA run an ad on big Electronics magazines (think Popular Electronis, Electronics World, etc.) offering them for 1$ in 1K or higher quantities.

I ordered 1000 but they answered that "I should buy them from RCA Argentina, on Paroissien xxxx street" ... which quoted $2 each

When I wrote back that Motorola gave me better terms , so forget RCA for good, they suggested I buy from "Mickey Mouse International" or some similarly ridiculous name, which happened to be located at some building with the pretentious name "World Trade Center" , go figure.

World Trade? , who ever heard of that ?

I bought from them , which happened to be a 6x6 ft "rubber stamp" office, and 30 days later I was the happy owner of a small but heavy cardboard box ... shipped straight from "RCA New Jersey" , go figure.

Obviously through that "Mickey Mouse Company" they avoided RCA exclusive distribution deals in Argentina.

Nothing new under the Sun.

[g1]

Would they be selling their entire line? Or just accessories like straps and picks, cases, and T-shirts? Or like what another maker does, you can order an amp from them, but the sale is done through a dealer.

Guitars and amps, and probably all the rest too. With no dealer involvement.

[g1]

They already are. You can buy the guitars accessories, everything direct from fender now. Just co to fender.com and look.

Right you are, I just put a strat & amp in my cart! I guess this is old news then.

Found this article about the issue:
Fender's move to sell instruments directly to musicians upsets dealers - LA Times

[Chuck H]

IME when retailers start selling direct they rarely offer deals like their distributors. There might be a rare special that's better than anyone else, but for the most part it'll just be a way to buy direct from Fender. Which some people will do for their own reasons. They'll likely pay MSRP. Sure to be higher than the distributors prices. But Fender will sell some guitars and amps to those that find it charming to buy straight from Fender (Isn't that what the Pro Shops were for?). Fender will bank big profits from whatever they sell and some goober that it matters to can say "I bought it straight from Fender." No one looses... Much.

[J M Fahey]

Yes, the problem is deciding on what price to post publicly.

Too high: they shoo customers away ... but at least they keep the retail chain working and reasonably happy.
Very few sales, except , maybe, people in very small towns, faraway places, with mail order the main/only option.

Too low: they kill most shops, except the truly massive chains which can afford to make peanuts on each sale.

Not an easy choice.

[daz]

IME when retailers start selling direct they rarely offer deals like their distributors. There might be a rare special that's better than anyone else, but for the most part it'll just be a way to buy direct from Fender. Which some people will do for their own reasons. They'll likely pay MSRP. Sure to be higher than the distributors prices. But Fender will sell some guitars and amps to those that find it charming to buy straight from Fender (Isn't that what the Pro Shops were for?). Fender will bank big profits from whatever they sell and some goober that it matters to can say "I bought it straight from Fender." No one looses... Much.

Unfortunately for dealers Chuck, thats not the case. they are actually selling guitars for the same $ as the online dealers. For example. look for a MIM classic series tele. $799 at almost every dealer and ebay, fender site, $799 too. Tele MIM cabronitas are supposedly on sale at a lot of online shops recently for $399, fender price? The same. granted, you CAN find better deals but the vast majority of dealers are priced the same as fender, and i think you have to wheel and deal to do better.

[Mick Bailey]

The problem with musical instrument online retail is actually hearing, seeing and touching what you want to buy. If I want a commodity item that does not vary, and with an expected specification and function, fine. But even mass-produced guitars have differences and inconsistencies - catch them in the light to see how many pieces of wood make up the body, the cut of timber used in the neck and all kinds of minor details. I have a Mexican Telecaster that was purchased by mail order (not by me). There's a large through knot at the second fret. If I was looking at this in a store I would have left it there and picked a better one. You can't see any of this on the web.

I've read plenty of interviews where a name guitarist say something like; "I went into the store and they had a whole rail of sunburst Strats. I tried them all and this one sang. Just something about it".

[daz]

The problem with musical instrument online retail is actually hearing, seeing and touching what you want to buy. If I want a commodity item that does not vary, and with an expected specification and function, fine. But even mass-produced guitars have differences and inconsistencies - catch them in the light to see how many pieces of wood make up the body, the cut of timber used in the neck and all kinds of minor details. I have a Mexican Telecaster that was purchased by mail order (not by me). There's a large through knot at the second fret. If I was looking at this in a store I would have left it there and picked a better one. You can't see any of this on the web.

I've read plenty of interviews where a name guitarist say something like; "I went into the store and they had a whole rail of sunburst Strats. I tried them all and this one sang. Just something about it".

I agree completely, and i rarely buy guitars online. Only under certain circumstances. I just did however and thankfully got lucky. But if i can find one locally i'm there X1000 over buying online. The internet has really ruined the way we used to buy guitars by killing off the brick and mortars. Even GC has been in dire straights for a while now and if they go we won't have much choice aside from craigslist where you're dealing with wack jobs scammers and killers. Back in the day i loved nothing better than scouring the dozens of local music stores on a saturday looking for gems. Miss those days.

The only saving grace is today's far greater consistency. Technology has allowed even cheap guitars to have well leveled frets and overall great quality. I really haven't seen any duds for a long time. Only the really cheezy bottom of the barrel stuff often sound mediocre.

[52 Bill]

The internet has really ruined the way we used to buy guitars by killing off the brick and mortars. Even GC has been in dire straights for a while now and if they go we won't have much choice aside from craigslist where you're dealing with wack jobs scammers and killers.

And GC has itself to blame, as it must lose a lot of in-store sales to Musicians Friend.

I work in a brick and mortar store, and every year we see sales slipping. I'm sure this is partly due to the economy, and partly due to the changes in music styles, but some of it is from internet sales. We can match price on most items, but if people think that they get a better deal online and save sales taxes, they will browse in our store and then order what they want online.

It seems to me that there are fewer players that care much about selecting a guitar and most are happy with whatever they get in the box delivered to the front door. If they really hate it they send it back or they have no problem in putting it up on Craig's List or modifying it with new parts, etc.

It's like the vintage market, most younger players seem not to care about vintage guitars. They can buy a brand new relic that looks just like one and doesn't cost the same as a college education.

[Chuck H]

True. All true.

It's happening in all collectibles markets. Very unfortunate for businesses that specialize there.

I also agree about having a guitar in your hand's before you buy. Some guitars are predictable enough to get away with it though. I've bought three guitars mail order. But it was a considered choice. The design and construction of two is such that they'll all sound pretty damn similar with not much chance of a shining star. The guitars I received sounded just as I expected them to. The third was a model that I use to own, but sold and now wanted another. It has now become so rare that I'll never see one for sale in person. Of the three guitars I bought site unseen there were problems with two of them. Hmmmm.?.