Dealer in-store demo fee

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marvda1
marvda1 Posts: 4,871
in The Clubhouse
I ran across this on another forum.
There is a dealer that has a pair of $60k monos used for $17k. He will let you demo in store with your speakers of choice (what they sell) for a demo fee of $500 that can be applied to another purchase if decide not to buy the amps. The amps are Audio Research. What do you think?

I would go elsewhere.
Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
Puritan PSM156
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Comments

  • Clipdat
    Clipdat Posts: 12,599
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    tenor.gif
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  • krazypolk
    krazypolk Posts: 745
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    That'll git rid of all the tire kickers.
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  • Mike Reeter
    Mike Reeter Posts: 4,314
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    Serious Inquiries Only :D
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  • displayname
    displayname Posts: 1,129
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    For $500 I'd better be spending the whole day there with a 5 star lunch, high end booze, and some high end cocktail waitresses. And I'll certainly want to demo more than one set of speakers.

    I'm not opposed to a demo fee in principle, but $500 is silly.

    Analog: MoFi MasterTracker > MoFi UltraDeck > Sutherland 20/20
    Digital: Cambridge CXC / Streaming > Cambridge CXN v2
    MastersounD Dueventi > Rosso Fiorentino Certaldo or Arcam rHead > Hifiman HE4XX
    Discogs
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  • kevhed72
    kevhed72 Posts: 4,958
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    Even if I had that much to spend on gear....foogetabotit.
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  • sucks2beme
    sucks2beme Posts: 5,557
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    At that price, his demo equipment will sit there until he goes out of business.
    "The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." --Thomas Jefferson
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  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
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    sucks2beme wrote: »
    At that price, his demo equipment will sit there until he goes out of business.

    which could be soon!
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  • Upstatemax
    Upstatemax Posts: 2,623
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    It does not stick out as a problem for me.

    It certainly eliminates the people coming in to waste the dealers time. With everything going on now, I don’t blame them for wanting serious demos only.

    Coming from a cycling background where this pay for a demo deal is the norm, I just don’t see the problem. Literally the same demo style, pay to demo the product and if you buy they credit the demo fees.

    Stops people from in to use your stuff for free with no intention of buying. Or at least if they have no intention of buying, they are paying for your time.
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,871
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    Upstatemax wrote: »
    It does not stick out as a problem for me.

    It certainly eliminates the people coming in to waste the dealers time. With everything going on now, I don’t blame them for wanting serious demos only.

    Coming from a cycling background where this pay for a demo deal is the norm, I just don’t see the problem. Literally the same demo style, pay to demo the product and if you buy they credit the demo fees.

    Stops people from in to use your stuff for free with no intention of buying. Or at least if they have no intention of buying, they are paying for your time.

    so you are saying that if you narrowed it down to one of three trucks, a chevy, dodge, or ford and each charged $300 for a test drive you would be ok with it.
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
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  • Upstatemax
    Upstatemax Posts: 2,623
    edited September 2020
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    marvda1 wrote: »

    so you are saying that if you narrowed it down to one of three trucks, a chevy, dodge, or ford and each charged $300 for a test drive you would be ok with it.

    That’s easy, I would never buy a Dodge or a Chevy so no need to waste my time!
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  • invalid
    invalid Posts: 1,276
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    People just want to make money on everything now, maybe I should start charging for roof estimates.
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  • tratliff
    tratliff Posts: 1,662
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    I would expect a top notch setup and if it is not then the dealer can pay me for my time. Which if I was considering these would probably be worth more. I would ask for them to agree and we could demo.
    2 Channel Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II, 2 REL Carbon Limited, Norma Revo IPA-140B, Lumin U2 Mini, VPI Prime w/SoundSmith Zephyr MIMC, Modwright PH 150, Denon DP-59l w/Denon DL-301MKII, WAY Silver 3 Ana+ Speaker Cables, WAY Silver 4+ Interconnect Cables, AudioQuest Niagara 7000 w/Dragon and Hurricane Power Cables
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,871
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    I would kill to have a job where I listen to music all day and talk stereo. :D
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
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  • invalid
    invalid Posts: 1,276
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    I've heard the audio research 610T monoblocks in an active bi-amped system with krell 700 watt monoblocks on the bass of a set of apogee Diva's, that was probably better than this $500 demo would be.
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  • nooshinjohn
    nooshinjohn Posts: 25,095
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    marvda1 wrote: »
    I would kill to have a job where I listen to music all day and talk stereo. :D
    I will pm you my ex-wife’s address so you can start building your resume... :#
    The Gear... Carver "Statement" Mono-blocks, Mcintosh C2300 Arcam AVR20, Oppo UDP-203 4K Blu-ray player, Sony XBR70x850B 4k, Polk Audio Legend L800 with height modules, L400 Center Channel Polk audio AB800 "in-wall" surrounds. Marantz MM7025 stereo amp. Simaudio Moon 680d DSD

    “When once a Republic is corrupted, there is no possibility of remedying any of the growing evils but by removing the corruption and restoring its lost principles; every other correction is either useless or a new evil.”— Thomas Jefferson
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  • Joey_V
    Joey_V Posts: 8,519
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    Interesting
    Magico, JL, Emm, ARC Ref 10 line, ARC Ref 10 phono, VPI, Lyra, Boulder, AQ Wel, SRA Scuttle Rack, Bluesound
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  • audioluvr
    audioluvr Posts: 5,432
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    Pfff. Joey's done that twice this week!
    Gustard X26 Pro DAC
    Belles 21A Pre modded with Mundorf Supreme caps
    B&K M200 Sonata monoblocks refreshed and upgraded
    Polk SDA 1C's modded / 1000Va Dreadnaught
    Wireworld Silver Eclipse IC's and speaker cables
    Harman Kardon T65C w/Grado Gold. (Don't laugh. It sounds great!)

    There is about a 5% genetic difference between apes and men …but that difference is the difference between throwing your own poo when you are annoyed …and Einstein, Shakespeare and Miss January. by Dr. Sardonicus
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  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,871
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    nooshinjohn wrote: »
    marvda1 wrote: »
    I would kill to have a job where I listen to music all day and talk stereo. :D
    I will pm you my ex-wife’s address so you can start building your resume... :#

    No women or kids :D
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,559
    edited September 2020
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    marvda1 wrote: »
    I would kill to have a job where I listen to music all day and talk stereo. :D

    Shoot you'd get nothing done....You for sure wouldn't get any music in cause you just chatter on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on
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  • teekay0007
    teekay0007 Posts: 2,289
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    invalid wrote: »
    People just want to make money on everything now, maybe I should start charging for roof estimates.

    Now, that would top everything!
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  • TroyD
    TroyD Posts: 13,077
    edited September 2020
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    I go both ways on this one. On the one hand, I DO think the fee is excessive but, in practice, I see the logic from the other side. One, B&M stores are struggling for a myriad of reasons.....not the least of which is online sales.

    So, I think what's going on is, more than anything, discourages using a B&M as a place to demo gear, find what you want and then run to the internet to get a better price....and if you are looking to make a 5 figure purchase, all of a sudden, it doesn't seem to be THAT far out line.

    BDT
    I plan for the future. - F1Nut
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