Does anyone feel bad about not going with their dealer and instead gets a used deal?

Hi Joey,

Your wife is right, it is just business. It's nice to be loyal to a good retailer, but you have to consider everything. What after services does this dealer give? If something goes wrong with a speaker, can you bring it back in for him to ship back to have fixed etc.

Trust me the dealer is not sitting around waiting for you to come back in. In the end you have to do what's best for you and your wallet.

Quite honest, with a purchase of your caliber, id sleep better going with a dealer but then again, i've never spent money like before on audio equipment.

Lifes a gamble....

So is this deal about the Diamond speakers you said you'd buy from the local guy, but the Houston guy is offering a better deal?

I have it doubly bad in that my favorite local dealer is also owned by someone who has been a good friend for the last 20 or so years of my life...heck, I was even a groomsman at his wedding.

But we once had a pretty in depth discussion about this very topic.
Our feelings were pretty much the same.
If the deal is something that he can in no way come close to matching, he has my blessing. But if there is a chance that he can meet or beat a deal, he wants to be the person I go to.

Having established that, I find myself visiting his shop more to buy those incidental things that I *know* I can get cheaper online but feel a loyalty to him.

2 good examples...
1. When I was in the market for a HT amp, I auditioned the Rotel 5 channel amp he stocks as well as a couple of consignment pieces he had in store. I narrowed the choices down to the Rotel and the Emotiva XPR-5. In the end, I went with the XPR-5 because I found one for nearly 50% of the asking price on the Rotel and that still had 3+ years of warranty left on it. I explained my thought process to him and he was happy that he made it into my final 2 but understood that he just couldn't compete with the value that I had found. He has never begrudged me for it and even came over for a couple of movies once it was all settled in.

2. My recent Esoteric CDP purchase. Again, I demoed several pieces in his inventory including 2 pieces that were well outside of my intended budget. I stumbled upon the Esoteric and offered the seller a lowball offer which he actually accepted, to my surprise. That afternoon, before responding to the seller, I went in and talked to my buddy. He told me flat out that I was an idiot if I didn't buy it for that price and that if I didn't, he would.

I am lucky in that I have a dealer that is also a friend. He understands that my wife won't allow me to throw the amounts of money that I want to into this hobby but also does his best to help me stay within budget.

All of that in mind, my first purchase choice is *always* my local shop unless the deal is of such a good nature that even they would have a hard time finding fault in it. Otherwise, I will happily throw money at my buddy's shop every time.

It was unethical but, I wouldn't worry to much about it. I am sure he will get your business, at some point. In addition, I am sure you have spread the word about his business and good nature to others, as you have done here. Therefore you have potentially brought sales his way. We all do what is in our own best interest, most of the time, right? It was in the salesman's best interest to loan you gear, in hopes of getting your business. It was in your best interest to save some money, while still getting the items you desired. Yes, it feels somewhat unethical, because it was, but as long as nothing was promised or expected in exchange for the in home trials then you didn't owe him anything.

ZLTFUL wrote: »

EndersShadow wrote: »

I may have to start throwing money to your buddys shop at this rate Ryan..... .....

Still trying to get you to come up for a weekend. Both of the good local shops are worth perusing.

I will figure out a way to make it happen eventually lol.......

A flexi rack build, pre-amp enclosure drop off/pickup etc.... lol

You're obviously nervous about this deal for reasons other than your concerns about your relationship with your dealer-friend.

The McIntosh 1201s retail for ~$15,000 for the pair. The 800Ds are available to you for $22,000. This means you're looking at getting new retail components worth about $37,000 for $20,000 used. Who knows what the right amount of depreciation is on these items.

However, you are nervous about the deal offered by an unknown guy who wants you to come to his home with $20k in cash and who provides no warranties or after sales service or anything else.

If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

I would haggle a bit more with your dealer-friend to see whether he has some more to give.

With that said, I would prefer to sleep comfortably a night by purchasing from a trusted source when I'm spending that kind of money.

I smell a rat!

This type of cash deal is done every day of the week for more than this. Protect yourself with video of bill of sale transaction if needed. Hire a bonded moving company if you don't know how to drive a Uhaul. There are ways for this to happen if you think it through. Cashier's check is possible too.

My guess is that your worry is way above the sellers concern for safety since he has already decided that taking a $20k beating on the 10 month old gear is fine with him.

About the remorse over your dealers loss of revenue, ask him to look them over and check them out for you for $500 or so. He will understand your good fortune on such a good deal and if he doesn't, he isn't worth the effort.

As a dealer myself, I never felt bad about someone buying gear elsewhere, but I always felt bad when they bought elsewhere without even asking me for a bid or quote or advice on used gear pricing.