All, The associated press reported today that the Japanese Fair Trade commission raided the sales agent of Steinway (Matsuo Musical Instrument) because they suspect it blocked other people from importing the pianos independantly. They also reported that Steinway pianos easily sell in Japan for more than 10 million yen ($117,000) but are up to 30 percent cheaper when "Grey Marketed" separately. This makes sense given the current Yen / Dollar ratio. The Steinway sales agent is suspected of making it difficult for owners of pianos not sold through them to get parts and maintenance contracts. Copywrite laws don't allow us to publish the report here, but I got it from the AP business news section on Compuserve. Don_Mannino@yca.ccmail.compuserve.com
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