wholesale?

[Farrell]

Don't know what you are talking about here. I looked up the student hammer, the gooseneck hammers and the European hammers and each one is available at Schaff for less than half the advertised price on the site below. I have looked at a couple other sites in the past just out of curiosity and found that the prices are all pretty much wholesale plus normal markup.

Now be careful what you are comparing. For instance, a tuning fork - so many grades at varying prices are available - the site below does not state the exact fork they have for sale. I didn't even want to compare the "hardwood" tuning lever price. Who knows what kind of wood or the quality of the hammer. Whenever I have found items that I a sure of the exact mfg., model, etc., I find that we get wholesale from the suppliers.

Terry Farrell
  
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Joseph Alkana" <josephspiano@attbi.com>
To: <pianotech@ptg.org>
Sent: Tuesday, May 07, 2002 11:30 PM
Subject: wholesale?


List,
I was trying to price out some accessories for a customer using my normal piano parts suppliers. i.e., Schaff, Pianotek and compared their "wholesale"  prices to retail prices offered by any number of on-line distributors. For example:
http://www.mypianoshop.com/tools/

Not only do many such companies offer free shipping their retail prices are, in some instances, lower than what we piano techs can get at the supply houses. So much for even considering a mark up on our end. Plus the shipping.

Any comments on this annoying situation? Are the suppliers to the supply houses really under cutting us by selling direct to what I would call "jobbers" or are the supply houses just gouging our checkbooks?


Joseph Alkana  RPT
josephspiano@attbi.com