wholesale?

[Greg Torres]

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Joseph,

AFAIK Schaff does NOT sell items to online marketer's (or anyone else =
for that matter) any cheaper than they do to us technician's. So, IMO, =
what is happening is these online 'marketer's' are just willing to take =
less profit than you...simple as that.=20

Now, FWIW, and sort of a tangent, a while back there was (or maybe still =
is) someone who made a piano parts supply web site by simply scanning =
just about every page right out of APSCO's catalog, including part =
numbers, and he posted his prices right on an online order form, which =
was at least 100% markup, if not more. Now, the only problem I had with =
this was copyright infringement, as well as a snotty attitude displayed =
towards piano technicians in general at the site. If I remember =
correctly, the general idea was that anyone could buy parts from him and =
by-pass the technicians. I mentioned this to APSCO at the time but I =
guess they didn't care enough to do anything about it then.

Now, I must admit, this guy demonstrated some 'entrepreneurial spirit'. =
Or maybe just 'cojones'...

Best,
Greg

----- Original Message -----=20
  From: Joseph Alkana=20
  To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
  Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 11:03 AM
  Subject: Re: wholesale?


  Terry,
  I'm not sure you and I are looking at this the same way. Take the =
dolly with 5" castors. Price at My Piano Shop is $295.00. The price I =
pay at Schaff is $160.00. It is general practice to "keystone", or =
double our cost to the retail customer plus add our shipping which =
according to my invoice from last year was about $40.00. That will bring =
the unit's cost to the customer to around $360.00. If I want to compete =
with the online retailer I've got to beat the $295 price or lose the =
sale. I can't do that and still make a profit.=20

  The Hands Off fallboard  lock is another item I get asked about a lot. =
Schaff's price is $48.00 my cost, which translates to $96.00 retail to =
my customer. Plus sales tax of $8.45.I can get it myself for $59.95 at  =
many online stores. And not pay our state sales tax.=20

  Either the piano supply houses or the suppliers to these house are =
selling to on line marketers at prices we can't compete with. That's my =
point. And for what it's worth, I see this as an increasing challenge =
(threat) to our attempts to retail merchandise.=20

  I had url references showing Dampp Chaser products for sale but have =
lost the source. As I recall, the situation was the same, with out the =
door prices to online shoppers far below the ridiculous figures =
suggested by Dampp Chaser in their latest literature to us techs.

  Am I missing something here or don't any of you really think it's =
worth getting an eyebrow raised over?

  Joseph Alkana  RPT
  josephspiano@attbi.com
    ----- Original Message -----=20
    From: Farrell=20
    To: pianotech@ptg.org=20
    Sent: Wednesday, May 08, 2002 4:11 AM
    Subject: Re: wholesale?


    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
     =20
    ----- Original Message -----=20
    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



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