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Avoiding US dealer markups

Looking at a phono stage by a UK manufacturer. The US authorized dealer monopolist seems to mark up by ~30% from what I could buy this for locally. On a $2200 unit, that's not nothing. 

I am considering shipping it to a friend who is local and having them ship it to me, at a relatively small cost.

Seems like a logical approach. I could buy 25-50 LPs with the savings.

Am I missing something?

saulh

Showing 2 responses by daveyf

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,004 posts
 

Depending on the gear needing to be imported it can make a lot of sense. In the case of the OP, perhaps not as the unit would be as blackdoghifi pointed out, but in the case of a cartridge, or cables, or furniture...that would be a different matter.

 

daveyf's avatar
daveyf
3,004 posts
 

Perhaps when we are discussing US dealer mark ups, we should determine what the difference is between a normal mark up…and a total gouge!
As many folks have eluded to, there are certainly many areas where a local dealer will be worth their extra expense…no question. The issue I believe raises its head when the consumer is at a disadvantage and the US dealer knows this and decides to gouge said consumer. This is quite a frequent occurrence in this hobby!

I think that the OP is trying to minimize the possibility of that circumstance, which I would think that all of us could commiserate with.

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