Non Authorized Martin Logan Dealers

How do expect brick and mortar stores to survive if you just go for free demo and then buy elsewhere ? It’s not like you are going into Best Buy. 

How do expect brick and mortar stores to survive if you just go for free demo and then buy elsewhere ? It’s not like you are going into Best Buy. 

Peace brother !!!!!

but a decent brick and mortar business with any kind of service, facilities, staff and return on invested capital will imo struggle with 35% off on a flagship brand such as this

Totally agree!  However, a smaller store, (like all the ones I've owned), could make it.

Just a case in point, if I could sell one pair of the ML Impression 11A  speakers per week at 35% off for the entire month, I would have enough income from just those sales to cover my lease/rent on the store, store utilities, my salary and still have some profit left.  So it could be done, but yes, a larger store would definitively need more.  

Also, the chance of that would be slim to none, but it would still work.  :-)

mofi
i ran a billion $ part of someting and yes i understand terms, i could have been more precise in my use of words for sure
but a decent brick and mortar business with any kind of service, facilities, staff and return on invested capital will imo struggle with 35% off on a flagship brand such as this

define decent after cost of $ since you infer they paid up front to get max discount......

First of all, I did not "infer" that they paid up front. I said if they pay "within terms". Since, apparently you don’t know what that means, (even though you worked at three stores), I will explain.

Most companies have a NET 30 invoice. Which means you have 30 days to pay the invoice in full, but most offer "terms" which if paid, (usually within 10, 15 or 20 days) you get the same discount if you paid up front or prepaid the order. So you don’t necessarily have to prepay for the order to get the discount. There will always be exceptions, but this is how it works for the most part.

Most of these discounts are in the 3%-8% range, (some even more, but that’s about the average).

Sorry, I should not have said decent "margin", but decent "profit". Granted the margin will be much lower than selling at full retail.

Again, I will not get into specific dollar amounts.

define decent after cost of $ since you infer they paid up front to get max discount......

I was a Martin Logan dealer for many years.  I will not get into specifics on pricing, but the final price to the dealer depends on:

1.  Quantity of speakers ordered on the order
2.  If bought right, freight is included, (usually based on total dealer cost of order or number of pairs of speakers)
3.  If paid within terms, more discount is given

A 35% discount would still give the seller a pretty decent margin if all the criteria is meet.

I will also restate that Martin Logan will NOT honor warranty for non-authorized sales.

In addition, most "demos" from dealers will be around 15%-25% off of retail, unless it's an older/discontinued model or the dealer is no longer a dealer and just wants to dump the gear.

not a dealer
but i worked at 3 high end audio shops
40% margins before shipping are typical on speakers
so very doubtful that the 35% off deal has any margin left

@jea48 Martin Logan sells the speakers to his authorized dealers for 60% of MSRP. plus shipping.

Is this an assumption or fact?

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/89-speakers/1522053-retailer-feedback-www-designeraudiovideo-com-any-g...

Read "adrummingdude" comment at the bottom of page 1

Non-authorized dealer = No warranty

Thank you for purchasing a MartinLogan product. All MartinLogan products meeting the conditions set forth here are eligible to receive the Limited Warranty. Please retain your sales receipt for proof of warranty terms and proof of purchase from an authorized MartinLogan dealer or distributor in the United States or Canad

a.

  I own a pair of Martin Logan Summit X's, bought from an authorized dealer. I have been very happy with them.  As I recall, ML does not honor a warranty from a non-authorized dealer. 

I agree that there should be/is a mark up for a brick and mortar store. A difference of 5-10% is one thing, but 35% is not in the budget. The speakers I went to listen to were demos and in the budget. I wandered over to these out of curiosity and liked them. They were out of the budget, so I looked for used (which is how I purchase most of my stereo equipment). I would not mind waiting until the dealer wants to sell his demos (I already asked about that).

this is also why we have fewer brick and mortar dealers
your demo was not free

If you buy the speakers from a non authorized dealer, Martin Logan may not honor the warranty.  I would definitely check the fine print before doing anything.