Small guitar shops

[verstft]

I'll keep business names out of this conversation. While I was guitar shopping I figured I would give the small guitar shops in my area a shot. I was expecting to pay a bit more but thought that doing my part to keep the small guys above water and playing the guitar in person was worth the extra bucks.

Boy was I wrong! A small premium turned into a 1k price difference.
Who has that kind of money laying around?!?

It's sad. Hopefully the vintage guitar market will help them keep the doors open.

[downtime]

I went through the same thing a couple weeks ago. A local shop had the Martin I wanted in stock but was $400 above the price quoted to me from Jon at MFG. Add state sales tax on top of that and your looking at nearly $600 difference.
I tried to get a lower price out of the local shop but they wouldn't budge.
My new Martin arrived 2 days ago,shipped from Florida.

[MJScott]

Hmm.............I just moved to a new town. Went into a small store and their prices were an exact match to the big internet guys. I bought a Taylor 214ce-N for the exact price as all the internet sellers. Where I used to live, the prices at the local shop I used to frequent were generally about the same as the internet guys as well.

[sfden1]

Originally Posted by MJScott

Hmm.............I just moved to a new town. Went into a small store and their prices were an exact match to the big internet guys. I bought a Taylor 214ce-N for the exact price as all the internet sellers. Where I used to live, the prices at the local shop I used to frequent were generally about the same as the internet guys as well.

That's generally been my experience here as well. You might pay a bit more, plus local sales tax (which I don't really mind) but often it's just the same or maybe even a bit less. Maybe it just depends on the shop.

D.

[clintj]

Of the two stores I frequent here, one is routinely ten to twenty percent above street price on everything. The other is at or often below internet price, and has wonderful service as well. I shop at that one for everything I can, and always ask if they can order something for me that I see online.