Time the Slurpers are killed off

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

Exactly, but how many people reading you and your industry experience will actually listen and understand and act on it. If you do we get our hobby back again out of the hands of the crooks and slurpers.

[joe]

I estimate a specialist Integrated amp that cost £500 in the mid 90s is now £2000 plus. Four times the price at least while pay has probably only increased by 50% at most. Speakers appear to have gone even more stratospheric in price.

The Bank of England's inflation calculator shows goods costing £500 in 1995 would cost £944 in 2018, so almost double. I should think wages have more or less kept up with that. (Obviously house prices in many areas have increased by far more).

What seems to me to have happened is that 'high-end' prices have gone through the roof, and anyone pricing their amps/speakers/whatever at anything like realistic levels runs the risk of looking too cheap by comparison. But the vast majority buy from Richer Sounds, where you could put together a reasonable single-source system for around a grand. I expect the days of specialist hifi retailers are numbered.

[Lurcher300b]

I rent a shop, I get manufacturers to sell me boxes, I then sell those boxes to people who come in that shop. Does that give me the right to take 50% of your money.

I am sorry Richard, but this is just crazy talk. What sense does the words "right" and "take" make in the above quote?

If you were talking about essentials (food, water) and some other agency was preventing you from obtaining those elsewhere (say paying you in a currency that was only valid, in your shop) then you would have a valid complaint, but none of that is true.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I am talking about Hi-Fi, nothing else. And yes they do see it as a demanded right, just converse with your mate.

[Lurcher300b]

I am talking about Hi-Fi, nothing else. And yes they do see it as a demanded right, just converse with your mate.

I don’t think it matters how they see it, the reality is that buyers have the choice to buy or not, in the same way you have the choice to promote your product sand sell then as you prefer.

Again, if the semiconductor industries refused to sell you transistors, and it was a criminal offence to sell NVA you would have a point, but neither of those are true.

But honestly, we have been round this dance before and I don't expect any different outcome, so I will leave you to it.

[valvesRus]

The point I was trying to make, obviously badly, is when does profit become slurp ?

It's not just the margin (in my opinion) because without knowing what the total business expenses are that margin (you quote 50%) still might not be enough to cover all expenses, let alone make a profit.

Margin on it's own means nothing without knowing what volume of sales are done.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I am talking about Hi-Fi, nothing else. And yes they do see it as a demanded right, just converse with your mate.

I don’t think it matters how they see it, the reality is that buyers have the choice to buy or not, in the same way you have the choice to promote your product sand sell then as you prefer.

Again, if the semiconductor industries refused to sell you transistors, and it was a criminal offence to sell NVA you would have a point, but neither of those are true.

But honestly, we have been round this dance before and I don't expect any different outcome, so I will leave you to it.

So you see it as unimportant that the same product could be bought for half the price, and you don't think customers care about that.

[ArseHats]

My understanding of Lurcher’s posts is that if the potential customer does care enough about it, then he or she is at liberty to spend his or her money elsewhere.
I think it’s called the free market.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

But the market is not free, you are FORCED to pay dealers margins on just about all products. That has been MY POINT from the start of the thread.

So you still stick 50% of your money in the dealers pocket, for what tell me. Do you see direct sellers like me giving less service or opportunity to hear product. We all have the freedom to be eeeeediots!

[Daniel Quinn]

We have an economy that reflects the distribution of wealth.

People have to make a living. If a few sell overpriced rubbish to the 5% who can afford it , who im i to say that is wrong.

The rest of us are not forced to buy even thogh some coveat thier goods