Martin Logan dealer demo cost

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Bruce Weiland

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Location
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As I recall when I worked in audio, many, many years ago, dealer cost on good quality brands was about 60% of retail. I don't suppose things have changed much there.

Some audio suppliers had a better price available for the store demos. Often it was the same as the dealer accomodation price for sales people, 50% of retail.

My question is this. I don't suppose anyone of you knows if ML charges the dealer less that 60% or retail on the in-store demo stock, do you?

Thanks for your reply.

Bruce

Oh. You might wonder what has motivated this question. I am trying to work a deal on a demo pair of Prodigy. The dealer has offered me what I consider is a fair price that would give him just a little profit. My wife is not going for it and wants a much lower price, which I believe is below his cost on these demos. If there is no room for him to move then I am going to miss out on some great speakers. They have been in my system for home demo for a few weeks.

Also, I have seen $10,000 and $11,000 listed as the retail price. Did the speakers start out when released at $10,000 and the list go up over time prior to retiring this model?

Again, thanks for your replies.
 
I am trying to work a deal on a demo pair of Prodigy. The dealer has offered me what I consider is a fair price that would give him just a little profit. My wife is not going for it and wants a much lower price, which I believe is below his cost on these demos.
I would doubt the dealer gets anymore than 60% of MSRP and even if they did it sounds like your dealer is already giving you a very fair deal. Apparently, your wife isn't convinced that is the case. Try showing her what a new pair of Summits cost or other comparable speakers.

You might find a used pair of Prodigys on Audiogon but the price may not be much different than the demo pair you have and you would not get the ML warranty with used speakers. You should get a warranty with a demo pair from an authorized dealer.

http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=49
 
Bruce Weiland said:
As I recall when I worked in audio, many, many years ago, dealer cost on good quality brands was about 60% of retail. I don't suppose things have changed much there.

Some audio suppliers had a better price available for the store demos. Often it was the same as the dealer accomodation price for sales people, 50% of retail.

My question is this. I don't suppose anyone of you knows if ML charges the dealer less that 60% or retail on the in-store demo stock, do you?

Thanks for your reply.

Bruce

Oh. You might wonder what has motivated this question. I am trying to work a deal on a demo pair of Prodigy. The dealer has offered me what I consider is a fair price that would give him just a little profit. My wife is not going for it and wants a much lower price, which I believe is below his cost on these demos. If there is no room for him to move then I am going to miss out on some great speakers. They have been in my system for home demo for a few weeks.

Also, I have seen $10,000 and $11,000 listed as the retail price. Did the speakers start out when released at $10,000 and the list go up over time prior to retiring this model?

Again, thanks for your replies.
Hola Bruce. I have the Orion's 2006 blue book and the retail price for the light oak black oak and maple finished was $ 10.995.00. The price used is $ 4.908.00 and dealer's cost is, mint: $ 3.337.00. Average: $ 2.269.00. Happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.
 
Craig said:
...........dealer is already giving you a very fair deal. Apparently, your wife isn't convinced that is the case. .....
http://www.martinloganowners.com/~tdacquis/forum/showthread.php?t=49


The problem is Craig. It doesn't really matter to her. Audio is my hobby not hers. She thinks I should be as happy as a lark with my Script i's. And although they are very nice, they are not Prodigies.

Thank you for your reply.

Bruce
 
roberto said:
Hola Bruce. I have the Orion's 2006 blue book and the retail price for the light oak black oak and maple finished was $ 10.995.00. The price used is $ 4.908.00 and dealer's cost is, mint: $ 3.337.00. Average: $ 2.269.00. Happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.


Hola amigo,

It has been some time since we have emailed. About a year and 1/2 ago you gave me some advice on biasing one of my Moscode 600's after I have purchased my Script i's, from the same dealer.

Thank you for the reply. You are always helpful.

Bruce
 
Bruce Weiland said:
The problem is Craig. It doesn't really matter to her. Audio is my hobby not hers. She thinks I should be as happy as a lark with my Script i's. And although they are very nice, they are not Prodigies.
Same thing with my wife. When I was looking at purchasing my CLSIIz's to replace my Sequel II's I got: "Your speakers are working fine, why do you need new ones?". I stated it was a deal that was very hard to pass up on and these were the ML's that I always wanted, but never thought I could afford.

Dan
 
Hola Bruce. I have the Orion's 2006 blue book and the retail price for the light oak black oak and maple finished was $ 10.995.00. The price used is $ 4.908.00 and dealer's cost is, mint: $ 3.337.00. Average: $ 2.269.00. Happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.<!-- / message -->
My local dealer let me browse through his Orion Blue Book and after looking at it and taking into consideration all the time I've spent looking at items on Audiogon I came to the conclusion that Orion's prices seemed very low on the average for most gear.
 
Craig,

I agree. Over three decades ago when I was in audio retail the Orion book was a bit like the Kelly Blue Book. It allow dealers to take in used equipment at a very good price and make a good profit reselling it.
 
DTB300 said:
Same thing with my wife. When I was looking at purchasing my CLSIIz's to replace my Sequel II's I got: "Your speakers are working fine, why do you need new ones?". I stated it was a deal that was very hard to pass up on and these were the ML's that I always wanted, but never thought I could afford.

Dan


I tried all those ploys with her. No results.
 
Craig said:
My local dealer let me browse through his Orion Blue Book and after looking at it and taking into consideration all the time I've spent looking at items on Audiogon I came to the conclusion that Orion's prices seemed very low on the average for most gear.
Hola Craig. When I'm going to buy something used, I love the see the Orion's blue book, but when I'm going to sell, I hate it!!!( :D )...I think it is just a guide, not the bible...and you are right with it...many prices are too low for the quality of the goods and also, the price that we did pay for it brand new...happy listening,
Pura vida,
Roberto.
 
Good news. Problem solved.

This morning I took one last run at my wife on this. She said $5,500 and then she would agree. I told her that I believed that was well below cost. She was surprised.

After some discussion, she agreed to $6,600 and paid all at once. The dealer had offered $7,500 and payment over time.

I just had a discussion with the dealer. He agreed to my wife's offer, plus tax.

So, I am, soon to be officially, the proud owner of a pair of Prodigy that had less than 40 hours on them when they made it to my home.

I think I am finally getting to audio nervana.
 
Bruce Weiland said:
Good news. Problem solved.

This morning I took one last run at my wife on this. She said $5,500 and then she would agree. I told her that I believed that was well below cost. She was surprised.

After some discussion, she agreed to $6,600 and paid all at once. The dealer had offered $7,500 and payment over time.

I just had a discussion with the dealer. He agreed to my wife's offer, plus tax.

So, I am, soon to be officially, the proud owner of a pair of Prodigy that had less than 40 hours on them when they made it to my home.

I think I am finally getting to audio nervana.
Well congratulations.

The prodigy was my dream speaker to own until the Summit came out.

You will love it, but you already know that. ;)
 
Bruce Weiland said:
I tried all those ploys with her. No results.

All of this is just another part of our hobby. Like equipment breakdowns, they are not plesant, but cannot be avoided - I don't know a single woman who can appreciate it let alone leave us to do what we know is best!
 
Bruce Weiland said:
I tried all those ploys with her. No results.
Ha ha ha...yeah it works some of the time, but you have to use it only when absolutely needed!!!!

Glad to see you, the wife and the dealer could come to an agreement!!! Congratulations on your new toys!!!

Dan
 
Congratulations...Now go take your wife out to a nice dinner.
 
I think I am finally getting to audio nervana.[/QUOTE]
Famous last words...
I am trying to trade in my Odysseys for a pair of Summits, but the dealer is not interested
NJoy and revel in your Prodigies
 
As a dealer:

All Demo items are 50% of retail. You're allowed to switch out your Demos with approval from your Sales Rep (which is generally around a year later).
 
tsd2005 said:
As a dealer:

All Demo items are 50% of retail. You're allowed to switch out your Demos with approval from your Sales Rep (which is generally around a year later).

That is what I thought. Thanks for the info. The good news is the dealer got a very small profit on his demos and got his cash out so he can do something else with it, like eat. And... I got a deal I am very happy with on essentillly new speakers that are all I could hope for.

A friend of mine from the SF area (ML and ARC owner) was down two weekends ago for the HE2006 show. We have been to many of them and were to the last one, here in LA, put on by Stereophile about 7 years ago.

There were less than half the exihibitors. We only had Sat. and Sun. to get to the show. We started Sat. morning about 10 am. After the first few rooms. We started scratching our heads and wondering if we had lost our hearing (both in our very late 50's) or had just become too jaded.

By 1 pm we were done and could not think of anything we wanted to go back and listen too, with one exception.

So, we went to my house and tweaked my system some. When we were done we liked it better than any of the $200,000 plus systems (or lessor systems) we had heard on Sat. Sunday we made some additional improvements.

We just could not see/hear what people were so excited in a number of the rooms we visited.
 
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