General Asylum

General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories.

Use this form to submit comments directly to the Asylum moderators for this forum. We're particularly interested in truly outstanding posts that might be added to our FAQs.
You may also use this form to provide feedback or to call attention to messages that may be in violation of our content rules.

You must login to use this feature.

Inmate Login

By default, logging in will set a session cookie that disappears when you close your browser. Clicking on the 'Remember my Moniker & Password' below will cause a permanent 'Login Cookie' to be set.

Moniker/Username: The Name that you picked or by default, your email. Forgot Moniker?	Examples "Rapper", "Bob W", "joe@aol.com".
Password:	Forgot Password?
	Remember my Moniker & Password ( What's this?)

If you don't have an Asylum Account, you can create one by clicking Here.

Our privacy policy can be reviewed by clicking Here.

Inmate Comments

From:
Your Email:
Subject:

Message Comments

Original Message

RE: I just expect them to be straightforward about what they will and won't do

Posted by Jon L5 on June 27, 2012 at 15:44:48:
I wouldn't expect them to pay for shipping both ways. Frankly, I think if they're willing to loan it out for free I should demonstrate some real interest by being willing to pay for shipping.

I don't see the point in there being traditional exclusive dealers who don't have anything in stock. Sooner or later a better model is bound to emerge. I think manufacturers need to figure out how to get demonstration facilities where people can try out a variety of products before buying what they want online for the lowest price. The value that a dealer provides is that he can allow the consumer to try before committing to buying and help customers with setup and optimization. The dealer gets paid for his investment later when the transaction actually happens. I believe this gap will inevitably close one way or another.

If the dealer turned into a service and rental type of a business it would make more sense to me. If a manufacturer thinks he can sell something in an area he commits to it by sending demo units to the hifi showroom. The showroom operator/"dealer" then charges people $100/hour or whatever is required for access to the $10,000 system room. If you want to take the demo unit home you rent it. You receive the value of the in-home trial at the same time that you pay for it. If the manufacturer wants to discount the product for the amount that a person spends renting it, and advertise that, he can work it out with the dealer. If the manufacturer wants to include setup as part of the price he can work that out with the dealer too.

I know Marks throws a fit when this sort of thing is suggested but I think uncomfortable change is inevitable and already here anyway. If Wilson wants a dedicated salesperson he can stick with dedicated dealers or work out something with the showroom to have a trained, competent Wilson advocate available.

I'm sure the showroom would want to have a free room or two where cheaper stuff is available to audition and would probably also want a really good system set up somewhere free so people could get an idea of what was available. You'd just have to pay for the private rooms where you can switch out components and listen to your own music on a fancy system by yourself or with just a service person.