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Posts: 61
Location: RI
Joined: April 24, 2025
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The UK loudspeaker I speak of in particular was introduced in the US early this year. It was single-tier, direct from importer to consumer, only.
Retail at first was (I am rounding up by five or ten bucks) $2,000/pr. Importer cost was $1,200/pr. I was told that the new tariff was 10%, so that is $120 extra on the importer cost. Also, he told me that the fall of confidence in the dollar made it more expensive to pay in Pounds, by an equal amount.
So, Importer Cost went from $1,200 the pair, to $1,450 the pair. That makes the marked-up (by 1.66X)consumer price $2,407. Whereas the importer increased the price to $2,490. So, yes he padded by $83. Which also could have been an attempt to recoup shipping, in, out, or both.
The importer considers that speaker a Loss Leader, because he claims that the competing European small monitors are in the $3K to $4K price tier.
As far as I know, Steinway dealers mark up their pianos 2X. That is, the dealer pays $50,000 for a piano, and then you pay $100,000, for the same piano.
The Steinway dealer has to pay rent in a classy area with good demographics on the foot traffic. The Steinway dealer has employees, inventory costs, and overhead.
Both in the case of Made-in-UK loudspeakers, and analog hammers-and-keys pianos, there are cheaper alternatives.
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