Audio Asylum Thread Printer

In Reply to: Wow...I just read the "other post" that you made reference to... posted by gonefishin on February 17, 2007 at 17:07:26:

.... who may or may not be out to screw them would handle a customer who stands to benefit them at the expense of someone else.

I think option "c" is the most pragmatic answer. But it's the one internet sellers employ all the time. So any B&M dealer who answers "c" is being hypocritical if they complain about being "used" and losing sales to internet or Audiogon buyers. But are options "a" and "b" really viable alternatives for any dealer who wants to stay in business? Is it really incumbent on a seller to verify that a buyer is an "honorable" person, beyond relying on him to follow through on the terms of his sales transaction?
Most savvy buyers explore numerous options before settling on one particular item or retailer. Holding a customer to a standard that requires he must buy from the dealer who invests the most time in cultivating the customer's desire is impractical. Almost no one suddenly decides to spend (for example) $20,000 for a pair of speakers on a whim. Someone who is interested in audio at this level likely came to this point after years of experience with (and purchases of) successively better or more expensive speakers from many different sources - both new and used. A dealer who thinks that his two hours of time convinced a buyer to spend $20,000 on a pair of speakers is being disingenuous. He is simply the one who was lucky enough to reap a profit potential that had been building for years.
So what to do about inconsiderate customers? If you can't set up a business model that makes buying from you attractive enough to produce a high enough percentage of sales, allowing you to absorb the cost of wasted time and resources through losing some of your leads to other dealers, then you have two choices. Either you go out of business or you find a way to recoup those costs. Seems to me it would be only fair to charge a "demo fee" for allowing a customer to take an item home to audition in his own space. As an incentive to buy, the fee could be applied to offset the purchase price. That way you provide a disincentive to tire kickers. And if you do lose the sale because an unscrupulous customer decides to buy the same item elsewhere, you at least have some compensation for your time and the wear to the demo equipment.
I used to work as a field engineer for a medical laser company (now defunct) that got into such a competitive situation with another laser company that they had to provide demo equipment for doctors to use free of any charge for months at a time to hopefully generate a sale. Of course, the other company followed suit. It was truly discouraging how, many times, I could tell the doctor was simply using one company against the other to get free use and maintenance while generating income off the equipment; delaying and delaying until ultimately deciding not to buy either or asking for a steep discount for accepting the "demo" unit that was provided to them brand new. It was frustrating that doctors, who you would expect to be more intelligent and ethical than the average person, would so blantantly take advantage of a company's honest efforts. But it happens all the time and at all levels. It's just a cost of doing business.

General Asylum

It's a tough situation. Just want to get an idea of how dealers who admit to screening out customers....