2013 Guild MSRP Pricelist released (effective February 1)

[fronobulax]

My mistake, I'm referring to guilds on ebay that are listed in new condition for $3000.

The price list is manufacturer suggested retail pricing. The street pricing is >30% less usually. Depends where you buy obviously. With ebay you need to carefully check if the seller is an authorized Guild dealer (listed on Guild webpage), if not, no warranty from Guild! Many buyers do not know about that fact. But most guitar manufacturers only give warranty to the original buyer and only if bought from an authorized dealer (see FMIC/Guild warranty on Guild webpage). That alone could make a big difference in price.
Ralf

The other thing to remember is that Guild has what is called a Minimum Advertised Price (or MAP). An authorized dealer listing a new Guild with warranty is almost certainly contractually bound to observe the MAP in the eBay listing. But they are allowed to quote (and sell at) a lower number if you ask.

A rule of thumb that applies across many industries and works enough to be useful is that a dealer buys an item at 50% MSRP and is willing and able to sell it at 60% MRSP. This is not true with cars or when demand exceeds supply or when the market is a niche market or boutique but it is true often enough that the buyer's side of haggling might as well start at 60% MSRP.

 

[chazmo]

...The other thing to remember is that Guild has what is called a Minimum Advertised Price (or MAP). An authorized dealer listing a new Guild with warranty is almost certainly contractually bound to observe the MAP in the eBay listing. But they are allowed to quote (and sell at) a lower number if you ask.

A rule of thumb that applies across many industries and works enough to be useful is that a dealer buys an item at 50% MSRP and is willing and able to sell it at 60% MRSP. This is not true with cars or when demand exceeds supply or when the market is a niche market or boutique but it is true often enough that the buyer's side of haggling might as well start at 60% MSRP.

MAP is a common concept for all the big vendors.

Your point is accurate, Jamie, for bricks and mortar stores doing advertising, but I don't know if it's true for internet sales. I've never asked. Also, when you buy on the internet, you're not going to know if the seller is an authorized dealer unless they say so.

 

[charliea]

...The other thing to remember is that Guild has what is called a Minimum Advertised Price (or MAP). An authorized dealer listing a new Guild with warranty is almost certainly contractually bound to observe the MAP in the eBay listing. But they are allowed to quote (and sell at) a lower number if you ask.

A rule of thumb that applies across many industries and works enough to be useful is that a dealer buys an item at 50% MSRP and is willing and able to sell it at 60% MRSP. This is not true with cars or when demand exceeds supply or when the market is a niche market or boutique but it is true often enough that the buyer's side of haggling might as well start at 60% MSRP.

MAP is a common concept for all the big vendors.

Your point is accurate, Jamie, for bricks and mortar stores doing advertising, but I don't know if it's true for internet sales. I've never asked. Also, when you buy on the internet, you're not going to know if the seller is an authorized dealer unless they say so.

I go to the Guild website and look them up.

 

[fronobulax]

...The other thing to remember is that Guild has what is called a Minimum Advertised Price (or MAP). An authorized dealer listing a new Guild with warranty is almost certainly contractually bound to observe the MAP in the eBay listing. But they are allowed to quote (and sell at) a lower number if you ask.

A rule of thumb that applies across many industries and works enough to be useful is that a dealer buys an item at 50% MSRP and is willing and able to sell it at 60% MRSP. This is not true with cars or when demand exceeds supply or when the market is a niche market or boutique but it is true often enough that the buyer's side of haggling might as well start at 60% MSRP.

MAP is a common concept for all the big vendors.

Your point is accurate, Jamie, for bricks and mortar stores doing advertising, but I don't know if it's true for internet sales. I've never asked. Also, when you buy on the internet, you're not going to know if the seller is an authorized dealer unless they say so.

I'm not sure I follow what you are saying, but to be clear the MAP agreements I have been privy to apply to all forms of advertising including a store's own website, an eBay or a GBase listing. Gbase is pretty straight forward because the price there is a sale price. Ditto for a store website. eBay has some gray areas. My understanding is that a BIN or a non-auction eBay listing is subject to the MAP restrictions but an auction with an opening bid below MAP and no reserve might not be. And to reiterate, MAP only applies to authorized dealers selling new merchandise who wish to remain on good terms with their supplier.

MAP is one of the reasons some dealers don't list a price but say something like "Call u$ and $ave big!!!". MAP does not apply if a customer asks the dealer for a price nor does it effect what the deacler can sell for. At one time manufactures tried to impose minimum sales prices but US courts pretty much ruled that as being monopolistic and illegal.

 

[chazmo]

Well, you actually answered one of my questions about the process, and it sounds like eBay "auction" listings are as murky as they've always been.

You reiterated the point I was actually trying to make... namely, that when you buy off the internet you don't know who the seller is unless he says so and you choose to verify it. In any case, I think it's worth reiterating a few points that aren't just splitting hairs:

1. The MSRP of a guitar is meaningless to the educated consumer. If you pay that, you've overpaid.

2. MAP is a starting point for negotiation face-to-face with a dealer. You go in the store, you see a Guild priced at MAP. You will likely see the same product/price across the country (US, I'm talking about). Any dealer will negotiate with you based on MAP as a starting point. They have lots of wiggle room between what they paid Fender for the item and MAP.

3. Internet sales (particularly on Ebay) for NEW guitars is a murky world. If you're gonna' do this, work with authorized dealers. If you don't, you may find that the definition of "new" has been somewhat altered, and don't be surprised if a warrantee claim is rejected.