Long & McQuade in Vancouver threw in a set of Seimens EL34's and a TS9 Tube Screamer OD Pedal with my MKIV just to get it out of there... LMAO They were all looking at me like... Christ why would you want that when you could have a Rectoverb, F50 or a Lone Star! They all thought I was a moron for buying it. The Salesman tried to talk me out of it! I'm telling you I have never regretted buying it!
Mesa Purchases at Guitar Center!
- Thread starter ibanez4life SZ!
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srf399 said:
I would have let them keep throwing things my way. It is probably because someone else there or their friend wanted it though that they were trying to convince you not to buy it. Maybe they had bigger commissions on the other amps too. I haven't regretted buying mine.
I was trying to negotiate with GC for a "new", but beat up looking mesa speaker cab and they said they had to sell it at list. I called Mesa, and the guy checked it out, called me back and I was told by one of the higher-ups (I don't recall his name) that that is GC policy and GC can sell mesa stuff for whatever they want to. I told this to the manager, and then called Mesa again-but the manager refused to talk to mesa about it. So I called the regional GC manger, and he said that mesa does not stipulate GC sells mesa at pro list price! GC can sell mesa for whatever they want-the whole"free stuff" is just a smokescreen. Get the free stuff with the provision you can return it for cash. GC is full of crap IMHO. Get a used one still under warrenty for 1200-1300.
I think the whole pro-list price sheet is BS. To me, that is saying here is the list price, pay it or don't buy one. I think it should be up to the retailer to sell for whatever they need to in order to clear their profit margin or at least not take a loss. Because GC sells so many Boogies I don't think they have to worry too much about losing their authorization to sell Boogie products. Mesa would be stupid to cut off their nose to spite their face. Besides, why should Mesa care how much a retailer makes or doesn't? I think the retailer should care more than the manufacturer. GC always blows out anything they want. Case in point, they were blowing out Mesa's not too long ago because of revisions to the amps. I believe I saw Stilettos getting sold for under pro-list. They couldn't advertise the price reduction but they certainly were doing it. I could have also sworn that the RK's were getting reduced too when the RKII was released. There is another Mesa retailer in my area that typically overcharges for stuff (everything in their store) until you get to know them. Then they cut you some slack. I have been offered slight discounts below pro-list there as opposed to GC's freebies or individual select amp "we don't want to get stuck with these" specials.
nitrous2400
Well-known member
i got free tax thats bout it when i bought my triple recto..... i financed it so i guess that would be the reason.... pretty weak if u ask me :roll:
It would have been nice of them to back out finance charges from the sale price. With the 1 year same as cash you could have walked out with quite a substantial discount if they would have calculated the interest as if it was being financed for however long it would have taken to pay it off on minimum payments.
CaughtLikeFire
Well-known member
Notes from a former GC employee 8) :
first off, were there NO Mark IVs in the entire US? There were always a few when I worked there over the past year. Your salesperson should have been able to transfer a Mark IV in from one of the other stores.
you need to ask for free stuff! you'll make the employees day if you order a Mesa (although he won't benefit until it goes out the door). rather than walk up and say "I want a Mesa," start looking around and trying amps, get an employee to help you, then make a deal.
they won't throw in free stuff if they don't have to to make a deal and why would they? if you're not a regular customer (of that particular employee) or friend, they'll send you out the door with an LP custom at full price and 1 free pack of strings. base pay for most GC employees is $6.50/hr. Commission is how they eat and put clothes on their backs :shock:
as far as Mesa goes, profit margin is very small. employee sales goals aren't set on profit alone so the gross sale value of a Mesa helps with the comission check too but they may not be super motivated to give away a lot of stuff with a Mesa. Certain Gibsons or Fenders, that's a different story.
profit margins aren't high across the board. I payed a lot for my Martin, got a huge discount on my Tele, and got a huge discount on my Mesa but ONLY by buying direct from Mesa. In store employee sale would have saved me less than $300.
Russ, GC only marks down Mesa when they get approval from the Mesa regional sales rep. As part of the agreement between GC and Mesa, the prices stay where they are in 99% of all cases.
And as far as financing goes, that's covered by the manufacturers or GC headquarters and arranged with the credit card company (HSBC). Individual stores cannot offer financing whenever they want. March was 12 months no interest for all $500+ purchasesand they are probably bringing back manufacturer specific financing this spring.
first off, were there NO Mark IVs in the entire US? There were always a few when I worked there over the past year. Your salesperson should have been able to transfer a Mark IV in from one of the other stores.
you need to ask for free stuff! you'll make the employees day if you order a Mesa (although he won't benefit until it goes out the door). rather than walk up and say "I want a Mesa," start looking around and trying amps, get an employee to help you, then make a deal.
they won't throw in free stuff if they don't have to to make a deal and why would they? if you're not a regular customer (of that particular employee) or friend, they'll send you out the door with an LP custom at full price and 1 free pack of strings. base pay for most GC employees is $6.50/hr. Commission is how they eat and put clothes on their backs :shock:
as far as Mesa goes, profit margin is very small. employee sales goals aren't set on profit alone so the gross sale value of a Mesa helps with the comission check too but they may not be super motivated to give away a lot of stuff with a Mesa. Certain Gibsons or Fenders, that's a different story.
profit margins aren't high across the board. I payed a lot for my Martin, got a huge discount on my Tele, and got a huge discount on my Mesa but ONLY by buying direct from Mesa. In store employee sale would have saved me less than $300.
Russ, GC only marks down Mesa when they get approval from the Mesa regional sales rep. As part of the agreement between GC and Mesa, the prices stay where they are in 99% of all cases.
And as far as financing goes, that's covered by the manufacturers or GC headquarters and arranged with the credit card company (HSBC). Individual stores cannot offer financing whenever they want. March was 12 months no interest for all $500+ purchasesand they are probably bringing back manufacturer specific financing this spring.
CaughtLikeFire
Well-known member
Barracuda said:
Call up the regional Mesa rep.
Tell him what I want.
Give him my credit card number
Wait one month.
Rock out on my new Stiletto Ace 8)
My store wasn't Mesa authorized so I had a friend/neighbor that worked at an authorized GC (15 miles from my store) order it for me with my cc number. Mesa was totally cool with that. So even that hurdle was easy to get over.
i bought my DR about two years ago at GC also. tried to negotiate and was told they couldn't or they'll "lose the MESA account."
i even tried getting it without the tax, but the guy wouldn't budge. i told him i would have to go to the bank and check my account and he let me walk out the door without negotiating with me or nothing! to be quite honest, i thought he did a poor job and making a deal. if it wasn't for the fact that i wanted that amp i would not have returned.
man, i could have walked away with free stuff, but nothing
i ended up paying full price and tax.
i even tried getting it without the tax, but the guy wouldn't budge. i told him i would have to go to the bank and check my account and he let me walk out the door without negotiating with me or nothing! to be quite honest, i thought he did a poor job and making a deal. if it wasn't for the fact that i wanted that amp i would not have returned.
man, i could have walked away with free stuff, but nothing
i ended up paying full price and tax.
waassaabee
Well-known member
**** it's great living within driving distance of the Hollywood Mesa Shop!!
