johnnyC1553552718 Posted July 29, 2010 Posted July 29, 2010 Now if I'm going to spend 6k to 10k on say, a car, I want to to be able to kick the tires and take it for a spin. Over the years I've spent up to 10k at a time on my hifi hobby - but it has always been so bloody tricky getting to see or hear the stuff first - and this with gear advertised locally in NZ. When I want to audition a classy and expensive bit of gear that a store or seller advertises - they don't actually have the items in stock.... "it's on indent - its clearing customs etc etc". This has happened twice this year - I waited for the two respective places (one bricks and mortar store and the other - a distributor or agent) to get the gear in for me to listen to - and well I'm still waiting - meantime I've spent the not inconsiderable amount of dosh elsewhere on another brand. I know the market is small for high price hifi gear, but it is frustrating for us who save their pennies to make a buy. I even went to Aust to audition (with the intent of buying) a bit of gear, only to get there and the store had "sold the last one" - ok I was on holiday too. And don't get me started on "no we don't take credit cards". Yeah there is a commission - built it in or eat it, the rest of the retail world does. If I can save half to two thirds of the purchase price, I'm impatient, ready and prepared to use a cr card. Gripe over. Feels better. Must go listen to some loud music.
gooki Posted July 29, 2010 Posted July 29, 2010 johnnyC;128957 wrote: And don't get me started on "no we don't take credit cards". Yeah there is a commission - built it in or eat it, the rest of the retail world does. If I can save half to two thirds of the purchase price, I'm impatient, ready and prepared to use a cr card. You've got to be kidding us right? Nice rant though. I have the same problem all the time, find a product I want - talk to the NZ distributor, they say go talk to the retailer, retailer doesn't have the product, go back to the distributor, they don't have stock. End result I buy online from overseas retailer.
glennb99 Posted July 29, 2010 Posted July 29, 2010 I had a similar experience with one retailer here in Auckland but the main 3 that I used for my speaker auditions were able to provide me the items for use at home. All very friendly and keen to get my feedback. Perhaps there were other models that I could have listened to or are available overseas but I was happy I heard a good cross-section of styles. I was certainly tried of A/B listening (as was my wife) after a couple of months of this. We are such a tiny market - let's face it, only the size of a small/medium city on a global basis - that I think we get a bit carried away with what we expect here. I found the retailers good to deal with. Not sure in bigger countries (e.g. US, UK) that you'd see them happy to loan out something worth under $5k - given they think that's petty cash. Glenn
Brian Ono Posted July 30, 2010 Posted July 30, 2010 Any specialist retailers Ive dealt with have always been happy to go that extra mile,the bulk stores dependent on who serves you.
gortnipper Posted July 30, 2010 Posted July 30, 2010 glennb99;128997 wrote: Not sure in bigger countries (e.g. US, UK) that you'd see them happy to loan out something worth under $5k - given they think that's petty cash. Glenn Most of the good retailers (not necessarily Harvey Norman types) I have dealt with in the states are happy for you to take home an open-stock (new, but opened box) unit for a trial or a demo unit (those are usually just overnight as they want them back in the store to use next day) as long as you put the purchase price or substantially deposit on a CC voucher that they will tear up when you return the goods.
WI=3 Posted July 30, 2010 Posted July 30, 2010 Unfortunately it is always going to be a problem for real top end hi-fi over here, I think. I have been considering upgrading my Koetsu Rosewood moving coil, but the chances of actually hearing an alternative in my own system are zilch plus the chances are that if I want something suitably high end upgrade I am going to have to pay a substantial deposit before the retailer even considers getting one into the country. I can of course import my own, but again I will be buying blind and totally dependent on reviews.
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