McPherson - 2k increase?

[Side Man]

Originally Posted by SuperB23

They went from having about 12 employees to 3 soon it will just be one if they keep this up. They will be making 12-16 guitars a year if they aren't careful with this IMO. All I can say is buy a Goodall.

Guess that explains the $2K price increase... Even if Matt's other businesses are doing well, at some point the accountants have to put their feet down. Either that, or he just read Henry Juskiewicz's "How To Win Friends and Influence Potential Gibson Buyers" book.

[chaddywac]

I own a 4.0 Cedar ? Rosewood and they are VERY nice and like someone said for those that own one it just went up lol I was told by Dealer today the used one he has will be 2K more NOV 1 so did one other dealer I called.

[SMan]

It's their business as a company how they operate. As a consumer it doesn't give me a warm fuzzy about their company. Life selling bows must be good.

[dkoloff]

It is what the market will bear....I have no problem with them asking whatever price they think fits their guitar. That said raising old stock by that amount is a truly classless move with no regard for the guitar community or its dealers. Forcing a dealer to raise their prices when they have committed their purchase dollars on a guitar at a specific price......maybe more margin IF they can sell but maybe much more time sitting on their shelf.

[SongwriterFan]

Originally Posted by SuperB23

They will be making 12-16 guitars a year if they aren't careful with this IMO.

Perhaps that's the intent.

[RustyZombie]

Given who McPherson's heavy users are, I'm surprised this move didn't come much sooner.

[BKENNA]

Originally Posted by Bluedog52

No offense, but I thought they were already overpriced, by a LOT!

Personally agreed, though respect others right to choose to buy one. I deal in books part-time and have been doing so for over 20 years.

There is a saying in the book business,

"What's a book worth? Whatever you pay for it!"

There are guitars that each of us probably would and would not touch, what are they worth....! Whatever we pay for them.

If the $2000.00 increase is true I would have some personally kept feelings about "How does he justify that amount!" However it also is a thought I will after this keep personal. I will say if the amount is correct then, If he has the customer flow he needs after raising the price, then I guess to those people it is worth it.

What's a Mcpherson worth! Whatever you pay for it! If he can find enough people that to them it is worth paying that for it, then I would say Have a nice time.
B.

[afoll]

I spoke with the folks at Mcpherson yesterday and can confirm the price increase. Apparently they will be creating a more ornate baseline guitar for "general" production; more intricate inlays and different tuners, some finer detail work on binding joints, gold frets possibly.
Production of these guitars will be around 30ish guitars per year once the current stock in various states of production are finished out. These guitars will start at the current price point plus 2K and up.
The rest of the production will be custom order guitars that will be priced at 10K+.
One other point is that the builders over at Mcpherson seem to have no intention of changing the structure or sound of these guitars per se.
Might be a good time to grab one...I have been toying with the idea of getting one for a while.
Not sure if the used market will follow the 2K price increase at the end of the month. It will be interesting to see what happens over on EBAY/Gbase.

[Doubleneck]

Heard they will be concentrating on their new Carbon Fiber guitars? Anyone confirm? margins may be larger?

[afoll]

Yes they will be focusing on the carbon fiber's as well

[afoll]

Duplicate post.

[Guitar-Meister]

Originally Posted by afoll

I spoke with the folks at Mcpherson yesterday and can confirm the price increase. Apparently they will be creating a more ornate baseline guitar for "general" production; more intricate inlays and different tuners, some finer detail work on binding joints, gold frets possibly.
Production of these guitars will be around 30ish guitars per year once the current stock in various states of production are finished out. These guitars will start at the current price point plus 2K and up.
The rest of the production will be custom order guitars that will be priced at 10K+.
One other point is that the builders over at Mcpherson seem to have no intention of changing the structure or sound of these guitars per se.
Might be a good time to grab one...I have been toying with the idea of getting one for a while.
Not sure if the used market will follow the 2K price increase at the end of the month. It will be interesting to see what happens over on EBAY/Gbase.

All of that makes sense from a business perspective (i.e. custom orders, finer detail work on new instruments, etc.). But it doesn't answer why current stock are going up in price. I understand raising prices on new models with additional work being done in the construction process, but raising prices on stock that has been on a shelf for 2-2 1/2 years seems to be a strange business decision.

[RustyZombie]

Originally Posted by Guitar-Meister

All of that makes sense from a business perspective (i.e. custom orders, finer detail work on new instruments, etc.). But it doesn't answer why current stock are going up in price. I understand raising prices on new models with additional work being done in the construction process, but raising prices on stock that has been on a shelf for 2-2 1/2 years seems to be a strange business decision.

Its been done several times in the luxury car market, quite successfully. McPherson guitars occupy a similar niche within the guitar market. Its a decision that they are hoping will get them more money, and historically such moves have usually worked.

A basic rule of business is the 80/20 rule, which states that roughly eighty percent of your revenue comes from twenty percent of your customer base. Any smart business will cater to that twenty percent. McPherson's heavy users are likely affluent people that are buying status symbols as much as a good guitar. The larger the price, the bigger the status symbol. By increasing the price of the existing guitar, McPherson has instantly made them more desirable to their heavy users.

[darfaz]

Perhaps they are being seen as a Veblen good.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by chaddywac

I own a 4.0 Cedar ? Rosewood and they are VERY nice and like someone said for those that own one it just went up lol I was told by Dealer today the used one he has will be 2K more NOV 1 so did one other dealer I called.

That is interesting. I can see the new (new, nos, etc) guitars going up in price due to the way that McPherson handles their guitars with dealers and being new, McPherson still owns them, but should the used ones go up in the same way when the dealer owns them (unless the dealer believes that raising the price that much won't inhibit the sale of the instrument)?

I own a 3.5 XP that has maple back and sides with Englemann spruce top. I preferred it over any of the rosewood models, though they were very nice too. To me, maple seems to really work well with the way that McPherson builds their instruments.

As for having an opinion on McPherson's move from a business perspective, I am not a businessman and therefore can't really say whether that was a "right" move for McPherson or not. The guitar buying market is much larger than me and my circumstances, so I can't just assume everybody is like me. I am obviously glad to have gotten my McPherson before the price increase, but then I am not rich and also not a collector. My McPherson is my one really expensive (to me) guitar purchase and I am very happy with it - happy enough to not be wondering if I should have gotten something else even after now having it for two years, which (to me) would be an awful feeling considering the amount of money involved. I see guitars at least as expensive (when new) as my McPherson go up for sale in that sub-forum and wonder what went wrong. I hope I never feel the need to do that. I think a McPherson is good enough to not have to find out.

Tony