PSA Regarding Collings/Waterloo Pricing, New MAP Policy
 

Hey all,

Just a note to let folks know that as of June 1st, 2019, Collings has made some changes to their pricing structure and their MAP agreement with dealers.

Starting Saturday, all brand new Collings and Waterloo guitars are to be advertised and sold at LIST price. Effectively, you will see all brand new instrument listings adjust upwards by 10% on or before that day.

Though we changed our prices today (busy day tomorrow, so we wanted to get the jump) we can still sell at 10% off through the end of day tomorrow.

Important: our MAP agreement with Collings/Waterloo says that we can not quote lower than list IN WRITING. That includes emails, instant messages, Reverb messages... if you want our absolute best pricing on anything from these brands, please call. It's probably the same with most dealers...

One other note... Collings is no longer bundling their vintage-style case with any guitars. They are going back to the standard TKLs on their Traditional and Julian Lage OMs. So when you're looking at listings on these models, the included case will be reflected in the price. Many Traditional models that are currently in stock do include the Collings vintage-style case. We are told that Collings will eventually sell the cases directly to customers.

Any other questions, give a shout!

Are they raising the prices on the “NOS” guitars too, or just newly ordered stock? I used to be a retailer and if we bought merchandise at a lower price, we did not raise the prices on that inventory when the manufacturer had a price increase. Thanks

I have seen a couple of dealers that already have raised the prices to the newest price mandate, including the old stock. One dealer has had a couple of Collings for at least 3 years.

My guess is that it would be very confusing and could result in conflicts between dealers if one dealer is perceived to be violating the dealer agreement by another dealer by advertising a different price. Collings has nothing to gain in becoming a referee or chasing down the truth.

I suggest that if you find a guitar you want and if it is old stock, CALL the dealer on the phone and talk about it.

The MAP policy adheres to all instruments that are sold "brand new" and include the manufacturers warranty, regardless of year of production.