Taylor vs Martin on Price
 

I am curious on the pricing strategy between these two manufacturers. In a nutshell looks like you can get a Martin for about 40% off list price buying from a dealer, while Taylors the norm is 15%. So the list price on Martin guitars are much higher than Taylors but the purchase price is reverted, Taylors are usually more expensive

NOTE: I am not talking custom models or the specialty models...

What gives??? :confused:

I don't think there is any difference in the amount of discounts you can get but it does appear that Taylor cares more about the value of their brand than Martin does so there is an appearance of higher value with Taylor. Also note that Martin is still uses antiquated retail pricing which is causing some confusion.

Can you please explain and elaborate upon both of those statements?

List price (MSRP) is completely useless number anyway. Not only does no one pay it, it's pretty rare to see instruments even sold for MSRP. Everything gets listed at MAP anyway, so there's no reason to pay attention to MSRP, because it's meaningless and only there as a dumb marketing gimmick (meaningless discount - it's well established and there are lots of things you can read about it).

If I had to guess, I would assume that Martin, as an older company, is probably just more invested in using such a well-known marketing tactic.

Taylor vs Martin on Price
 

You are confusing MSRP and MAP. Martin lists MSRP on its website...and that’s the price you typically get 40% off on highend Martins and Taylors. But Taylor and some other manufactures (Gibson?) started to list just MAP on their sites recently. That makes the calculating of standard discount more challenging. Forty percent off MSRP usually amounts to about +/- 25% off MAP...at least it has in my last few Martin and Taylor transactions.

Consider that Martin has more "intermediate" stops than Taylor. They make more models. Consider that Taylor has certain consistencies that Martin does not. For example, I believe all Taylors have ebony bridges and fretboards. Not so with Martin.

In short, the OP is looking at .25X and .15Y where X does not equal Y.....

What do you want, and are you willing to pay what is being asked for it? Don't sweat the potential algebra problem just save up and buy what you like!

May I suggest you never look at how much percentage off from MAPP or anything else. Always, always, always look at the end price. The percentage thing is just marketing strategy from the manufacturer and dealer.

As far as comparing Martin and Taylor pricing, it is very difficult because they are generally two different guitars, at least tonally and often in body shapes and sizes. It's like comparing a Macintosh apple with a red delicious. They are both apples but quite different.

MSRP is a completly made up number. Nobody pays that, not on guns, or guitars, or cars, or actually anything.

What you want to look at is the MAP pricing. (Minimum Advertised price). This is basically the company acting as a cartel, and telling their dealers what the minimum price they can advertise a product.

Map is pretty easy to find out. Just see what a big shop like Elderly or Sweetwater has something priced at. You will see that Elderly, MF, GC, Sweetwater, and a bunch of other shops have the exact same price. How did that happen? It's because it is the lowest price the contract allows them to advertise.

Call up a shop in person, and they should be able to beat MAP by 15% or therabouts. Maybe 20 if you are really good at haggling.

Reminds me of the white van speaker guys who say “The MSRP of our speakers is $4999, but we’ll sell them to you for $300!”

Nick

Is this why, now I see that Sweetwater which always displays MAP, has the same price as Taylor's website? I almost got the 717BE, over the OM-28, because the prices were close to the same. I just always wanted a Martin, and the OM-28 has the sound and shape I was looking for.

Pricing
 

IMHO, MAP/MSRP price, what ever you call is is marketing, well let's just say irrelevant. Street price is the only one that matters, again, IMHO.

Forget the IMHO. You said it straight and that's the truth. I have been in the manufacturing, wholesale and retail business all my life in one capacity or another and it is part of the game. I just wish more people understood this. It would keep some money in their pockets.

Martin MSRP tells me precisely what price I can expect from a Martin dealer that offers maximum discount. MAP is totally meaningless for me. Many discussions on AGF have revealed the wildly differing definitions folks here have for "street price," making that term meaningless as well.