Guitar Shoppe Laguna CA

[Tahitijack]

If you were a regular customer of any guitar shop anywhere and walked in I'd expect the owner would be willing to discount the price. If you are just shopping the internet to buy a guitar one time and never return for service, strings, amps or accessories i would not expect the owner to treat you to a discount. That's the life works. Regular customers get better treatment than one and done.

[jseth]

The Guitar Shoppe is a terrific store in an AMAZING town!!! Laguna has changed a lot over the years, but it's still gorgeous and "exclusive"...

The Guitar Shoppe is really the only quality game in town - and possibly anywhere nearby on the coast... they've been there a LONG time; I first went there in the early 70's, I think, and it's been cool to watch the metamorphosis over the decades. I haven't bought a guitar from them, but have had my guitars worked on many times there.

I own two Mark Angus guitars, one from 1979 and the other from 1983. Mark has been working in the back for some years now, and I always try to get in to see him and Kirk, Ben, etc... whenever I'm down in the area - whether my guitars need work or not!

Brick and mortar stores are fast becoming harder and harder to find, let alone excellent ones... I wouldn't try to "chisel them" on prices; I'm glad they're there and doing such a great job.

[Bigredhog]

The only discounts in Laguna and California in general are reverse discounts You’ll almost always pay more. Lived here since the seventies these days my new guitar purchases I buy from out of state. I bought my D-41 a while back and there was not one competitive price from any Cali based companies that I could find. I’ll let the rock stars keep em in business.
In all fairness as a business owner Cali is a very expensive place to do business to begin with but some of these guys are off the charts expensive.

[EnsgnOfIndustry]

You talking about the Martin 00-18 Authentic?

[bardsrback]

Originally Posted by Tahitijack

If you were a regular customer of any guitar shop anywhere and walked in I'd expect the owner would be willing to discount the price. If you are just shopping the internet to buy a guitar one time and never return for service, strings, amps or accessories i would not expect the owner to treat you to a discount. That's the life works. Regular customers get better treatment than one and done.

I respectfully disagree. Based on the replies from their local customers in this thread it seems they don’t discount a dime to anyone, period. Also I’ve gotten a lot better discounts from shops far away from me but not much from my local shop. I still shop locally and have bought several guitars from them since the mid 90s because I want to support my local shop. But I can get a lot better prices elsewhere online from other independent shops whether or not I’m a repeat customer. I think their volume of sales and inventory have the biggest impact on willingness to discount and their level of expenses play into it too...rent, cost of labor, etc.

[guitar12]

Originally Posted by bardsrback

Based on the replies from their local customers in this thread it seems they don’t discount a dime to anyone, period.

?. Look at my post above

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by bardsrback

Has anyone had any success negotiating prices with them? They don’t seem to be willing to do 40% below msrp for a Martin. Wondering what others have experienced with respect to their willingness to reduce prices. Thanks

Originally Posted by bardsrback

So they only sell for 100% of MSRP?

Originally Posted by guitar12

The Guitar Shoppe is my local shop,
I'm not sure what Martin you are referring to but just as a quick test I picked a Martin off of their website at random (D-16E) and their listed price of $1699 is the same as Sweetwater and a very well respected forum sponsor here.
Rob

Originally Posted by bardsrback

Based on the replies from their local customers in this thread it seems they don’t discount a dime to anyone, period. .

Originally Posted by guitar12

?. Look at my post above

Apparently the OP does not consider 40% off MSRP to be a discount.

[bardsrback]

Whoops not sure how I missed your earlier post! Sorry about that. But it’s good to hear as I haven’t been able to get them yet so now I know there is at least one case where it has happened. The guitar I’m looking at is $4700. I didn’t see any markdown on their reverb listing but was on my phone and maybe I missed it. Their website says it’s marked down 10% from $5,229. But if you take the difference between their markdown and 40% of $5,229 you get $1,614 so pretty close to $1,700. I know of a few shops that will discount custom orders 40% with no haggling and I will probably just go that route because this isn’t a huge rush for me and I can wait on Martin catching up. Anyway, thanks again!

[hairpuller]

Originally Posted by bardsrback

In that case please PM me the next time you are looking to buy and I'll make you a "killer deal"!! Haha but seriously - that probably just means you're a nice person!

Will do!

You’d think being part Scottish and a school teacher I’d be a world class haggler!

[guitar12]

Ah, I see the guitar that you are talking about:

https://theguitarshoppestorecom.com/...olsFocus=false

So, your original post was about getting 40% off of MSRP on standard Martins which they pretty much do (in my experience).

The above guitar is a Martin custom shop model and I don't know enough about whether customs come with MSRP's attached to them. So, I think the confusion for me was that you were inquiring about getting 40% off of MSRP when in fact you are actually wondering whether you can expect 40% off a shop's posted price for a custom.

I think that somebody with Martin custom pricing experience would have to tell us if Martins customs come with MSRP or perhaps it might even make more sense for you to email the guys in Laguna and ask, they're a top flight bunch.

Best,

Rob

[mercy]

Are you really wanting a 1 13/16" nut short scale?

[Br1ck]

In a town as affluent as Laguna Beach, this is a proven business model. With replacement inventory iffy at best, they have no incentive to haggle. They most probably have a tech set up every instrument they sell, offer a free set up if you want lower action, tweak the truss rod for you next winter when the weather changes, and be your advocate with the manufacturer if needed.

Should they get an instrument they don't feel is up to snuff, they send them back. Where do you think they go? Big box retailers maybe?

The beauty in all this is you have an alternative, many in fact. My two go to stores have the same business model, and many customers who can't decide, buy both, and dealers from Europe that buy full retail. I saw a German guy buy every four string banjo Gryphon had, six or seven of them, to fuel the trad jazz scene that was happening there. Sucks for the average Joe, but what else is new?

[duaneallen]

This is a great shop with a great bunch of guys. I recently bought a new Martin from them and definitely did not pay MSRP. I got a very good deal. I also felt good supporting a small business that is in a very expensive area.