Composite Acoustics Pricing?

[gerardo1000]

I can confirm that the brand new Emerald X7 OS (no electronics) that I ordered and got after only 5 days from Ireland to Michigan in August, costed me $ 995.00 in total including gig bag and Global Express shipping. Not $ 1150.00 as Ted believes. This is much less than a CA Cargo, which also in the version without electronics, I think, costs more than $1250.00. Also, let's not forget that if you do not like a too short scale length (Cargo has a 22.75 inches scale length, Emerald has a 24 inches, like the Martin Dread Jr) then the Cargo is not anymore a valid alternative to the X7.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Originally Posted by gerardo1000

I can confirm that the brand new Emerald X7 OS (no electonics) that I ordered and got after only 5 days from Ireland in August, costed me $ 995.00 in total including gig bag and Global Express shipping. I believe that Ted does not have the correct prices ?

Last time I looked, which was Friday the 9th, advertised price on the new Emerald website showed a price of 995 EU without, and 1170 EU with electronics, which is why I wrote either $1200 or $1400 USD with electronics today, as I wasn't sure which it was. It's really a moot point IMO, for reasons I have already posted.

[gerardo1000]

I just went to the Emerald web site, and clicked on the OPUS models.
Here is a print of the screen./
[IMG][/IMG]

[Captain Jim]

I think we can say that several of these smaller CF guitars are in the same price range... it should come down to which guitar is going to best suit your needs/fit rather than a hundred bucks (+/-) one way or another.

While price matters, it is generally at the lowest price/experience range that people buy a particular guitar based on price alone.

The CA guitars cost more now than they did previously. As a former business owner, I am very aware of the price vs sales situation. You can offer an initial low price to get some buzz going, but you have to make a profit to keep the business going. Each business has unique costs of good sold, overhead, payroll, marketing, etc.

If a guitar is a good guitar at $XXX price, it is still a good guitar if the price goes up. The consumer gets to vote with their dollars if they determine it is a good value. It is when we say a guitar is "good for the price," that we are making value judgements.

I bought a GSmini not long after they first came out. I thought it was a good guitar in a small size, and at a decent price. A while back, I remember a discussion here about the fact that the GSmini had gone up $35 on the MAP. Over a 5+ year period. Would that be a reason to not buy one??

I used to do seminars for professional associations in my industry. One of the hardest things to overcome is "being the cheapest"... you paint yourself into a corner.

I don't begrudge any business that prices so they can stay in business - no matter what the price used to be.

[tbeltrans]

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Excellent post, Tony, and to be clear, I was not suggesting that everyone who purchased a Cargo RAW back in 2009 for $799 would have purchased one at $1199, but I can assure you that CA would have sold every one they made at $1199. Keep in mind that at that time there was no Rainsong Parlor, a Blackbird Rider was $1600, and the X5's and X7's were only available from a few dealers, and certainly not in the same league tonally.

Today the gloss Rainsong Parlor is selling well at $1999 MAP, as is the Blackbird Rider at just over $2000. The Chinese OF600 is also doing well at $1200, and the Emerald at either $1200 or $1400 USD is only available factory direct from Ireland, which severally limits their customer base, so IMO, a US made Cargo RAW at $1599 MAP is not out of line. I would love to see them bring back the RT finish at that price point, but I digress.

Note that all prices mentioned include factory electronics

All good information, Ted. Thanks. If anything, this makes me very grateful to have gotten in on the Cargo when I did. But, then, I am also glad to have gone through college and graduated before those prices got so expensive. I can't imagine being saddled with a huge college loan to pay off for the next 15 years and trying to find a job commensurate with that education so I could do so. I really do consider myself very fortunate on many levels.

It makes sense that a business needs to price such that it can stay in business, so I am not arguing any of what you said. I just hit it at the right time and place purely by being there. If Marty Reynolds at The Podium had not handed me a Cargo and said "you have to try this..." back then, I would be singing a very different tune right about now.

Tony

[AZLiberty]

Originally Posted by Steve Christens

Actually the price is 995 Euros delivered (about $1114 at today's rate).

Before the website upgrade last week it was priced at 995 in US dollars shipped to the US and 995 Euro shipped to Europe. Note that us USAians don't have to pay VAT which is included in the european pricing. So, it might be that Alister is using the website update to sneak in an unannounced price increase. Or it might be that the site just doesn't have US pricing set up yet.

[gerardo1000]

The price is not increased: $ 995.00 delivered to the United States with Global Express shipping included. I believe that at this price the X7 is the cheapest carbon fiber guitar on the market (with the exception of the smaller X5).
Low price but, based on my experience, high quality, impeccable build and set up, and a tone that defies its size. For my personal needs, the Cargo (which costs a few hundred dollars more) could be an alternative but it has a very short scale length. The Journey OF 660 ,instead, has a 24 inches scale as the X7 (I believe), does not cost much more, and sounds quite awesome. Based on my experience, however, it is not build in such an impeccable way as the Emerald.

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by gerardo1000

The price is not increased: $ 995.00 delivered to the United States with Global Express shipping included. I believe that at this price the X7 is the cheapest carbon fiber guitar on the market (with the exception of the smaller X5).
Low price but, based on my experience, high quality, impeccable build and set up, and a tone that defies its size. For my personal needs, the Cargo (which costs a few hundred dollars more) could be an alternative but it has a very short scale length. The Journey OF 660 ,instead, has a 24 inches scale as the X7 (I believe), does not cost much more, and sounds quite awesome. Based on my experience, however, it is not build in such an impeccable way as the Emerald.

I just did this 5 mins ago, when I add the guitar to the basket, the price clearly states 995 in Euros. Unless Emerald sells them USD995 to US customers and everybody else outside of US they go for Euro 995, the website probably recognises your location and amend the prices accordingly automatically?

[Acousticado]

Earlier today, I sent a pm to Sean at Emerald to bring this thread and the X7 Opus price question to his attention. Hopefully, he'll see it and respond.

[Emerald Guitars]

Originally Posted by Acousticado

Earlier today, I sent a pm to Sean at Emerald to bring this thread and the X7 Opus price question to his attention. Hopefully, he'll see it and respond.

Hello Tom and everyone,

Thank you very much for your interest in our X7. Here are a few points to clarify questions raised in this thread about the pricing.

- There has been no price increase and worldwide shipping is still free.
- We have indeed got a brand new website which we soft-launched in order to address any snags which may come up. We will be looking into the issue of how the prices are appearing immediately and thank you for pointing it out to us.
- The new website is geo-tagged and people within the European Union should see the Euro price and people in the rest of the world should see it in USD.
- The price of the X7 Opus and all our products may seem the same €995/$995, however, the Euro price includes 23 per cent VAT.

If I forgot to address any points made in the thread, do not hesitate to get in contact.

Best Wishes


Sean

[pandaroo]

Originally Posted by Emerald Guitars

Hello Tom and everyone,

Thank you very much for your interest in our X7. Here are a few points to clarify questions raised in this thread about the pricing.

- There has been no price increase and worldwide shipping is still free.
- We have indeed got a brand new website which we soft-launched in order to address any snags which may come up. We will be looking into the issue of how the prices are appearing immediately and thank you for pointing it out to us.
- The new website is geo-tagged and people within the European Union should see the Euro price and people in the rest of the world should see it in USD.
- The price of the X7 Opus and all our products may seem the same €995/$995, however, the Euro price includes 23 per cent VAT.

If I forgot to address any points made in the thread, do not hesitate to get in contact.

Best Wishes


Sean

I am located in Australia and when I proceed to checkout the price is still in Euros not USD.

[Emerald Guitars]

Hi Pandaroo,

Thank you for pointing that out. We have looked into it. All those inside the EU are displayed Euro prices and the Rest of the World US Dollars by default. The website will determine your location by your IP address and display the currency that reflects this. If you have a VPN (such as hola or Zenmate), obviously it can't pick up your location and will display the default. If this is the case, choosing your billing country in the checkout will determine the currency and update accordingly.

We’ve taken on board your feedback and made some adjustments to make this more streamlined and hopefully eradicate any bugs in the system. If you have experienced an issue with this it may take a few hours for it to properly update, emptying you browser cache should give you an instant fix to this if you know how to do this.

We are working on an adding an element to allow you to choose your country/currency that will override the above automatic selection entirely and this will be implemented in the coming days.

Thanks for your feedback and your patience.

Best Wishes,

Sean

[ac]

3 days ago I posted that the price written on the first X7 page was 995 dollars. You couldn't miss it. You really needed to go deeper to checkout to see the odd change to Euros. If I had been planning to order then, I would have just emailed Emerald to ask which price was correct.

The former website from a few weeks ago would show dollars also on the checkout page. So it was no real surprised that: A major site overhaul + an immediate odd discrepancy--pointed to a simple glitch and nothing more.

Emerald's comments should now put any further website pricing discussion issues to rest, thankfully.

Now, finally back to the purpose of thread--the "large increase in price" on Sweetwater's site regarding Composite Acoustics.

[Earl49]

Originally Posted by ac

......Now, finally back to the purpose of thread -- the "large increase in price" on Sweetwater's site regarding Composite Acoustics.

Rehashing a bit, but Peavey has to charge what is necessary to stay in business. No company can sell at a loss indefinitely, at least without a government subsidy. If no one wants a Cargo at $xxxx, they simply won't sell and production will eventually stop. If you don't think a Cargo is worth it at the going rate, don't buy it. Or buy some other CF guitar for a bit more.

If you don't think CF guitars in general are worth it, just try to build one yourself. The materials alone in a CF guitar cost about 4X the raw materials going into a wood guitar, plus expensive molds, resins, and other specialty expertise. Carbon fiber instruments are still a embryonic market, and manufacturers are figuring out how best to do it. It will take a while before all the manufacturing is worked out and economies of scale can start taking over (if ever). Rainsong is the most mature CF builder in the field.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

To try and get back on topic, I'll repost a couple of my previous posts in this this thread:

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Excellent post, Tony, and to be clear, I was not suggesting that everyone who purchased a Cargo RAW back in 2009 for $799 would have purchased one at $1199, but I can assure you that CA would have sold every one they made at $1199. Keep in mind that at that time there was no Rainsong Parlor, a Blackbird Rider was $1600, and the X5's and X7's were only available from a few dealers, and certainly not in the same league tonally.

Today the gloss Rainsong Parlor is selling well at $1999 MAP, as is the Blackbird Rider at just over $2000. The Chinese OF600 is also doing well at $1200, and the Emerald at either $1200 or $1400 USD is only available factory direct from Ireland, which severally limits their customer base, so IMO, a US made Cargo RAW at $1599 MAP is not out of line. I would love to see them bring back the RT finish at that price point, but I digress.

Note that all prices mentioned include factory electronics

Originally Posted by Ted @ LA Guitar Sales

Last time I looked, which was Friday the 9th, advertised price on the new Emerald website showed a price of 995 EU without, and 1170 EU with electronics, which is why I wrote either $1200 or $1400 USD with electronics today, as I wasn't sure which it was. It's really a moot point IMO, for reasons I have already posted.

As noted, the price of the X7 is moot, as it is no longer available from US dealers as it was back in 2009.