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Old 03-19-2019, 10:19 AM
Condition1 Condition1 is offline
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Default 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???
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Old 03-19-2019, 10:33 AM
chistrummer chistrummer is offline
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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.
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Old 03-19-2019, 10:36 AM
ntotoro ntotoro is offline
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Originally Posted by chistrummer View Post
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?
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Old 03-19-2019, 11:19 AM
Archsas Archsas is offline
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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.
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Old 03-19-2019, 11:31 AM
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Rev Roy Rev Roy is offline
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Default 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.
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Old 03-19-2019, 11:38 AM
Paddy1951 Paddy1951 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Condition1 View Post
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???
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.
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Old 03-19-2019, 03:19 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rev Roy View Post
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...
In short, the OP is looking at .25X and .15Y where X does not equal Y.....
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Old 03-19-2019, 08:03 PM
leew3 leew3 is offline
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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!
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Old 03-19-2019, 09:28 PM
Steadfastly Steadfastly is offline
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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.
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Old 03-19-2019, 10:37 PM
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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.
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Old 03-20-2019, 05:40 AM
ntotoro ntotoro is offline
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Originally Posted by AZLiberty View Post
MSRP is a completly made up number. Nobody pays that, not on guns, or guitars, or cars, or actually anything.
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!”

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Old 03-20-2019, 07:26 AM
Arch Stanton Arch Stanton is offline
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Originally Posted by Rev Roy View Post
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.
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.
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Old 03-20-2019, 07:31 AM
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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.
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Old 03-22-2019, 02:51 AM
Steadfastly Steadfastly is offline
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Originally Posted by Athens View Post
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.

Last edited by Kerbie; 03-22-2019 at 04:08 AM. Reason: Edited quote
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Old 03-22-2019, 05:01 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Athens View Post
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.
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.
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