Emerald's "New" Sales Program...

[RP]

Not sure if it's strictly pandemic-related or just a new marketing strategy, but it appears that Emerald has shifted from having stock guitars to exclusively doing "special orders," even for guitars that would have heretofore been stock offerings. It would seem that this new sales strategy will increase the four month ordering window to who-knows-what. Thoughts???

[jklotz]

Originally Posted by RP

Not sure if it's strictly pandemic-related or just a new marketing strategy, but it appears that Emerald has shifted from having stock guitars to exclusively doing "special orders," even for guitars that would have heretofore been stock offerings. It would seem that this new sales strategy would increase the four month ordering window to who-knows-what. Thoughts???

I believe this is pandemic related. I've read they still have restrictions over there that don't allow them to work at full capacity, hence no new "available now" guitars. I can't speak for the company, but once this mess has passed, I'm pretty sure they will go back to standard procedure.

As of a few weeks ago, when I ordered an X-20, I was told to expect a 4 month wait.

[mountainmaster]

Alistair explained the situation at the start of this Jan 14th shipping video.

[RP]

Originally Posted by mountainmaster

Alistair explained the situation at the start of this Jan 14th shipping video.

Thanks for sharing - I hadn't seen that. I suppose the big difference this time is the all but non-existent supply of stock guitars going into this period of second limited staffing at Emerald whereas I believe they had a decent number of stock guitars going into the first change in staffing...

[steelvibe]

I did note that the last shipping video only had maybe one regular carbon guitar- everything else was custom. I can only speculate as to why.

Everything seems so wrong. I went to Guitar Center yesterday and I think I have more gear than they do- and I'm a minimalist.

[Earl49]

The situation is tough for a small business, which covers all of the carbon fiber builders. Alistair does most of the custom work personally and without staff on hand, production of stock models by others grinds to a halt. Emerald had some stock on hand last time around, but that is now depleted. The option of buying from stock to "test drive" essentially no longer exists. You will now have to order custom on faith and wait out the delivery time. I hope that does not impede their growth and sales. Being able to return a stock model if you didn't bond with it removed a major barrier to ordering sight-unseen, a weakness of the direct-sales-only business model.

My custom X20 was ordered last February just weeks before the shutdown, and finally arrived in early November, almost nine months to the day. Fortunately I had other Emeralds already on hand to pacify me. I told them that my order could be pushed back in the queue if needed to prioritize new customers.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Earl49

Being able to return a stock model if you didn't bond with it removed a major barrier to ordering sight-unseen, a weakness of the direct-sales-only business model.

I believe the same option still exists - the ability to return a standard, or Artisan model. It would still be a one-off order at this point, due to their current capacity limits, but I see nothing on the website to suggest that an order that would otherwise be considered 'stock' is no longer returnable.

Probably worthy of some clarification from Emerald, if they're monitoring this tiny corner of their customer base.

[Earl49]

I have not seen any new official policy either, but custom orders are not generally returnable. I suppose if what you ask for is pretty plain jane, then returns might be an option. This is something that any new buyer should clarify before placing their deposit. The last email from Kevin about three weeks ago said that they were not watching AGF closely of late because they were too busy. I don't know if the new situation changes that at all.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I have not seen any new official policy either, but custom orders are not generally returnable. I suppose if what you ask for is pretty plain jane, then returns might be an option. This is something that any new buyer should clarify before placing their deposit. The last email from Kevin about three weeks ago said that they were not watching AGF closely of late because they were too busy. I don't know if the new situation changes that at all.

The bold bit is the most important point. A basic Artisan order has never been regarded as 'custom', to the best of my knowledge.

Caveat emptor.

[RP]

This new situation may very well be temporary but how temporary is an unknown. While returning a "special ordered" plain Jane Emerald may very be fine, it could just as easily be determined that every order is a special order and not returnable, especially if built-to-order becomes the norm and not temporary at all. Lots of questions...

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by RP

This new situation may very well be temporary but how temporary is an unknown. While returning a "special ordered" plain Jane Emerald may very be fine, it could just as easily be determined that every order is a special order and not returnable, especially if built-to-order becomes the norm and not temporary at all. Lots of questions...

It’s quite simple. Ask Emerald before you place an order.

All the speculation here is just that.

Caveat emptor.

[philjs]

Delivery times have definitely slipped during the pandemic. I ordered my "plain jane" (amber, no pickup, gig bag only) 6-string but custom fan fret (25.5" to 27" same as their 7-stringers) X30 in January '20 and received it in August, 2 days shy of 7 months from ordering.

One week later I ordered a matching "plain james" X20 with their "DADGAD" fan (25" to 26") and am well into the 6th month now, I'll be entering the 7th month (again) in less than 2 weeks. I expect this one, with everything down to basically a one-man shop at Emerald, to get to 8 months from date of order.

But I also expect it to be worth the wait...

Phil

[jklotz]

I asked specifically about the return policy on my "plain jane" X-20, but with a Baggs anthem. I was told 10 days of receipt.

[RP]

Originally Posted by eatswodo

It’s quite simple. Ask Emerald before you place an order.

All the speculation here is just that.

Caveat emptor.

Very true, but speculation and opinion, with a smattering of fact thrown in for good measure, are the meat and potatoes of online forums...

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by RP

Very true, but speculation and opinion, with a smattering of fact thrown in for good measure, are the meat and potatoes of online forums...

True indeed. I shall make note of the phrase “a smatter of fact” - that could come in handy