DUAL PRICING BY YAMAHA ?????

[shyamwestwind]

Hello Everyone
Please read my post to the Keyboard Lovers Loungs, regarding the availability of Yamaha keyboards far cheaper than the listed prices.
Can anyone justify this ? I await your comments.

[a.j.]

Hi Shayam,

Can you tell us what the subject of the post is, or when it was made - saves me having the read through all of them.

Thanks
a.j.

[shyamwestwind]

Hi a.j.
Please read the Keyboard Lovers Lounge and through PSR S900 - First Impressions
Thread Started on Jul 19, 2007 by tone-deff (Tony)
I would appreciate your views on this,.

[a.j.]

Hi Shayam,

Sorry that I'm only getting back to you on this topic now. I haven't been on the forum much lately (or going through topics as thoroughly) - day job getting in the way...

Is it possible that this price issue is the difference between the list price and 'street' price? Street price being how much dealers are prepared to take off the top (and their potential profit) to get the deal.

For example, depending on the product, the size of the price tag, and which retailer I go to, I will always get 25 - 35% off the list price of any item (including spares and strings).

Could this be the reason?

[shyamwestwind]

I personally think so,because I understood that these dealers buy 100s of them and get a fat discount which they pass on to the buyers. If that was so, then why are we, the buyers penalised for buying them, by not giving us a guarantee on the product ? After all, Ymaha sold it these dealers with a heavy discount.
I have also been told that the product is made in different countries by Yamaha and one maybe inferior to the other hence the prices are scaled down. If its made in Japan then its THE ONE and its priced accordingly which is the highest. Why then is Yamaha making them in different countries. They are the same product, arent they ?
I am truly baffled by these pricing and standard anamolies.
Yamaha will do well to clarify

[a.j.]

Hi Shayam,

I don't understand the guarantee issue either, as I am under the impression that Yamaha have a worldwide warranty policy. Unless the products are grey imports - you can check that out fairly easily by contacting the local authorised Yamaha importer. They are often aware of grey channels.

Even though my retailer offers me big discounts, I still get full manufacturer support in the unlikely event of an item being faulty, but I only deal with the guys who get their product through legitimate channels.

The majority of the big equipment manufacturers have facilities in several countries - global manufacturing takes place in most industries now, but there should be no difference as far as Yamaha's list price is concerned.

[shyamwestwind]

Hi a.j.
I guess thats what it is - the grey channel or the grey market !! I admit that the grey market is where I bought my PSR 3000 and thats where the S 900 is also available cheaper !!!
I bought it from these grey channel guys because it was cheaper and when I got home, I registered the product with its serial no. at the Yamaha site. I would like to believe that no matter where I bought it from, that it sill is a GENUINE YAMAHA PRUDUCT. I cant believe that anyone can dupicate one because of the expertise involved. Its not something which can be copied .
I am not hankering after any free repairs or replacement but I am VERY CURIOUS as to how they are available in the Grey Market for so much cheaper. I can only be guilty of having avoided payment of local taxes here and wherever, but is the punishment for this tax evasion a spurious product . Is there such a thing as a spurious Yamaha keyboard ? Actually thats all I wish to know. Arent you curious too a.j.

[JohnG]

Hi Shyam,

Just a few thoughts here. Prices do vary significantly with some products from market to market. A while ago one of the big stores in the UK was importing huge containers of a very famous manufacturers jeans from Mexico where they sell very cheaply. This allowed them to undercut the price that other companies were able to buy the jeans for at wholesale prices! Naturally there was a big stink by the company who, I think, took the supermarket to court. Even despite the legal ruling, as far as I remember, against the supermarket they went right on selling them.

Prices of products in different countries are set by what producers can get for the product i.e. market status, competition and very importantly cost of providing support etc. So if a company is not making any money through selling the product in that country because it is a grey import why should they provide support? Remember each branch / division etc. has to be self sufficient has to make profits and pay salaries, costs of running offices and taxes in the country in which it operates.

The keyboard is probably made in two or three different places worldwide depending upon import duties. So it may be cheaper for someone to import a truckload, remember wholesale costs reduce the more you buy, and sell them through branches of their business, bypassing the official company route altogether. I know this was done by a big hi-fi chain a while back.

Quality of construction will vary too. If you have to sell cheaply in one country you reduce the quality of the casing, circuit board etc. The Yamaha sourced electronic components will be the same though.

Does that make sense?
JohnG.

[shyamwestwind]

Yes JohnG that does sound like what it is and makes a lot of sense. I will now wearily rest my head alongside my "Made in Indonesia" Yamaha PSR 3000, which I bought with a Warranty which I registered online with Yamaha. I have on the display board a one inch sized dragon like scratch and a cracked casing where the music book stand slot is. I have had to change the Mic volume control and the Display Contrast control. All this 6 to 11 months after I bought it. Its still working beautifully and I'm sure that must be the Japanese Heart inside !!
However I wish Yamaha maintained a good Data Base to ascertain where these low quality keyboards were made and I wish they not include their Warranty cards with these kind of products.
Thanks JohnG and a.j. for all the info. I know now why I was slapped . I just wanted clarifications before showing my other cheek!!!!!!!

[JohnG]

Hi Shyam,
The standard warranty card gets put in the box where ever it was made. The problem is with the grey importer who should offer their own warranty since Yamaha won't honour the warranty of a grey import.

We have a similar problem with the SW1000-XG sound card and XGworks in Europe and I think the States too where they have pulled all support. All their XG web sites have disappeared, all XG documentation etc. There are no new drivers for the new operating systems and so on. It's not just Yamaha though it seems to be the way of the world. Built in obsolescence. If MicroSnot didn't upgrade their b----y operating systems every 5 minutes causing other manufacturers to have to upgrade all their drivers the problem wouldn't be so bad.

I'm still running Windoze 98 on one PC and Win2k on the laptop but I know I'm going to have to go to XP soon. It's probably reasonably stable by now!

Oh well!
Regards,
JohnG.

[shyamwestwind]

Obsolescence is the right word, JohnG and its so unfair that they dictate the way we would like to live. Use and throw is the order of the day and they make sure you cant repair them.
In India, I'm so proud of the ingenuity shown by the simple folk who repair almost anything, be it bikes. cars, phones, washing machines ..........the list is loooooooong . We are so confident that no matter what goes wrong, there's someone to set it right.
I'm tempted to post a new thread on these "way side repair shops" and I think I will.

[JazzCat]

John, I was dragged, kicking and screaming into Micro$#!+ Win-doze XP. Well, not really. My unstable 98 OS finally gave up the ghost permanently so I had no choice. There are some features in it you will find are pretty cotton-pickin' handy. One that has saved my @$$ on numerous occasions has been System Restore. I will NOT go to Vista until I have no choice but to do it or leave computering permanently.

[rogerb]

We seem to have strayed from the original thread a little but let me add my own thoughts to the subject of operating systems. I recently bought a new Fujitsu Siemens laptop from a well know retailer in the U.K. and had absolutely no choice as to which operating system I had as they come pre-installed. It was Vista or Vista. Having got to grips over a couple of years with XP pro on my system in Cyprus I would have loved to stay with that system but Mr Gates seems to have other ideas. Keep your XP as long as you can Jazzcat and any one else using it, In my humble opinion Vista is a very poor replacement.

[shyamwestwind]

I totally agree....the XP is very stable . I have the XP Home Edition and it works fine. Many a software engineer friend has told me that the Vista is yet to stabilise and to wait .
Yes the Win 98 was good too, but the XP Home Edition is reliable .

[JohnG]

Yep, it'll be a long time before I go for Vista. Many people I know who have tried using it for a DAW have de-installed it and installed XP. Currently it's a disaster. But then I've always maintained it takes at least a year from going live for an operating system to be just that.
JohnG.