Posted by Dale Phelps on June 10, 1999 at 15:37:55:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: PT7P VS Neptune piston posted by Tom on June 10, 1999 at 11:25:01:
This has evolved into a very interesting thread. I like the idea of a fully-paid vacation, however I am not sure I can afford one, at least not on the scale of a month in Europe! Now my work may take me there from time-to-time, and you can bet I will "shop" a bit for horns while I am there, BUT I will NOT shop at some German equivalent of Custom Music or the Tuba Exchange. Bayman was right, it IS simple economics, however Sean is right also, there are specific explanations for the cost factors associated with our disproportionately expensive horns today. Still, this is NOT "voodoo economics." It is, simply put, a (perhaps) loosely-knit group of merchants and retailers (NOT manufacturers) who maintain their market by being sensitive to each other's pricings. That is reasonable enough, but I am still not obligated to lock-step accept it as "the way it is." Neither is anyone else. The fact is though that their marketing capabilities, financing arrangements, and the "shiney-new-one-for-the-kid-or-the-spouse-or-me" syndrome will ALWAYS keep a "retailer's guild" in biz; let's just be careful not to confuse this "retailer's guild" with the historic merchant's guilds---these would be today's manufacturers---and not the people who buy from them to sell to you (and me.)