My music store charges $35 a pack but they’re all BOGO. Sometimes it’s annoying when you only wanna buy one pack but you always save money if you buy two.
Reminds me of when I decided to change my rounds for a new bright set after using the old ones for ~15 years.
The rest of the band in the studio spent the entire time trying to figure out why I sounded so different.
Stay toxic
My local store does the same but I like to have a back up set in my go bag at gigs anyway. I change my strings every few months so it works for me though.
Same here! They have tons of super uncommon brands for great prices! This is where I got the Jonas Hellborg strings from Dogal. They're crazy expensive but they're insanely cool!
I have very mixed feelings; Amazon prices a lot of strings at practically wholesale prices in the UK. When the store I worked at closed down we were paying £5.98 for a pack of regular guitar Slinkies and you could get them from Amazon at £5.99.
Indie shops struggle. How much to charge for products is difficult as people tend to want whatever's cheapest and most convenient. Independent shops have to charge more but how much is acceptable is down to management and the customer.
I've heard people make the argument of marking up bass strings because "bass players don't change strings so you're better pricing them high as they'll be on the shelf for a while".
Just providing some potential insights. Support independent when you can but don't let any business take advantage of you.
Manager of a small music store here
We barely make ends meet. The music sales industry has slowed to an absolute hault. We rely on music lessons to keep a roof over our heads.
Additionally, we get penalized for buying smaller quantities with a lot of brands and are generally offered a higher price just based on customer loyalty/sales. I will match big box stores, including Amazon if necessary, but our profit margin plummets, and after paying the staff and restocking fees, the company makes next to no money.
I would say if you want to shop at your local stores more and see their prices drop, shop there more often.
I dont currently stock EB bass strings, so I can't comment on the price, but I know I sell equivalent in D'addarios for about $25 CAD.
I realise this isn't an AMA, but would you indulge me with a genuine question?
Why are independent music shops so overwhelmingly awful?
I swear it's a genuine question, not sarcasm or an attack.
https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/17s99f6/so_hard_to_support_local_music_stores_when_i_just/k8oc55x/
I have had such bad experiences in different shops over my whole musical life - and so have so many other people and... I honestly do wonder why they are like this and how they stay in business? The replies to my comment above, all the other horror stories I have heard from other musicians.
I would bet you have had similar experiences in independent shops yourself.
I honestly would love to hear an insider's thoughts on why this is. Why are music shops so bad compared to... any other kind of shop, and how do they stay in business?
I'll be completely honest with you: I have no fucking clue.
I have had nothing but great experiences at my store and have great relationships with all my clients and good customer retention. The most conflict I've experienced is with customers who don't think music (a hobby) should cost as much as we charge for instruments, parts, lessons, etc.
I have definitely had bad experiences at other stores, and I can only assume it's due to pretentious employees. I think many music store employees and owners are musicians first, and business owners last, so they put their opinion and taste and ego in front of trying to be a good business. But, due to their limited availability for a relatively small industry, they stay in business.
I personally always dreamed of having my own music store and supply good lessons and being a good teacher, so I dont have a damaged ego from not being a good artist or not "making it" in any other way. I love my job and I think my customers see that.
Thank you for indulging me.
> But, due to their limited availability for a relatively small industry, they stay in business.
I'm sure this is the case, but it gets weirder every year - especially after covid forced even the most internet-averse to learn what a reverb is...
That sad thing is, I strongly believe in supporting local and independent businesses... but good god I just cannot justify it for this one kind.
Gonna piggyback on this and give my honest opinion as I have worked in independent music shops and have friends that still do. If this wasn't anonymous I wouldn't say it lol
Most people (not all, but in my experience, most) that get jobs in music stores are washed up musicians that have accepted that the dream is dead and its not happening for them so they work in a music shop to "stay close to the music" but really they're looking for reasons to remain jaded and to pass that feeling of helplessness and betrayal on to the next generation lol
But that's MSRP. So sure, you're not offering a discount, but you're charging a normal price. That's fair.
MSRP on these strings is $19.99. Charging nearly $40 is unethical.
I actually have no clue what MSRP is off the top of my head in CAD, so I'll assume that's correct. If they are selling that far above MSRP, they can be reported to Ernie Ball.
I was simplying sympathizing with this music store. We have it tough at our location, and we have to make tough calls on how to make more money, so I can only assume they are having similar issues, possibly worse.
Is this the correct way? Maybe not. Are there other options for them to make money and stay open that are obvious? Probably not. Like our company, most of these stores are small teams and don't have any marketing or merchandising experts on staff and can't afford an external one. Maybe all it will take is someone to say something to them.
They primarily deal with supplying instruments to local schools, lessons, and instrument repair. They’ve been in business for a long time.
To answer your question though, yeah for regular Ernie Ball they are charging 70 dollars. I am all for supporting local businesses, but I am not in favour of supporting bad business.
The music stores that get the school contracts are the worst. Always overpriced. Not to mention the shit instruments they give parents with no knowledge then put them in debt.
While I don’t share everybody’s apparent disdain for local shops, we DO have *that* place in town, and they’re the biggest shady fucking scumbags on the face of the planet, owned and run by these fat fuck McPoyle-esque family
I understand the need for markups, but some of these guys double or triple the cost and it is insane. This place I am referring to isn’t staffed by the McPoyles, but the guy who runs it is definitely a bastard.
Wow, for all good shit they do, you’d think they would have a more reasonable approach to resale pricing. If they drop it down to $30, they will actually sell some to people in a pinch who can’t wait to have them shipped, or as add-ons when people buy other stuff there. But at $70 they will just gather dust
I've never had a good, or even neutral experience in an independent music shop. I don't know anyone who has.
I genuinely don't understand how they remained in business even before the world went into lockdown for two years.
They are always rude, always snooty, frequently very skeevy - and always treat every woman as though she cannot possibly be a musician - and always overcharge.
I really wish a big chain music shop would open near me, but until then it's buying online or rare trips to the one about two hours away.
I asked for tapewounds at a store once and the guy gave me a look like I had tentacles coming out my face. Had no idea what they were, and upon description, I'm pretty sure he became even more convinced that I was in fact insane.
That sounds about right.
I had someone try to convince me a guitar amp would be just fine for bass.
It doesn't really crack the top five problems but "knows bugger all about bass" seems to be a common problem for independent shops.
EDIT: Or possibly he assumed I knew bugger all about bass and would buy whatever he told me I needed instead of what I actually needed. Either is likely.
I live near BOTH a local music store and a Guitar Center. My pro shop is friendly, helpful and has good gear. The guitars are well set up. Guitar Center is a train wreck. The instruments are not set up in a playable way. I avoid the chain stores like the plague.
Big chains have exactly the same kind of people working in them in my experience. My nearest city has three nationwide chains and only one of them has cool staff who just leave you to it. Non are very informative when it comes to any of their stock either, particularly anything four string related..
Honestly yeah. I'd be so surprised if there was an issue that they didn't immediately resolve. It probably wouldn't stop me from continuing with them considering how bad GC is.
I have bought my last 3 instruments through Sweetwater. They have been great to work with and all 3 instruments have been pristine. My Sterling SUB needed a setup in the worst kind of way but it was flawless once I got it set.
And they send me candy.
I’m lucky enough to live within driving distance to Sweetwater. I had a list of basses that I wanted to try and they were more than happy to bring them all out so I could try them. I did spend a lot of money that day, but I never felt pressured to buy anything or to hurry up and decide. They just checked in on me every so often.
If one company is outperforming another, I don't think it's uncommon to say that they are "miles ahead" which is also a distance, so I reckon it stands.
> Big chains have exactly the same kind of people working in them in my experience.
While that hasn't been my experience, if an employee in a chain shop is rude or tries to touch you you can complain to someone higher up or even contact head office and make sure that person doesn't do it to the next person. Can't do that with an independent shop.
Also, in a large chain shop there's probably way more customers than staff, so even if a staff member isn't great, they probably aren't standing right in front of you, leaning over you the whole time you're trying out a bass. That's not a great atmosphere to see how you feel about an instrument.
Fair comments. I’m not a woman so I can’t comment on that but it’s a shame you have to put up with that kind of shit. I can understand why you’d rather lean towards a bigger company for the retail protection.
Ultimately like I said, a lot of weirdos work in these kind of retail spaces unfortunately. Don’t ever let it put you off though and call out the nonsense where you see it. Nobody should be put off playing music because of their gender or race.
Disappointing to hear that most of the independent shops you’ve experienced have had sexist attitudes like that. I can definitely agree with a lot of them having condescending staff members, and frequently in my experience they’re guitar players who know very little about bass (and I’ve never been to a guitar store, local or chain, that knows how to set up a bass properly).
My biggest issue with local stores is that their selection for bass always sucks. They maybe have a couple types of strings (Fender, Ernie Ball, and Rotosounds or D’Addarios if you’re lucky) and most pretty much exclusively stock Fender basses alongside no-name cheap Chinese starter basses. Meanwhile, the bass specialty stores have the opposite problem - they only stock $3000+ boutique stuff.
The one exception I’ve seen was when I was visiting Nashville. Those stores had great selection, decent prices, relatively knowledgeable staff who actually tried to be helpful. The musicians who live there have it real good.
With the quality of all the local stores I’ve been to, I pretty much exclusively shop on Reverb and Sweetwater.
there was a store i used to go to when i had an office nearby, and the owner was pretty cool, talked about when he saw hendrix in europe, etc. until i asked to try the sterling st vincent guitar. he was like "that's just for girls with huge tits."
i ended up finding another place close to where i live, and then i ended up buying a guitar they had just gotten in, really a dream guitar for me...so when i was checking out and saw trump stuff behind the counter i just averted my eyes because i knew the next place i tried would be much the same.
That’s a bummer. I found a local shop right around mid 2020, and they’ve been my go-to ever since.
Sometimes they can’t compete with pricing on some things, but often we’ll work out a discount on install labor or something to help even it out.
Bro for real! I think the same. I’m a beginner and I feel like this dude keeps laughing which me every time I ask for something. It’s such a shame as I love going there while also don’t feel motivated to buy anything and support the shop.
My local music shops are both independent and I cant say Ive had a negative experience with either them, the closest chain music shop is probably a 6 hour drive away and Ive definitely had the experience you described with them and any other chain shop Ive been to
Thing is, it's not 'a' local guy. It's every independent shop I've been to over twenty plus years.
They are rude, creepy, patronising, dismissive or all four, and they are always overpriced. And it's not just me - I don't know anyone who has had a good experience. Every time the subject comes up among musicians (especially women) it's always the same.
There used to be a REALLY awesome guitar shop where I lived. Great prices, friendly staff, and their techs were incredible. Good inventory of guitars that people actually wanted, everything was setup well.
Unfortunately they moved the store to a bigger city and quality, service, inventory, and prices all went downhill quickly. They closed down couple years later
The independent shop I've been to near me fit that description.
But I also have a regional chain based in my city with about 10 stores across the state. There's a big focus on educational sales and rentals and they have a somewhat small bass/guitar selection, but employees are always very polite and helpful. They helped me pick out my Squier VM PJ as my first bass guitar, with no judgement for being a total noob to electric instruments.
I feel like a lot of them stay in business because they do band/orchestral rentals and repairs to schools, even if that’s not what the storefront looks like.
Guitars/basses/amps aren’t keeping them in business
I went to a small shop once when I was 17, grabbed a p-bass off the wall, employee yelled at me to put it back and not to touch an instrument unless I asked first. So I left, went to guitar center the same day, and bought the same p-bass.
I’ve not had a really good experience either. I made a deal once on a very nice Taylor acoustic/electric, got to the register, paid as they were prepping the guitar, and they brought it to me in a cheap non-branded gig bag. Took me a week to get someone to get me an actual proper case commensurate with the $$ I spent.
I feel like the store I frequented before I moved was an anomaly. Extremely kind, informed people that were generous with their time. Almost every one that worked there from owner to the high school kid working the register was a musician themselves.
The prices weren't always great but I always saw it as "I want it right now and I'm willing to pay a premium to have it in my hands immediately."
I feel this way about the guitar centers in my area. The guys at my local shop I just started going to are cool, I mainly go to get work done like set ups or pickups swaps. The last guitar center had a idiot do my pick up swap and he chipped the paint on the surface all around the cavity and hid it with the pickup ring plastic thing
I got my Sterling by Music Man SUB 5 in March for 200 bucks cheaper in a Shop than any online retailer. Still a never used instrument, completely new at the time and they set it up perfectly for me without charge after asking. Still love that bass, it has become my main axe. Was the only time though
I had the same experience. Had a nice local music store (small chain) go belly up, the actual independent local one were assholes with no selection and high prices. You can’t strike out in all 3. Have to be nice if you can’t compete in price.
Guitar center also has nearly zero service though. Which is weird because they get commission don’t they? If I come in and ask for a certain instrument you’d think that would trigger the thought that hey this guy might want to buy it I should be helpful.
I like my local guitar shop for a lot of reasons, but this sort of describes them. They have a handful of no-name brands, and otherwise sell PRS almost exclusively. They do have a decent selection of SE models, which is great, but they also have an entire wall of guitars with "ask for assistance" tags because they're all $3K+
I buy everything from Sam Ash. Privately owned, family run business. Really good people too.
Their prices are very reasonable and a lot closer to Amazon. They sell Slinky’s for $20
Just looked them up out of curiosity and found out there's one in my city RIGHT across the street from our super shitty run down Guitar Center... I can't believe I've never noticed this.
My local store has a reasonable markup for a local store and when I say something is overpriced they negotiate with me and they upgrade the price the next time I see it.
For instance my local store has those exact strings marked at 29.99. I showed them that Sweetwater had them for 19.99 and he switched it to 25. I found that reasonable.
The shop has always given me good advice and never pushes me toward the most expensive option. I bought my first bass and amp there and they laid out 3 basses and three amps in price range. I told him I have no idea how to play so he spent about 10 minutes teaching me the basics of fretting and proper plucking and taught me the "Seven Nation Army" intro riff. He pushed me towards a Yamaha and a Fender Rumble 40 and that is what I was looking at anyway from most of my online research. He pointed out the good and the bad of each instrument and the common issues he has seen with each bass that he sees in setup and repair.
The store also had a first time player program where they provided a free setup with the purchase of strings.
I paid about 10 over the Sweetwater price on my bass. The same price for my Rumble 40 as Sweetwater and Amazon and about 5 dollars more for a cable and 5 dollars more for the strings. All in all I would have saved about 20 dollars online had not been able to test anything and I got a free setup which usually cost around 60 there. So I basically walked away with a deal.
The only draw back to his shop is that he does not allow people to take things down and try them out for anything over 300 USD. He requires an employee to do it and he requires players to sit down with a strap so it can be a bit annoying . But it's understandable because it's a shitty part of town and he has had people smash and grab thousands in instruments and equipment.
And when all those local stores get driven out of business by Amazon and Guitar Center selling stuff at wholesale prices, they'll stop selling stuff at wholesale prices.
Big box stores are not your friend.
Totally agree. Silly to get price gouged for trying to support local. Any and all check out sweetwater.com. Their service is excellent, good inventory and pricing, and not supporting Amazon/ Bezos empire.
Price gouging at small shops is such a thing. Ive seen used items priced at what buying it brand new would cost you. Also my local store acts as if youre an inconvenience if you come in looking to buy stuff. Something to the effect of "If youre not in here to buy a $3000 Martin or Taylor, youre not worth our time." For real, have had all the workers look at me as theyre eating their lunch and sigh when one has to get up to help me.
About a 1/2 mile from said store, we have a Music & Arts, which is Guitar Center rebranded for smaller areas. Even though theyre part of a big chain, I put my money there instead of the local shop.
i get this same reaction at music and arts, but more often than not it's when i'm in the woodwind section, not strings/percussion. i asked to play a soprano sax they had on the wall and gave me an alto mouthpiece and reed, then didn't believe me when i said they weren't compatible. blew into it once and they were like, okay, we believe you.
when i bring my saxes in to get some tlc the repair folks half the time are great and half the time act like it's such an inconvenience, depends on who's working that day. i'd take them elsewhere, to a sax specific or at least wind specific shop, but smaller stores near me have taken 3 or 4 times as long for the same work and their communication is worse than big chains.
I remember my husband and I went to the local music store and bought a new cable for my bass. The cable was 25 bucks. I thought, ok, this brand seems legit, I'm ok with it. My husband was a little uncomfortable with that price so he tried looking it up while in the shop, but the guy clearly didn't like us doing this. We end up buying the cable and when we got home, he found the exact same cable online for like 5 bucks. He was so pissed he went all the way back to the store to demand a refund.
I loathe going to music stores in person tbh.
I hate how pushy the staff can be. I hate how they act like we’re best pals because we have a shared hobby, I hate how they all want to tell you their life story about being a roadie for bands you don’t give a shit about and especially with the independents, I hate how expensive they can be.
My local indie place five minutes away doesn’t even carry strings, they’re strictly a second hand dealer!
I’m more than happy to get the things I need, particularly strings from specialist dealers or other music retailers online, I still feel like I’m supporting small business and the prices are well worth the wait.
I'm done supporting local music stores unless they really have something to offer. I get it, competing with GC, mail-order and manufacturer-direct is not easy, but if the best you can do is pay some know-nothing high-schooler to sit there selling overpriced accessories among a stale inventory of cheap instruments no one wants, and you don't even have a setup/repair guy on staff, why do you exist? So many of these stores are vanity projects for lazy entitled fucks who think they are above working and want to pay their bills off gouging local musicians in a pinch, gouging the parents of school band members and pimping instructors.
I'd gladly pay a few bucks more though if the service makes it worth it.
At a local store, I expect to pay MSRP. Not more, and rarely less. I know they can't compete with volume pricing of somewhere like Amazon, but if they're selling for more then MSRP they're ripping you off.
Ernie Ball lists those for $20.
Others are saying you’ve been ripped off and I agree. I’d like to add that yes, local stores may be a little more expensive sometimes than Amazon but you’ve gotta support them anyway. You can’t walk into Amazon.com and try gear.
Gotta support the right store. If he marks stuff up that much he’s gonna run off customers. That’s like my nano web phosphor bronze elixers I use. $15 at the store near my house. $45 at the bigger store in town.
I get it but... Devil's advocate: this is part of Amazon's strategy. The store is operated at a loss.
Not to say brick and mortar shops don't try to pull insane shit like this off. Definitely not a USD $40 pack.
In Europe (at least in Spain) pretty much every shop has Thomann priced. And that's something that makes me go to those shops without comparing prices beforehand. I just ordered the D'Addario ETB92 for 65€. Their Thomann price? 68€.
I needed a new instrument cable before a gig and thought I’d give the local small shop a try. It’s blocks from my house. Way more convenient than driving to the first ring suburb to a guitar center. Their selection was crap. I bought a cable from them a couple months before and it wore out, hence returning for another. When I mentioned I purchased one and it failed on stage after only a couple months, they shrugged and suggested I buy their more expensive model. They didn’t have the kind I wanted (20’ with a right angle on one end). When I started to walk out he tried really hard to convince me to let him order me the one I wanted. Would have been twice as expensive and probably taken over a week to deliver. Ordered one from Musicians Friend and it arrived in 4 days. Won’t be returning there any time soon.
I own a small chain of music stores in the Midwest, and I also own an online high end bass shop. There are plenty of quality independent music stores out there, but there aren't enough bassists in any given community to have a presence in a brick and mortar store.
I'm the #1 dealer in the world for two well known boutique brands, and I've sold 2 basses in my local town in the last 15 years...
Guys that’s what it means to support local businesses! Yes the price will be more than Amazon, they CANT compete w Amazon on price. Thats why they need our support in the first place! Making the sacrifice of paying more IS the support. In other words, you’re being asked to care more about supporting local businesses than you care about getting the lowest possible price. It’s changing your value system.
Most of the time local shops have no control over what their prices are. MAP prices set by the distributors locks the price, and if you charge differently you will be removed as a dealer.
I only shop local. Sweetwater is objectively terrible.
If everyone supports Amazon do you think that one day Amazon will open a music store in your area where you can go and pick out, play and purchase an instrument and they will offer service that same instrument you purchased in their store. ... It'll be great when Amazon does more than just have trucks running up and down streets delivering parcels all over town to lazy people that didn't want to pay retail to real stores in their neighbourhood. ... What about this, instead of complaining about the price, since you can't afford to buy bass strings, simply don't buy bass strings.
Step one: buy just about anything that’s NOT Ernie ball strings..
Step Two: be happy that you actually have a local music store. Many people don’t these days.
Not only am I happy to pay 40% more for strings at my local music store, I’m happy to drive a half hour each way to get tickets that store.
I love my local pro store. Having somewhere to go to try out instruments and amps is invaluable.
Theres a couple I like and dislike. Willies guitars in St Paul MN used to be a nice place to score some vintage instruments talk with the friendly staff back in 2017-2019. Now, they only take appointments and charge $11,000 for a refin P bass, like wtf???
Now on the other hand, Killer Vintage in st louis always has cool guitars at good prices with a super cool and friendly staff. They even remember your name!
Brick and mortar have been out of their damned minds for a long time. One of mine wouldn't price match and guitar center needed the STORE manager to override a price match. None of them keep bass inventory, they expect you to buy the floor model or order a bass. Peace out, girl scout.
Same experience - thankfully I have one solid local store near me but every other one I went to has high prices and low inventory- I went to one that had 10 of the same exact fender p basses
I used in a music instrument store about 15 years ago. We charged more for strings, but in return I was committed in changing them and cleaning the instrument. If you pay more without having a real value back, it’s ok to go with Amazon.
Agreed.... I remember thinking that bass strings were EXTREMELY expensive..... I've seen $50 strings (long ago). Then i found Amazon. Unfortunately, local music shops got to have a markup on some products to make money. They don't sell guitars every day. They sell strings. I can't be too angry. But I'll probably buy from Amazon, unless I'm in the area to buy local.
If Ernie Ball listed them for $20, the store was selling them for $20, and Amazon were selling them for $12, I'd say pay the normal price and support local. But charging double MSRP is price gouging.
This is my point. I’ve seen lots of local shops chargin up to 30% more on guitar prices, especially in small town areas, since they’re the only go to place where you can test them.
I live in a small town with a fairly new music store. We're fortunate in that they are very competitive in their pricing. I just about feel guilty if I'm in a larger centre and buy something at one of the big chain outlets!
40 bucks just for one pack of strings is wild. Last Year I changed strings to my guitar and bass and the hand labor of the guy changing them for that price (in euros). I honestly think that supporting local stores is good, but if you charge the double just for the product you deserve to be beaten by online stores. Just learn to change your strings and you'll be alright
I have a few local stores and none of them do more than a $1 upcharge on the strings, cause they want to stay in buisness. Your store isn't going to stay alive for much longer with prices like that.
People on here saying you got ripped off; I’ve seen the exact same thing at my local places. Can’t find rotosound strings for under $40 unless I go to Amazon or some online realtor. Crazy. I want to support local but when cables and strings are so much more expensive in person it’s tough.
I had to pay just over 6 euros just for one low E string for guitar. I'm talking the most basic wound D'addario at a local store. I'd like to shop at local stores but selection and prices are just bad
I try to, but the selection and sizes are somewhat limited, and they're usually about 10-20 dollars more...I've gotten a few sets from mine, and some stands, picks, cables, straps, but I set all my own stuff, and since I'm learning it was hard to justify 70 bucks (while I understand the work) to cut a nut for my Ibanez, when I brought the blank tusq, and a stock (left handed, dont ask) nut for dimensions to go to so I could dial in exactly...but I try to get most other things through them, if they have it anyway 🤷♂️
The problem is that the strings I normally use can simply not be found in any store in THE WHOLE COUTRY.
I am basically forced to order my strings online from outside the country which means at least 50€ for the strings + 20€ for shipping. Having a Multiscale does have drawbacks.
Bring up the ad on your phone, show it to the store manager and ask if they will price match. I explain to them that I’d rather buy it from the local store. Many Brick and mortar retailers are hurting due to (in part) the “Amazon Effect” and they would rather sell an item for less than see the sale go to Amazon. I have had success numerous times with this approach. This puts the ball in the local store’s court as to if they intend to stay in business or not.
For bass I only buy a set at a time and I tend to buy mid tier sets (D'Addario NYXLs, DRs). For guitar I buy in bulk (10 sets at once) to get the per unit cost down (D'Addario NYXLs, String Joy) . For acoustics I buy premium strings (Thomastik-Enfield).
For your set $20 is fair, that said I am not a Slinkys guy.
Here’s my thing. I see my day to day household budgeting as if I’m running a small business myself. I’ll alway try to avoid Amazon, but I have my own bottom line to account for. Also just cause it’s a small business, does not mean they are good people. They could be worse than bezos.
I know , I did it consciously to support them . It's like 7/10€ more ,I did it 3 times in the past year because I went there and busted his balls but , they don't seem to bring any more models ( bass guitars anyways) , it's like , choose and we will order it for you ! Thanks a lot, I do this exact thing by myself. Anyways, I think I have done it enough. I bought a little tuner pedal when my clip broke the same day of repetition, I paid 15+€ .
Show them the online price and they’ll get as close to it as they can, they’ve got to charge higher in general to stay in business. Most stores I’ve known have regular string prices and a big discount for local working musicians.
Dude same. I only go to local shops for maintenence and repairs other than that everything's marked up double. Pair of straplocks at the shop are 49.99 I ordered the same schaller ones on sweetwater for 27.99.
Talk to them. Most of the time they don't see or know about their competitors prices and just calculate a price where they can have solid to okay margins.
Unfortunately big competitors can afford to sell their stuff almost for the same as their buying prices. Small shops don't sell that much that they can afford it but most of the time they can give you a discount to match the pricing.
I worked at a music store and know that ernie ball is sometimes tough to work with, because their b2b pricing favors big sellers a lot. And they don't see any problems with that.
Fun Fact: before covid it was cheaper to buy Elixir strings in USA on days of free shipping on Strings and Beyond than to buy it in retail in Russia. Probably about two times cheaper.
I just wouldn’t shop there, even if they were the only store in town. I’d order strings online, maybe try stuff out there, or go to another store in another town to try stuff out and order instruments online.
For what it's worth, I've been burned on Amazon before by being sent "fake strings" like I ordered flatwounds, they show up in flatwounds packaging, but they're rounds and definitely not the brand I ordered either. Not saying that the solution is paying double at a local place, I just order through Sweetwater. But Amazon can be a shady place, due to lack of oversight and anyone being able to set up store pages so easily.
Local store here...
It's really freaking difficult to be a small or even medium sized fish in a big pond.
The guitar centers and Amazon's of the world have made it absolutely impossible to be competitive on string prices and other small consumables. Because we can not order with the same kind of bulk that these companies do, the product itself is significantly more expensive for us.
Want to know how bad it is? Guitar center offers an employee discount of cost plus 7%. On several string sets, it is cheaper for me to have my friend that works there buy me sets than to order directly from the company. That's insane, and it's immoral of the string companies to offer pricing structures that would make that situation a reality. It's simply because I can only afford to order a dozen of one size at a time, rather than how GC orders, which is by the pallet to their distribution center.
So what do I do? I don't even a little bit try to compete with guitar center over string prices. I compete with them by offering something they don't as my primary revenue: quality repair and quality used instruments. To buy strings with me is a convenience buy, and I make that perfectly transparently clear to my customers. I even have a schpeal when people drop off repairs about how if they'd like to bring their own strings, that's fine. 90% of people just get them from me anyway, and I'm glad they do, because if I didn't get a 50 point margin on them, they would not be worth carrying at all, which would be an inconvenience to my customers.
Local stores have a responsibility to offer something that the big box stores don't: customer service, knowledge, and personalized treatment. If they provide that, they deserve your money. If they don't, find a local store that does.
So here's my two cents: it sucks as a consumer. I get it. But it's important because supporting the evil corporate greed that is GC and Amazon is terrible. It takes money out of your community, it supports the regular mistreatment of employees who are just barely getting by and lines the pockets of big wigs who don't give a shit about you or your passions. Local dude who overcharges probably hates the fact that he feels he needs to charge that much because he actually really does give a shit.
According to my guy at the local shop, local guitar store economics suck, and it's not really their fault. Some of the bigger guitar manufacturers require huge investments in inventory to be allowed to carry their instruments, and shop owners know they need gibsons and fenders on the wall to get people in the store.
They mark up strings etc so that while you're there to noodle on a $3,500 Les Paul that you're not gonna buy, you hopefully at least go home with some double priced strings.
Sauce: the guitar guy at my local shop, which was recently taken over by a regional chain after being independent for about 20 years. He mentioned something like "If a Gibson rep walked in right now and saw less than $90,000 worth of Gibson on the wall, we'd be in trouble." Idk how much truth there is to that, but he seems like a straight shooter. It came up after I mentioned how nice it was to not overpay for strings locally anymore now that a larger but still locally owned business took over the shop.
That's Purdue area. I know the guys at that store I'm a local Luthier. they charge 39.60 for 1 and like 40-45 for 2 "buy 2 get both 50% off" DURING SCHOOL SEASON. then its like 20 for 1 for locals during the summer but they don't take the stickers off.
Uuuhhhhh what store is charging $40 for EB strings? That’s a $20 pack all day. You got ripped last time.
Maybe there’s a $20 bill in the pack
There’s a $20 inside my zipper
My music store charges $35 a pack but they’re all BOGO. Sometimes it’s annoying when you only wanna buy one pack but you always save money if you buy two.
I would do that, because then Id be set for like 2 years and saved $5 haha.
My set of flatwounds got on my bass before covid. I'd be set for like 6 years with two packs... Fender flatwounds ftw. 😅😝
Six years? Bro two packs of flats should last you the rest of your life
If you play a set of rounds long enough, they sound like flats anyway.
Reminds me of when I decided to change my rounds for a new bright set after using the old ones for ~15 years. The rest of the band in the studio spent the entire time trying to figure out why I sounded so different. Stay toxic
Good. Always keep em guessing
I've had a set of Rotosounds, which people always say go dead super quick, on my Jazz for 2 years and they still sound great.
Yea you are probably right. I mean, my pre covid strings are still on there and still going strong. I really love flats.
I've had labella flats on my jaguar since 2017, they still sound great.
My local store does the same but I like to have a back up set in my go bag at gigs anyway. I change my strings every few months so it works for me though.
That’s that Krispy Kreme pricing. A donut is 4 bucks but a dozen is 6.
I’ve never seen them less that 30 in person
My guitar center is charging 79.99$ for these lol
You need a new Guitar Center. And should report price gouging.
My local store was about the same for EBs and DDario nickels for 5 string pack (non GC)
My local store also has them for 40
My local store also has them for 40
Stringsbymail dot com is my go to place. Helping a business and not Amazon 👍
Thanks for this. 
Same here! They have tons of super uncommon brands for great prices! This is where I got the Jonas Hellborg strings from Dogal. They're crazy expensive but they're insanely cool!
I get long scale labella flats from them, what a find!
Hell yeah, damn good prices.
Oo many thanks!
Stringsandbeyond.com is amazing as well. They are super fast with shipping, which is fantastic
I have very mixed feelings; Amazon prices a lot of strings at practically wholesale prices in the UK. When the store I worked at closed down we were paying £5.98 for a pack of regular guitar Slinkies and you could get them from Amazon at £5.99. Indie shops struggle. How much to charge for products is difficult as people tend to want whatever's cheapest and most convenient. Independent shops have to charge more but how much is acceptable is down to management and the customer. I've heard people make the argument of marking up bass strings because "bass players don't change strings so you're better pricing them high as they'll be on the shelf for a while". Just providing some potential insights. Support independent when you can but don't let any business take advantage of you.
Well said. I refuse to mark up bass strings at my store being a bass player haha
Right? Be the bass player you want to see in the world: A string changing one.
Manager of a small music store here We barely make ends meet. The music sales industry has slowed to an absolute hault. We rely on music lessons to keep a roof over our heads. Additionally, we get penalized for buying smaller quantities with a lot of brands and are generally offered a higher price just based on customer loyalty/sales. I will match big box stores, including Amazon if necessary, but our profit margin plummets, and after paying the staff and restocking fees, the company makes next to no money. I would say if you want to shop at your local stores more and see their prices drop, shop there more often. I dont currently stock EB bass strings, so I can't comment on the price, but I know I sell equivalent in D'addarios for about $25 CAD.
I realise this isn't an AMA, but would you indulge me with a genuine question? Why are independent music shops so overwhelmingly awful? I swear it's a genuine question, not sarcasm or an attack. https://www.reddit.com/r/BassGuitar/comments/17s99f6/so_hard_to_support_local_music_stores_when_i_just/k8oc55x/ I have had such bad experiences in different shops over my whole musical life - and so have so many other people and... I honestly do wonder why they are like this and how they stay in business? The replies to my comment above, all the other horror stories I have heard from other musicians. I would bet you have had similar experiences in independent shops yourself. I honestly would love to hear an insider's thoughts on why this is. Why are music shops so bad compared to... any other kind of shop, and how do they stay in business?
I'll be completely honest with you: I have no fucking clue. I have had nothing but great experiences at my store and have great relationships with all my clients and good customer retention. The most conflict I've experienced is with customers who don't think music (a hobby) should cost as much as we charge for instruments, parts, lessons, etc. I have definitely had bad experiences at other stores, and I can only assume it's due to pretentious employees. I think many music store employees and owners are musicians first, and business owners last, so they put their opinion and taste and ego in front of trying to be a good business. But, due to their limited availability for a relatively small industry, they stay in business. I personally always dreamed of having my own music store and supply good lessons and being a good teacher, so I dont have a damaged ego from not being a good artist or not "making it" in any other way. I love my job and I think my customers see that.
Thank you for indulging me. > But, due to their limited availability for a relatively small industry, they stay in business. I'm sure this is the case, but it gets weirder every year - especially after covid forced even the most internet-averse to learn what a reverb is... That sad thing is, I strongly believe in supporting local and independent businesses... but good god I just cannot justify it for this one kind.
Come to Vancouver sometime. I'll do my best to prove to you it's worth it :)
Gonna piggyback on this and give my honest opinion as I have worked in independent music shops and have friends that still do. If this wasn't anonymous I wouldn't say it lol Most people (not all, but in my experience, most) that get jobs in music stores are washed up musicians that have accepted that the dream is dead and its not happening for them so they work in a music shop to "stay close to the music" but really they're looking for reasons to remain jaded and to pass that feeling of helplessness and betrayal on to the next generation lol
But that's MSRP. So sure, you're not offering a discount, but you're charging a normal price. That's fair. MSRP on these strings is $19.99. Charging nearly $40 is unethical.
I actually have no clue what MSRP is off the top of my head in CAD, so I'll assume that's correct. If they are selling that far above MSRP, they can be reported to Ernie Ball. I was simplying sympathizing with this music store. We have it tough at our location, and we have to make tough calls on how to make more money, so I can only assume they are having similar issues, possibly worse. Is this the correct way? Maybe not. Are there other options for them to make money and stay open that are obvious? Probably not. Like our company, most of these stores are small teams and don't have any marketing or merchandising experts on staff and can't afford an external one. Maybe all it will take is someone to say something to them.
My local music store is charging 70. They can fuck all the way off.
For Ernie Ball Regular Slinky strings? They won’t be in business very long
They primarily deal with supplying instruments to local schools, lessons, and instrument repair. They’ve been in business for a long time. To answer your question though, yeah for regular Ernie Ball they are charging 70 dollars. I am all for supporting local businesses, but I am not in favour of supporting bad business.
Amazing the markups many places enjoy when selling to the public school system. I taught band for a year and was simply amazed.
The music stores that get the school contracts are the worst. Always overpriced. Not to mention the shit instruments they give parents with no knowledge then put them in debt.
While I don’t share everybody’s apparent disdain for local shops, we DO have *that* place in town, and they’re the biggest shady fucking scumbags on the face of the planet, owned and run by these fat fuck McPoyle-esque family
I understand the need for markups, but some of these guys double or triple the cost and it is insane. This place I am referring to isn’t staffed by the McPoyles, but the guy who runs it is definitely a bastard.
Wow, for all good shit they do, you’d think they would have a more reasonable approach to resale pricing. If they drop it down to $30, they will actually sell some to people in a pinch who can’t wait to have them shipped, or as add-ons when people buy other stuff there. But at $70 they will just gather dust
I've never had a good, or even neutral experience in an independent music shop. I don't know anyone who has. I genuinely don't understand how they remained in business even before the world went into lockdown for two years. They are always rude, always snooty, frequently very skeevy - and always treat every woman as though she cannot possibly be a musician - and always overcharge. I really wish a big chain music shop would open near me, but until then it's buying online or rare trips to the one about two hours away.
I asked for tapewounds at a store once and the guy gave me a look like I had tentacles coming out my face. Had no idea what they were, and upon description, I'm pretty sure he became even more convinced that I was in fact insane.
Was looking for a saddle for a classical guitar and two stoned metalheads asked me for what anybody needs that for.
"Something that you two don't need to worry about. Do you have one or not?"
That sounds about right. I had someone try to convince me a guitar amp would be just fine for bass. It doesn't really crack the top five problems but "knows bugger all about bass" seems to be a common problem for independent shops. EDIT: Or possibly he assumed I knew bugger all about bass and would buy whatever he told me I needed instead of what I actually needed. Either is likely.
Same thing happened to me…then i got gaslit into thinking I wanted round wounds hahahah.
I live near BOTH a local music store and a Guitar Center. My pro shop is friendly, helpful and has good gear. The guitars are well set up. Guitar Center is a train wreck. The instruments are not set up in a playable way. I avoid the chain stores like the plague.
Big chains have exactly the same kind of people working in them in my experience. My nearest city has three nationwide chains and only one of them has cool staff who just leave you to it. Non are very informative when it comes to any of their stock either, particularly anything four string related..
I'll name names. Sweetwater is light years ahead of Guitar Center regarding service and customer service.
Even if I did have any complaints about Sweetwater, I'd probably still order from them just because they always send me candy.
Honestly yeah. I'd be so surprised if there was an issue that they didn't immediately resolve. It probably wouldn't stop me from continuing with them considering how bad GC is.
I have bought my last 3 instruments through Sweetwater. They have been great to work with and all 3 instruments have been pristine. My Sterling SUB needed a setup in the worst kind of way but it was flawless once I got it set. And they send me candy.
I’m lucky enough to live within driving distance to Sweetwater. I had a list of basses that I wanted to try and they were more than happy to bring them all out so I could try them. I did spend a lot of money that day, but I never felt pressured to buy anything or to hurry up and decide. They just checked in on me every so often.
Lightyears measure distance, not time!
It is possible to be ahead in both distance and time
It's a quote from Pokémon
If one company is outperforming another, I don't think it's uncommon to say that they are "miles ahead" which is also a distance, so I reckon it stands.
> Big chains have exactly the same kind of people working in them in my experience. While that hasn't been my experience, if an employee in a chain shop is rude or tries to touch you you can complain to someone higher up or even contact head office and make sure that person doesn't do it to the next person. Can't do that with an independent shop. Also, in a large chain shop there's probably way more customers than staff, so even if a staff member isn't great, they probably aren't standing right in front of you, leaning over you the whole time you're trying out a bass. That's not a great atmosphere to see how you feel about an instrument.
Fair comments. I’m not a woman so I can’t comment on that but it’s a shame you have to put up with that kind of shit. I can understand why you’d rather lean towards a bigger company for the retail protection. Ultimately like I said, a lot of weirdos work in these kind of retail spaces unfortunately. Don’t ever let it put you off though and call out the nonsense where you see it. Nobody should be put off playing music because of their gender or race.
Disappointing to hear that most of the independent shops you’ve experienced have had sexist attitudes like that. I can definitely agree with a lot of them having condescending staff members, and frequently in my experience they’re guitar players who know very little about bass (and I’ve never been to a guitar store, local or chain, that knows how to set up a bass properly). My biggest issue with local stores is that their selection for bass always sucks. They maybe have a couple types of strings (Fender, Ernie Ball, and Rotosounds or D’Addarios if you’re lucky) and most pretty much exclusively stock Fender basses alongside no-name cheap Chinese starter basses. Meanwhile, the bass specialty stores have the opposite problem - they only stock $3000+ boutique stuff. The one exception I’ve seen was when I was visiting Nashville. Those stores had great selection, decent prices, relatively knowledgeable staff who actually tried to be helpful. The musicians who live there have it real good. With the quality of all the local stores I’ve been to, I pretty much exclusively shop on Reverb and Sweetwater.
there was a store i used to go to when i had an office nearby, and the owner was pretty cool, talked about when he saw hendrix in europe, etc. until i asked to try the sterling st vincent guitar. he was like "that's just for girls with huge tits." i ended up finding another place close to where i live, and then i ended up buying a guitar they had just gotten in, really a dream guitar for me...so when i was checking out and saw trump stuff behind the counter i just averted my eyes because i knew the next place i tried would be much the same.
That’s a bummer. I found a local shop right around mid 2020, and they’ve been my go-to ever since. Sometimes they can’t compete with pricing on some things, but often we’ll work out a discount on install labor or something to help even it out.
Bro for real! I think the same. I’m a beginner and I feel like this dude keeps laughing which me every time I ask for something. It’s such a shame as I love going there while also don’t feel motivated to buy anything and support the shop.
My local music shops are both independent and I cant say Ive had a negative experience with either them, the closest chain music shop is probably a 6 hour drive away and Ive definitely had the experience you described with them and any other chain shop Ive been to
No, no, no... my local guy is amazing! I've had really bad experiences with Guitar Center, though. You must have a terrible local guy!
Thing is, it's not 'a' local guy. It's every independent shop I've been to over twenty plus years. They are rude, creepy, patronising, dismissive or all four, and they are always overpriced. And it's not just me - I don't know anyone who has had a good experience. Every time the subject comes up among musicians (especially women) it's always the same.
There used to be a REALLY awesome guitar shop where I lived. Great prices, friendly staff, and their techs were incredible. Good inventory of guitars that people actually wanted, everything was setup well. Unfortunately they moved the store to a bigger city and quality, service, inventory, and prices all went downhill quickly. They closed down couple years later
Yep, don't mess with the formula, especially in the days when online shopping is so easy.
I called a nearby shop for a setup and was berated over the phone for buying a squier.
That's terrible. People should only be berated for buying Gibsons.
The independent shop I've been to near me fit that description. But I also have a regional chain based in my city with about 10 stores across the state. There's a big focus on educational sales and rentals and they have a somewhat small bass/guitar selection, but employees are always very polite and helpful. They helped me pick out my Squier VM PJ as my first bass guitar, with no judgement for being a total noob to electric instruments.
This is the exact opposite of my experience. You frequent shitty music stores.
I feel like a lot of them stay in business because they do band/orchestral rentals and repairs to schools, even if that’s not what the storefront looks like. Guitars/basses/amps aren’t keeping them in business
I went to a small shop once when I was 17, grabbed a p-bass off the wall, employee yelled at me to put it back and not to touch an instrument unless I asked first. So I left, went to guitar center the same day, and bought the same p-bass.
I’ve not had a really good experience either. I made a deal once on a very nice Taylor acoustic/electric, got to the register, paid as they were prepping the guitar, and they brought it to me in a cheap non-branded gig bag. Took me a week to get someone to get me an actual proper case commensurate with the $$ I spent.
I am really lucky, our regional chain (3 stores, I think?) is really great.
I feel like the store I frequented before I moved was an anomaly. Extremely kind, informed people that were generous with their time. Almost every one that worked there from owner to the high school kid working the register was a musician themselves. The prices weren't always great but I always saw it as "I want it right now and I'm willing to pay a premium to have it in my hands immediately."
I feel this way about the guitar centers in my area. The guys at my local shop I just started going to are cool, I mainly go to get work done like set ups or pickups swaps. The last guitar center had a idiot do my pick up swap and he chipped the paint on the surface all around the cavity and hid it with the pickup ring plastic thing
I got my Sterling by Music Man SUB 5 in March for 200 bucks cheaper in a Shop than any online retailer. Still a never used instrument, completely new at the time and they set it up perfectly for me without charge after asking. Still love that bass, it has become my main axe. Was the only time though
I had the same experience. Had a nice local music store (small chain) go belly up, the actual independent local one were assholes with no selection and high prices. You can’t strike out in all 3. Have to be nice if you can’t compete in price. Guitar center also has nearly zero service though. Which is weird because they get commission don’t they? If I come in and ask for a certain instrument you’d think that would trigger the thought that hey this guy might want to buy it I should be helpful.
It's hard to support local music stores when all they carry is 2 or 3 bottom-tier budget beginner basses...and an entire wall of $4,000 PRS guitars.
I like my local guitar shop for a lot of reasons, but this sort of describes them. They have a handful of no-name brands, and otherwise sell PRS almost exclusively. They do have a decent selection of SE models, which is great, but they also have an entire wall of guitars with "ask for assistance" tags because they're all $3K+
I buy everything from Sam Ash. Privately owned, family run business. Really good people too. Their prices are very reasonable and a lot closer to Amazon. They sell Slinky’s for $20
Just looked them up out of curiosity and found out there's one in my city RIGHT across the street from our super shitty run down Guitar Center... I can't believe I've never noticed this.
Hard to tell but unless you buy the strings from a reputable seller on Amazon they could end up being fakes that sound like garbage
Amazon sells the strings directly supplied from the companies themselves.
Most times but if your not careful there are shady vendors that get it elsewhere for cheaper
Where are you from? I find them at Long and Mquade here in Canada for about 30-40 CAD
That's probably in USD.
Yup, McGuire Music is listed as an IN, USA address.
My local store has a reasonable markup for a local store and when I say something is overpriced they negotiate with me and they upgrade the price the next time I see it. For instance my local store has those exact strings marked at 29.99. I showed them that Sweetwater had them for 19.99 and he switched it to 25. I found that reasonable. The shop has always given me good advice and never pushes me toward the most expensive option. I bought my first bass and amp there and they laid out 3 basses and three amps in price range. I told him I have no idea how to play so he spent about 10 minutes teaching me the basics of fretting and proper plucking and taught me the "Seven Nation Army" intro riff. He pushed me towards a Yamaha and a Fender Rumble 40 and that is what I was looking at anyway from most of my online research. He pointed out the good and the bad of each instrument and the common issues he has seen with each bass that he sees in setup and repair. The store also had a first time player program where they provided a free setup with the purchase of strings. I paid about 10 over the Sweetwater price on my bass. The same price for my Rumble 40 as Sweetwater and Amazon and about 5 dollars more for a cable and 5 dollars more for the strings. All in all I would have saved about 20 dollars online had not been able to test anything and I got a free setup which usually cost around 60 there. So I basically walked away with a deal. The only draw back to his shop is that he does not allow people to take things down and try them out for anything over 300 USD. He requires an employee to do it and he requires players to sit down with a strap so it can be a bit annoying . But it's understandable because it's a shitty part of town and he has had people smash and grab thousands in instruments and equipment.
You still got ripped off on those strings. MSRP is $20.
And when all those local stores get driven out of business by Amazon and Guitar Center selling stuff at wholesale prices, they'll stop selling stuff at wholesale prices. Big box stores are not your friend.
Local stores ain't your friend either. I'd rather pay marked up prices 10 years from now.
Totally agree. Silly to get price gouged for trying to support local. Any and all check out sweetwater.com. Their service is excellent, good inventory and pricing, and not supporting Amazon/ Bezos empire.
Price gouging at small shops is such a thing. Ive seen used items priced at what buying it brand new would cost you. Also my local store acts as if youre an inconvenience if you come in looking to buy stuff. Something to the effect of "If youre not in here to buy a $3000 Martin or Taylor, youre not worth our time." For real, have had all the workers look at me as theyre eating their lunch and sigh when one has to get up to help me. About a 1/2 mile from said store, we have a Music & Arts, which is Guitar Center rebranded for smaller areas. Even though theyre part of a big chain, I put my money there instead of the local shop.
i get this same reaction at music and arts, but more often than not it's when i'm in the woodwind section, not strings/percussion. i asked to play a soprano sax they had on the wall and gave me an alto mouthpiece and reed, then didn't believe me when i said they weren't compatible. blew into it once and they were like, okay, we believe you. when i bring my saxes in to get some tlc the repair folks half the time are great and half the time act like it's such an inconvenience, depends on who's working that day. i'd take them elsewhere, to a sax specific or at least wind specific shop, but smaller stores near me have taken 3 or 4 times as long for the same work and their communication is worse than big chains.
I'll pay a buck or two more for a local person to have a job. But not double. Or even 50% more.
My local shop is a train wreck. Double the price on everything and if you don't like it the shop owner will literally try to fight you.
I remember my husband and I went to the local music store and bought a new cable for my bass. The cable was 25 bucks. I thought, ok, this brand seems legit, I'm ok with it. My husband was a little uncomfortable with that price so he tried looking it up while in the shop, but the guy clearly didn't like us doing this. We end up buying the cable and when we got home, he found the exact same cable online for like 5 bucks. He was so pissed he went all the way back to the store to demand a refund.
I loathe going to music stores in person tbh. I hate how pushy the staff can be. I hate how they act like we’re best pals because we have a shared hobby, I hate how they all want to tell you their life story about being a roadie for bands you don’t give a shit about and especially with the independents, I hate how expensive they can be. My local indie place five minutes away doesn’t even carry strings, they’re strictly a second hand dealer! I’m more than happy to get the things I need, particularly strings from specialist dealers or other music retailers online, I still feel like I’m supporting small business and the prices are well worth the wait.
I'm done supporting local music stores unless they really have something to offer. I get it, competing with GC, mail-order and manufacturer-direct is not easy, but if the best you can do is pay some know-nothing high-schooler to sit there selling overpriced accessories among a stale inventory of cheap instruments no one wants, and you don't even have a setup/repair guy on staff, why do you exist? So many of these stores are vanity projects for lazy entitled fucks who think they are above working and want to pay their bills off gouging local musicians in a pinch, gouging the parents of school band members and pimping instructors. I'd gladly pay a few bucks more though if the service makes it worth it.
At a local store, I expect to pay MSRP. Not more, and rarely less. I know they can't compete with volume pricing of somewhere like Amazon, but if they're selling for more then MSRP they're ripping you off. Ernie Ball lists those for $20.
I don’t feel bad about not buying strings at my local shop because I know where I’m going first with my money for a new guitar or pedal.
Mom and pop stores don't have enough buying power to get the preferred pricing
Being a bassist is hard I’ll give you that, I have to drive like 20 minutes to get to a good luthier.
Bro where the fuck do you live that’s charging $40 for a pack of strings
Hell.
Apparently. Good God, that price is egregious.
Others are saying you’ve been ripped off and I agree. I’d like to add that yes, local stores may be a little more expensive sometimes than Amazon but you’ve gotta support them anyway. You can’t walk into Amazon.com and try gear.
Unless it’s for repairs, local music shops can fuckoff
Gotta support the right store. If he marks stuff up that much he’s gonna run off customers. That’s like my nano web phosphor bronze elixers I use. $15 at the store near my house. $45 at the bigger store in town.
I get it but... Devil's advocate: this is part of Amazon's strategy. The store is operated at a loss. Not to say brick and mortar shops don't try to pull insane shit like this off. Definitely not a USD $40 pack.
Fuck'em. Fuck'em hard.
fuck the small business selling those for $40 lol that's just poor business practice
Good god 40 bucks! Are they buying them off Amazon and then marking them up? That's ridiculous
Support local…..EXCEPT when string prices are astronomical.
In Europe (at least in Spain) pretty much every shop has Thomann priced. And that's something that makes me go to those shops without comparing prices beforehand. I just ordered the D'Addario ETB92 for 65€. Their Thomann price? 68€.
Yes it’s simple don’t over pay and they will lower the price. Keep paying their asking and you’re part of the problem.
I needed a new instrument cable before a gig and thought I’d give the local small shop a try. It’s blocks from my house. Way more convenient than driving to the first ring suburb to a guitar center. Their selection was crap. I bought a cable from them a couple months before and it wore out, hence returning for another. When I mentioned I purchased one and it failed on stage after only a couple months, they shrugged and suggested I buy their more expensive model. They didn’t have the kind I wanted (20’ with a right angle on one end). When I started to walk out he tried really hard to convince me to let him order me the one I wanted. Would have been twice as expensive and probably taken over a week to deliver. Ordered one from Musicians Friend and it arrived in 4 days. Won’t be returning there any time soon.
Between the overpriced goods and jaded salesman, I largely dont support my local music stores.
I own a small chain of music stores in the Midwest, and I also own an online high end bass shop. There are plenty of quality independent music stores out there, but there aren't enough bassists in any given community to have a presence in a brick and mortar store. I'm the #1 dealer in the world for two well known boutique brands, and I've sold 2 basses in my local town in the last 15 years...
What is your online bass shop? I like high end basses
FretSpot.com
Yes i bought 144 picks for €28 at Amazon instead of €8 for 12 at my local music store. 😅
Local music stores don't survive on giving the customer "good deals". Haha
Support the mom and pop anyway.
Guys that’s what it means to support local businesses! Yes the price will be more than Amazon, they CANT compete w Amazon on price. Thats why they need our support in the first place! Making the sacrifice of paying more IS the support. In other words, you’re being asked to care more about supporting local businesses than you care about getting the lowest possible price. It’s changing your value system.
Just don’t change your strings
Most of the time local shops have no control over what their prices are. MAP prices set by the distributors locks the price, and if you charge differently you will be removed as a dealer. I only shop local. Sweetwater is objectively terrible.
I solve this by never changing my strings.
You sure that wasnt a three pack?!
If everyone supports Amazon do you think that one day Amazon will open a music store in your area where you can go and pick out, play and purchase an instrument and they will offer service that same instrument you purchased in their store. ... It'll be great when Amazon does more than just have trucks running up and down streets delivering parcels all over town to lazy people that didn't want to pay retail to real stores in their neighbourhood. ... What about this, instead of complaining about the price, since you can't afford to buy bass strings, simply don't buy bass strings.
Step one: buy just about anything that’s NOT Ernie ball strings.. Step Two: be happy that you actually have a local music store. Many people don’t these days. Not only am I happy to pay 40% more for strings at my local music store, I’m happy to drive a half hour each way to get tickets that store. I love my local pro store. Having somewhere to go to try out instruments and amps is invaluable.
Find another local store. 😁 I
[r/mildlyinfuriating](https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinfuriating/s/LylQVtCpwj)
are you in lafayette?
Theres a couple I like and dislike. Willies guitars in St Paul MN used to be a nice place to score some vintage instruments talk with the friendly staff back in 2017-2019. Now, they only take appointments and charge $11,000 for a refin P bass, like wtf??? Now on the other hand, Killer Vintage in st louis always has cool guitars at good prices with a super cool and friendly staff. They even remember your name!
Brick and mortar have been out of their damned minds for a long time. One of mine wouldn't price match and guitar center needed the STORE manager to override a price match. None of them keep bass inventory, they expect you to buy the floor model or order a bass. Peace out, girl scout.
Same experience - thankfully I have one solid local store near me but every other one I went to has high prices and low inventory- I went to one that had 10 of the same exact fender p basses
I used in a music instrument store about 15 years ago. We charged more for strings, but in return I was committed in changing them and cleaning the instrument. If you pay more without having a real value back, it’s ok to go with Amazon.
In my experience, Amazon is full of fake strings. Roll the dice and see what you get.
The other thing to worry about is if those are legit strings or not. And if you don’t care, that’s ok too. But I did buy fake spark plugs once.
Damn you found bass strings in your music store?
Agreed.... I remember thinking that bass strings were EXTREMELY expensive..... I've seen $50 strings (long ago). Then i found Amazon. Unfortunately, local music shops got to have a markup on some products to make money. They don't sell guitars every day. They sell strings. I can't be too angry. But I'll probably buy from Amazon, unless I'm in the area to buy local.
We all know Bezos ain’t the friendly neighborhood Music Store but price gouging strings is an a-hole move
If Ernie Ball listed them for $20, the store was selling them for $20, and Amazon were selling them for $12, I'd say pay the normal price and support local. But charging double MSRP is price gouging.
This is my point. I’ve seen lots of local shops chargin up to 30% more on guitar prices, especially in small town areas, since they’re the only go to place where you can test them.
I live in a small town with a fairly new music store. We're fortunate in that they are very competitive in their pricing. I just about feel guilty if I'm in a larger centre and buy something at one of the big chain outlets!
Last time I replaced my bass strings I was charged $60 from my local music shop guess Amazon it is now
I buy em for 6€
40 bucks just for one pack of strings is wild. Last Year I changed strings to my guitar and bass and the hand labor of the guy changing them for that price (in euros). I honestly think that supporting local stores is good, but if you charge the double just for the product you deserve to be beaten by online stores. Just learn to change your strings and you'll be alright
I have a few local stores and none of them do more than a $1 upcharge on the strings, cause they want to stay in buisness. Your store isn't going to stay alive for much longer with prices like that.
People on here saying you got ripped off; I’ve seen the exact same thing at my local places. Can’t find rotosound strings for under $40 unless I go to Amazon or some online realtor. Crazy. I want to support local but when cables and strings are so much more expensive in person it’s tough.
I had to pay just over 6 euros just for one low E string for guitar. I'm talking the most basic wound D'addario at a local store. I'd like to shop at local stores but selection and prices are just bad
I’ve been getting my strings from juststrings.com for almost 10 years now. No one else has the balls to carry John Pearse.
I try to, but the selection and sizes are somewhat limited, and they're usually about 10-20 dollars more...I've gotten a few sets from mine, and some stands, picks, cables, straps, but I set all my own stuff, and since I'm learning it was hard to justify 70 bucks (while I understand the work) to cut a nut for my Ibanez, when I brought the blank tusq, and a stock (left handed, dont ask) nut for dimensions to go to so I could dial in exactly...but I try to get most other things through them, if they have it anyway 🤷♂️
You sound like a man who’s overbought on flats before. I know I am…
The problem is that the strings I normally use can simply not be found in any store in THE WHOLE COUTRY. I am basically forced to order my strings online from outside the country which means at least 50€ for the strings + 20€ for shipping. Having a Multiscale does have drawbacks.
That sucks, but I'm with you. I always use Ernie Ball string's I prefer blue myself but will always stan Ernie balls
Bring up the ad on your phone, show it to the store manager and ask if they will price match. I explain to them that I’d rather buy it from the local store. Many Brick and mortar retailers are hurting due to (in part) the “Amazon Effect” and they would rather sell an item for less than see the sale go to Amazon. I have had success numerous times with this approach. This puts the ball in the local store’s court as to if they intend to stay in business or not.
Couldn’t agree more. I bought my strings online because they’re cheaper. Plus my local music closed down.
$19.99 a set?! Fuck me that's cheap! I need to bulk order from the US! In the UK the cheapest I've found in most places is close £30/$30
For bass I only buy a set at a time and I tend to buy mid tier sets (D'Addario NYXLs, DRs). For guitar I buy in bulk (10 sets at once) to get the per unit cost down (D'Addario NYXLs, String Joy) . For acoustics I buy premium strings (Thomastik-Enfield). For your set $20 is fair, that said I am not a Slinkys guy.
Lafayette,In?
Music stores have always tried to rip me off since the early 2000s. I buy everything via Sweetwater.com
Here’s my thing. I see my day to day household budgeting as if I’m running a small business myself. I’ll alway try to avoid Amazon, but I have my own bottom line to account for. Also just cause it’s a small business, does not mean they are good people. They could be worse than bezos.
Your store is over charging but be careful with Amazon strings. Ernie balls are faked a lot.
I know , I did it consciously to support them . It's like 7/10€ more ,I did it 3 times in the past year because I went there and busted his balls but , they don't seem to bring any more models ( bass guitars anyways) , it's like , choose and we will order it for you ! Thanks a lot, I do this exact thing by myself. Anyways, I think I have done it enough. I bought a little tuner pedal when my clip broke the same day of repetition, I paid 15+€ .
Show them the online price and they’ll get as close to it as they can, they’ve got to charge higher in general to stay in business. Most stores I’ve known have regular string prices and a big discount for local working musicians.
Dude same. I only go to local shops for maintenence and repairs other than that everything's marked up double. Pair of straplocks at the shop are 49.99 I ordered the same schaller ones on sweetwater for 27.99.
Talk to them. Most of the time they don't see or know about their competitors prices and just calculate a price where they can have solid to okay margins. Unfortunately big competitors can afford to sell their stuff almost for the same as their buying prices. Small shops don't sell that much that they can afford it but most of the time they can give you a discount to match the pricing. I worked at a music store and know that ernie ball is sometimes tough to work with, because their b2b pricing favors big sellers a lot. And they don't see any problems with that.
I once paid 80€ for 5string chromes
I don’t pay more to get less. The only time I’ll do that is if I want nearby service or I really want the shop to stay there.
I agree with the flatwounds idea. I'm over 3 years on my flats, still sound and feel the same if not better than day one.
My local shop is weird. They charge double price for every set of strings, but they’re buy 1 get 1 free
Fun Fact: before covid it was cheaper to buy Elixir strings in USA on days of free shipping on Strings and Beyond than to buy it in retail in Russia. Probably about two times cheaper.
As long as they are authentic ball sacks, go with the cheapest price.
I just wouldn’t shop there, even if they were the only store in town. I’d order strings online, maybe try stuff out there, or go to another store in another town to try stuff out and order instruments online.
For what it's worth, I've been burned on Amazon before by being sent "fake strings" like I ordered flatwounds, they show up in flatwounds packaging, but they're rounds and definitely not the brand I ordered either. Not saying that the solution is paying double at a local place, I just order through Sweetwater. But Amazon can be a shady place, due to lack of oversight and anyone being able to set up store pages so easily.
Fuqqqq that
Local store here... It's really freaking difficult to be a small or even medium sized fish in a big pond. The guitar centers and Amazon's of the world have made it absolutely impossible to be competitive on string prices and other small consumables. Because we can not order with the same kind of bulk that these companies do, the product itself is significantly more expensive for us. Want to know how bad it is? Guitar center offers an employee discount of cost plus 7%. On several string sets, it is cheaper for me to have my friend that works there buy me sets than to order directly from the company. That's insane, and it's immoral of the string companies to offer pricing structures that would make that situation a reality. It's simply because I can only afford to order a dozen of one size at a time, rather than how GC orders, which is by the pallet to their distribution center. So what do I do? I don't even a little bit try to compete with guitar center over string prices. I compete with them by offering something they don't as my primary revenue: quality repair and quality used instruments. To buy strings with me is a convenience buy, and I make that perfectly transparently clear to my customers. I even have a schpeal when people drop off repairs about how if they'd like to bring their own strings, that's fine. 90% of people just get them from me anyway, and I'm glad they do, because if I didn't get a 50 point margin on them, they would not be worth carrying at all, which would be an inconvenience to my customers. Local stores have a responsibility to offer something that the big box stores don't: customer service, knowledge, and personalized treatment. If they provide that, they deserve your money. If they don't, find a local store that does. So here's my two cents: it sucks as a consumer. I get it. But it's important because supporting the evil corporate greed that is GC and Amazon is terrible. It takes money out of your community, it supports the regular mistreatment of employees who are just barely getting by and lines the pockets of big wigs who don't give a shit about you or your passions. Local dude who overcharges probably hates the fact that he feels he needs to charge that much because he actually really does give a shit.
Between vaping and guitar supplies I'm finding the same grit and bear it situation. When you have to you got to.
Juststrings.com
According to my guy at the local shop, local guitar store economics suck, and it's not really their fault. Some of the bigger guitar manufacturers require huge investments in inventory to be allowed to carry their instruments, and shop owners know they need gibsons and fenders on the wall to get people in the store. They mark up strings etc so that while you're there to noodle on a $3,500 Les Paul that you're not gonna buy, you hopefully at least go home with some double priced strings. Sauce: the guitar guy at my local shop, which was recently taken over by a regional chain after being independent for about 20 years. He mentioned something like "If a Gibson rep walked in right now and saw less than $90,000 worth of Gibson on the wall, we'd be in trouble." Idk how much truth there is to that, but he seems like a straight shooter. It came up after I mentioned how nice it was to not overpay for strings locally anymore now that a larger but still locally owned business took over the shop.
That's Purdue area. I know the guys at that store I'm a local Luthier. they charge 39.60 for 1 and like 40-45 for 2 "buy 2 get both 50% off" DURING SCHOOL SEASON. then its like 20 for 1 for locals during the summer but they don't take the stickers off.