GAK Gone under ? (UK Retailer)

The Lounge
22

Ok, so you don’t care, or want, smaller independent stores to exist?

I’m not sure why you mention Korg, it was Yamaha mentioned in the context of this thread. But anyway;
The price that they (Yamaha, or Korg) charge retailers is unaffected by this, their dealer price is their dealer price, that’s not the incentive for them; manufacturers don’t like to see their products prices being trashed.

The main issue has been ‘big box’ online retailers who’ll take a product purchased at £200 and sell it at £210-£220 (5-10% gross margin), where it should ordinarily be 30%+ (£260+, plus VAT= £312 retail).

Most businesses can’t survive on low margins like above, so you end up in a Thomann/Amazon world… once they’ve destroyed smaller fish, they can then increase the margins.

Also, you would be naive to think these conversations don’t go on between manufacturers and retailers.
Elektron are a good example of a company who do a good job at keeping dealers in line with each other.

That’s why ‘price fixing’ is counterintuitive, and a waste of time.

23

This is a shame, great staff, sold me a gorgeous PRS.

Once had an awkward experience when using the online chat and the lad I was talking to told me that he could see that I was nosying at his page in the ‘about us’ section.

He had a nice beanie, but that’s standard for Brighton.

24

What how?

25

It’s not hard, you’re in the browser on their website when using the chat. That site will absolutely hand over ”context” on what you’ve been browsing for (on their site) to the chat client.

Likely example case: If they see you’ve been going back and forth between two instruments, one is a better deal for them, maybe they’ll try to sway you in that direction

1 Like
26

Ah OK that makes sense, I was on live chat on Amazon so was worried they could spy on me whilst talking to them if that makes sense.

27

Damn!

So many memories wrapped up in that place, for me.

  • all the metal kids hanging out there at the weekends
  • falling for the Korg MS-2000
  • getting a bass guitar back from their repair dept. and being told it was the worst bass they had ever seen
  • Buying a genuine CubaseVST, my first big music s/w purchase
  • buying my first pedal (a 2nd hand Rat) and feeling like an imposter (a synth nerd buying a guitar pedal!!)
  • Indian Rope Man, a “big beat” producer on Skint Records, working there (IIRC)
  • always going past, or in, when I visit the city
  • It was cramped and smelled funny, and the display gear was greasy

Shopping online has none of this. I fucking hate that capitalism has pushed all this physicality and sense memory aside.

4 Likes
28

Depends what you mean by ’spy’.

Browser activity not technically impossible (they do own/operate one of the most popular traffic analytics platforms) but also extremely unlikely due to a number of reasons. Scale/cost, privacy concerns etc

29

It’s a shame - I got a minifreak and the Digitone 2 from them this year, trying to stick with relatively local retailers. Hoping Andertons up in Guildford doesn’t go the same way…

1 Like