First posted UK prices?

dangerousdave · Post by **dangerousdave** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 1:46 pm

While I'd like to only pay the US price plus VAT, I actually thought that UK prices might be worse than that. Sweetwater shows the RRP as $4,350 (£2,665), and the street price as $3,499 (£2,144), and that's without VAT. We're still paying a premium for living in Rip-Off Britain, but it could be worse.

DaveBoulden · Post by **DaveBoulden** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:06 pm

Maybe I'm getting it wrong then, as I thought that $3499 was the US MAP price for the 73 and that what we call the street price in the UK is lower than that. Isn't it the case that US stores have a MAP (minimum advertised price) that they are not legally allowed to publicly undercut? But you simply ask the shop for a quote and they can then offer the goods at their "street price"?

It might help things if we can get it all clear. So are there 3 prices for each model in the US marketplace: RRP, MAP and typical street price? Here in the UK we only have RRP and street prices.

Is there any chance someone is able to say what the actual street price is in the US?

If the UK prices were converted back to dollars (removing sales tax etc) that would equate to a US RRP of $5380 and street price (not MAP) of $4070... I wonder how many they'd sell in the US at that price.

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:17 pm

MAP and street are really the same thing in the USA. It's possible to pay less than street/MAP but only if the store is willing to negotiate a better price or if you're a very good customer. If a unit is in high demand, as we're likely to see with the Kronos for a while, they will be much less willing to come down on price.

Busch.

DaveBoulden · Post by **DaveBoulden** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 2:30 pm

Thanks for clarifying that... in which case, it looks like we should regard US MAP as the same as UK advertised street price.

That being the case, if the quoted UK price is correct for a 73, then after removing sales tax from the equation, it looks like we'll be paying the equivalent of $1070 more than in the US... as a percentage that's 35% more.

burningbusch · Post by **burningbusch** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:04 pm

Sales tax in the USA is different in every state. Some states have zero sales tax while others can be as high as 10% (plus local sales taxes can be added on). In my state of Washington, sales tax is just under 10% (but we have no state income tax), so a 73-key Kronos would sell for ~$3840.

Busch.

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:16 pm

I will wait to see what the nice guys at Digital Villlage say when I phone them up - I need a huge discount if the UK think they are going to charge £ to $ parity.

Then of course there is the UK bulk purchase option we have on another thread...

What happens if we all say we are not going to pay over the odds - and stick together to buy at reasonable prices...

It looks like were are all going to have to wait 6 months from the announcement of Kronons till its launch - could Korg wait 6 months from launch to selling a single unit - they've made us wait - maybe we should make them wait... I am in no hurry...

But this is making the Origin £2,500 (any synth you want) look more attractive - the JP80 is the same price (not as interesting for me tho') - or could still go down the PE08 and VST route.... Choices, choices.... In the end it comes down to what we're prepared to pay and £ = $ just isnt going to work.

dangerousdave · Post by **dangerousdave** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:23 pm

I don't think we're going to be able to get the price down any lower by purchasing in bulk, at least not in the short term. Nobody seems to know how many will be in the first shipment, but it's not likely to be many. Given events in Japan, it could be a while before we see more of them. With demand greatly exceeding supply, no retailer is going to be worried about being unable to sell them.

RKfan · Post by **RKfan** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 3:49 pm

I have a rather different approach than buying in bulk - i.e. not buying in bulk - waiting for 6 months and watching them sweat. Patience is a virtue, and low or no sales make people nervous - who'll blink first?

Just been on the phone from a nice KORG sales person in the UK - they have got their first unit in the office now (for demo purposes) - I tried really hard to get them to tell me what the prices are (couldnt say).

It appears that the first prices will be released in the Korg newsletter - and first batches expected end of May (maybe June on the street) - expecting to ship mostly K61s (but that's a bit obvious)...

dangerousdave · Post by **dangerousdave** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:15 pm

The guys at instruments2go described the pricing as "tentative", so the deposits they take are fully refundable.

I agree that not buying could drive down prices, but you'd need to have the majority of potential Kronos buyers on board. I think people are too impatient for that to be effective.

orpheus2006 · Post by **orpheus2006** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:23 pm

dangerousdave wrote:I agree that not buying could drive down prices, but you'd need to have the majority of potential Kronos buyers on board. I think people are too impatient for that to be effective.

I can imagine that potential buyers will be reluctant because of potential radioactive contamination of goods coming from Japan. This could have a similar impact on prices.

MartinHines · Post by **MartinHines** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 4:55 pm

orpheus2006 wrote: I can imagine that potential buyers will be reluctant because of potential radioactive contamination of goods coming from Japan. This could have a similar impact on prices.

I don't know anyone who is worried about this. I'm not.

cello · Post by **cello** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 5:38 pm

MartinHines wrote:
orpheus2006 wrote: I can imagine that potential buyers will be reluctant because of potential radioactive contamination of goods coming from Japan. This could have a similar impact on prices.
I don't know anyone who is worried about this. I'm not.

Exactly, Martin.

I haven't heard of people stopping buying PS3s or Toyota cars.