Buy an M3 get a free MR-1 digital recorder (USA)

[Daz]

I just received received this news in an email from Korg USA this morning and nearly fell out of my seat !

FREE From Korg
Buy any M3 Series Workstation and get a FREE Korg MR-1 handheld DSD recorder (an $899 value)!

The M3 XPanded is full of great new sounds and composing features. For a limited time you can add the stunning recording capability of Korg's high-resolution portable recorder to your sonic arsenal.

This offer is valid on any new Korg M361, M373, M388 keyboard or M3-M module purchased in the US from an authorized Korg dealer. Offer valid from May 1, 2009 through August 31, 2009. All coupons, copies of original receipts, original UPC codes must be received by Korg USA by September 1, 2009. Offer valid while supplies last.

Check it out here :

http://korg.com/Promotions.aspx?pd=280

If you're wondering what an MR-1 is check this out : http://korg.com/mr1

Daz.

[EJ2]

Amazing deal. Just got the email myself. Too bad I already have an M3-73.

[depulse]

Only US again, as always.

When will Korg realize that there are over 500 million potential customers in Europe, here we are lucky if we can buy the stuff for slightly lower than list price

[Daz]

Only US again, as always.

Korg USA is the distributor here in the US and this is their promotion, so its only happening here ...

When will Korg realize that there are over 500 million potential customers in Europe, here we are lucky if we can buy the stuff for slightly lower than list price

... you would need to ask your local distributor that question. These promotions are down to local distributors and not the Korg "mothership".

Daz.

[Sharp]

That's unbelievable.
I'd love one of those myself for sampling outside the Studio.

Regards.
James.

[shrike]

This is actually the second time such offer is released in USA. But everybody was so surprised when I had some objectives about Korg's policy towards other countries, obviously less important.

USA musicians should really enjoy their Korg gifts - European and Balkan musicians paid for those too. So when you get a free recorder, some guy that just bought M3 in here also paid for that recorder in the M3's price.

Fair policy and very understandable.

[Daz]

USA musicians should really enjoy their Korg gifts - European and Balkan musicians paid for those too. So when you get a free recorder, some guy that just bought M3 in here also paid for that recorder in the M3's price.

Huh ??

You're not paying for any of this, Korg USA are paying for this out of their pocket in an attempt to promote sales in a very competitive market here in the US.

Here is how it works :

1) Korg Inc in Japan manufacturer musical equipment

2) Distributors in each country/region buy it from Korg Japan and sell it to retailers

3) Retailers sell it to musicians

What happens in each country is down to the distributor in that country and nothing to do with Korg Inc in Japan.

Here's a quote from Mike from Korg UK

Korg doesn't offer goodies in Croatia. Ever.

This isn't down to Korg..Its down to the Croatian Distributor... they still have to pay for what they buy from Korg Inc as all distributors do..if they choose not to give product away, thats up to them.

Daz.

[shrike]

Yes, of course. If I pay 2200 euros for M3 and some guy in USA pays 2000 dollars for m3 but he gets 900 dollars worth recorder for free, there is no way this free recorder is included in the price I paid just for the M3, no, it has nothing to do with Korg. And Korg has nothing to do with retailers. And there is absolutely no relation between this two phenomenons, overpaying in Europe and Balkan compared to goodies in USA. I see how wrong I was. I think it would be reasonable if I go buy M388 (sadly, Oasys isn't available any more, I would like that one, since it was sold for 7000 euros here when it was sold for 6000 dollars in USA), greatly overpay it, so I can provide free Radias for some USA musician.

I apologize for not realizing my delusion sooner.

[Sharp]

Hi Shrike.
Why don't you send a letter of complaint to your Croatian Distributor. Each Distributor is on their own and I'm really surprised you can't understand this. You are in no way paying for anything that happens in a different country regardless of what you think.

Also are you guys due to be part of the EU in 2010 ?.
If so then sit tight and watch what happens when import duty is abolished from EU countries. If your Croatian Distributor can't keep up, you can be sure people will buy imports on-line and save a fortune legally and without any import duty taxes.

I've just bought a V-Machine from Germany for €333 euro where the price here in my own Country was €580. I'm not going to complain to the Irish Distributor who sells V-Machines though. If they want to stay in business then they will at some point all on their own realise that nobody is buying from them any more. Probably when it's too late.

Regards.
Sharp.

[shrike]

What you say makes perfect sense, but here's an update to my previous topic about this issue:
the local Croatian dealer occasionally did provide discounts on certain products; short term discounts (just few days in a year) and on limited line of products (just M series or just nano or just SP pianos, for example), but still a nice gesture, considering the fact Croatian prices were always higher than in the rest of the world, especially when compared to USA, so such discounts would give us opportunity to buy machines with prices that matched those in the USA. Goodies were never included, but guy can't have everything, right? Well, those times are gone now, since Korg decided it's BAD policy to give discounts occasionally and also decided Croatian prices were TOO CHEAP. Too cheap when compared to - what? That's the issue here. Anyway, dealership is now transferred to Serbia - that's the latest information I managed to obtain.

I understood what you guys explained in previous topic on this matter, about how everything is determined by home distributor policy. But obviously Korg has something to do with home distributor policy if we take into consideration Croatian distributor didn't have rights to provide goodies nor to provide discounts at free will (according to sales rates and other factors).

That's my point. Korg obviuosly interfered in here. And that's what bugs me.

[Timo]

I think it may also be down to sheer volume of both imports and sales.

Croatia's a small country, population 4.5M. The USA has a population 68x times larger at 306M.

USA would clearly stand to get discounts for buying (importing) in such bulk numbers, and likewise there's a greater volume of people actually buying the products in the USA, that Korg USA can then afford to pass on various discounts to USA consumers.

The Korg distributors for your country are a wholly separate entity to Korg USA, with no business link between them whatsoever. In the ideal world, if they were connected, it might be a different matter (ie. Korg USA consumers subsidise purchases for smaller countries), but unfortunately they're not connected, and it would be an uncommon business model.

[shrike]

You do have a valid point. Small market, small profit, small space discounts.

Well, we do not live in an ideal world.

OK, I'll just back away from this topic and let people cheer about this perfect sale opportunity. After all, it was the purpose of this topic, to point out to a good offer.

[jerrythek]

Hi Shrike:

Obviously I understand the differences between markets, and the affect that local promotions can have on other markets. In fact, that's why I personally don't list US-only promotion here at these forums, which are obviously seen by an international audience.

So "I feel your pain", so to speak.

But please understand that the market conditions, local economies, and many other factors come into play for each Distributor, so we each have our own markets to take care of. This is a strong reason why Korg Inc. doesn't get involved in global sales promotions. We each have our own conditions, our local countries have differening laws regarding advertising and promotion, and so on.

Regards,

Jerry

[Belegur]

What about us Aussies...?

I just recently paid US$6000 equivalent here for an M3-88 and a Radias R and I got nothing for free

We pay inflated prices and get less than US customers for our money. I'm not even that fussy... don't worry about the recorder... but how about an EXB-256 at least?

[Riley333]

I bought an M3 to take advantage of this rebate and have a nice M3 of course. I'm going on 7 weeks and no MR1 yet.