How can I go about getting guitars for cheap?

[Infinite]

I'm thinking of setting up my own guitar shop, and I need to find one place that stocks all makes and models of guitar, that I can get to sell on, in the UK (the kinda place that a shop like GAK would use). Or will buying straight from the dealer be a better idea?
Thanks

[gkelm]

Try the supplier called Ibanez Rules (swirly banner at top of page).
Greg

[Jem7RB MK]

Originally Posted by Infinite

I'm thinking of setting up my own guitar shop, and I need to find one place that stocks all makes and models of guitar, that I can get to sell on, in the UK (the kinda place that a shop like GAK would use). Or will buying straight from the dealer be a better idea?
Thanks

Have you REALLY looked into this? It's not as easy as most shops,firstly your best bet is to approach distributors and companys alike,and be prepared to be considerably out of pocket getting stock levels,unless your ultra rich or have a massive bank loan/buiness agreement you won't cover your costs buying from a shop to sell to the public.

Yes Rich's price's are cheap,and once you've paid your customs etc they end up being cheaper than a used over here,you wont get by on selling used guitars as your limiting your field,so buy new off Rich,but declare what your doing to the Tax office etc

I hope that helps and i'm not diggin on ya,just trying to be helpfull in a small way

Oh,and thats no dig at Rich either

Rob

[jono]

I looked into this a while back, I was going to start a sideline buying tasty PRS guitars, Andersons, Suhrs, that sort of thing, bringing them over to the UK, when practically no-one else was then offloading them on ebay, and one or two in the classified adds in the back of the UK music press.

Unfortunately the sort of folks who are after these sorts of guitars, tend to be the sort of folks who already know it's cheaper to get them direct from the States, or who want to try 10 or 12 in a shop through a boutique amp before they buy.

Personally, I don't think hte investment required for this sort of venture is worth the risk in the UK market at the moment. If you do think it's worth it, I'd suggest contacting the UK distributers and look for dealerships. Good luck if you decide to do this.

[Infinite]

Thanks guys, I know I would need a lot of cash to get in guitars to sell on, but my idea was to - get an order/(get the money) -> order the guitar -> send it to the customer, how can I go about doing this?

[jono]

If you're after a new guitar the only way to do this is to either buy directly from a distributer, in the UK this is folks like Headstock (for Ibanez) If you do go to the distributers, you may also find you need to order a larger number of instruments than you first thought in order to get their trade prices.

Otherwise you're effectively selling second hand goods. If your customers don't mind buying from you as a broker (in effect you offering a guitar finding service with commission fee) then hunting all day on the internet would make you the most profit. However, most folks these days can do something similar for themselves, do you really think you'll be able to match somewhere like "Music 123" or "ishibashi" on price, or somewhere like US stores "Ibanez Rules" or "The Guitar Hanger" on reputation? Or domestically, can you compete on setup and service with somewhere like Machinehead or Chandlers?

Another thing to remember is that distributers to the UK get just 2 or 3 shipments a year from overseas, so if your customer places an order with you for a guitar that your distributer doesn't have in stock, you'll have a very unhappy customer.

I know I sound very negative about this and I really do wish you all the luck with this, but I think that you'd need to find yourself a niche market and exploit that rather than trying to go after "all makes and models" as you said in your first post.

[Infinite]

Fair enough Jono... as you can probably tell, not much deep thought has gone into this yet... I'm just looking at the options.
So the way I would have to do it if I was wanting to operate like GAK, Mahinehead etc. do, I would have to start small selling things to a niche market, then grow, selling more things as I increase my capital...

And you say that "distributers to the UK get just 2 or 3 shipments a year from overseas" (are you meaning from a place like ********?) - wouldnt this be subject to so much tax and shipping costs, that it wouldnt be worth there while, or do they get discounts for buying in bulk?

Thanks

[jono]

I think you might be a little confused about just what a "distributer" is.

I'll use Ibanez as an example and I honestly can't guarentee some of the details, this is just how *I* have come to percieve it as I investigated this.

The distributer is the company that gets the bulk shipments of the guitars direct from the factory in Japan or Korea. In the UK there is only 1 Ibanez distributer. That's Headstock who are based in Birmingham. Headstock add a sum of money to the price that they paid for the instruments and then sell them to all the shops in the UK that buy officially imported guitars. They buy them at trade prices from Headstock, Machinehead, Academy of sound, Sound Control etc. etc. They all come from Headstock. It's headstock that only gets the shipments from Japan once or twice a year. The stores then add another sum of money and sell them on to you and me. it's this final figure that is the RRP.

I beleive in the USA there are 2 Ibanez distributers, Chesbro (on the west coast) and Hoshino USA on the East coast. These are the companies that will supply Sam Ash, Guitar Center, and the mom and pop stores too. Again these guys (Hoshino USA and CHesbro) buy direct from Ibanez in Japan.

OK, back to the UK.

Ibanez Japan will not give you a distributer licence. They have an exclusive deal at the moment (again as I understand it) with Headstock. Headstock then sell on these guitars to the shops, so all the Ibanez guitars in the UK (that have been officially imported) go to Headstock in birmingham, then out to the local shops. The local shops have to buy X amount to qualify for the bulk deal from the distributer, which is why the chain stores with greater buying power can undersell the independent stores.

And yes you need to find a niche. Something that makes me (the consumer) want to buy something particular from you (the seller) in particular rather than buying it from somewhere else, or buying something else entirely.

For example, If I want a dirt cheap brand new Ibanez, I'll buy it from a large internet chain store based in the US, you know the one as a UK based seller I doubt that you'll be able to compete with their prices and still make a profit. If I want after sales care from a bloke I can go and see in the flesh, I'll buy from Machinehead in Hitchin where the staff know me and they have a great reputation etc. As a new seller without a reputation it would be hard for you to compete with this.

If I want a rare or old Ibanez I'll ask Rich to find it for me, he has that niche pretty much cornered 100% to the point where stores in the UK recommend that you give him a call!

If however you can come up with a cunning plan or can offer something that no-one else can offer, be it the type of guitar, the price of the guitar or the incredible set up of the guitar etc. etc. Then you might just be on your way to making your hobby your job