slartabartfast
Wow. This thread is a total revelation to me. I have never in my life established a "relationship" with a salesperson. Even in the pre-internet days when you could not actually buy anything without interacting with a salesman, I have related to such intermediaries as if we were both cogs in the great commercial machine. I had never even imagined that they would be interested in doing me a favor or vice versa.

 
I actually did.  Twice.  Both times I found a motivated individual at Guitar Center in the guitars area and made the same deal with each.  I wanted to get whatever I wanted for $2 over cost but, in return, I would buy enough to make them shine.  In one year down in So. Cal., I ONLY worked with the same guy (even if I bought something from another area) and ended up spending about $40k - not as hard as it sounds when you're building a studio.  He got promoted.  The guy I worked with up here ended up getting a better offer from a competitor based on how well his sales numbers were.  I certainly considered it win/win.

@slartabartfast
 
Everything runs on "social networking".  Always has. Even waaaaaay before the interweb was an interesting yet frightening concept.  Back scratching, log rolling, insider deals and wink wink nudge nudge has been the hallmark since Thag and Ug could swap a fur hide for some brontosaurus meat.  You need to catch up, ol pal.

 
Thag and Ug.

Xactly!!!!!

"After all, even AD's lowest price is not (in all likelihood) a price point that will "disrupt or undervalue" this particular market else they would be shooting themselves in the foot.  Not that they couldn't be doing that very thing...but I doubt it."
 
Time will tell... all we can do is sort of stand at the side lines and attempt to make decisions we think are good for ourselves.
 
I've watched many an operation run the daily operation into the ground because the owners had agendas that weren't focused on the presumed business.
 
In my former business, the playboy debutante trust funder was a stereotypical "disrupter".
 
It is almost routine for them to set up a competing shop because it seems like fun and then they try to compete on price rather than on work ethic. These guys come and go all the time.
 
There are dozens of other scenarios that create the same sort of cycle.
 
What I learned is that the more customers I sent them... the faster I could drive them into the ground and move on with my interests.
 
On any given day I could run them out of stock of some vital item by sending folks down the road for a deep discount and they would bring it back and I'd install it for a fee.
 
Yes, I made the mistake of majoring in Fine Arts while taking macro and micro economics. :-) It makes me seem complicated.
 
I think your estimation of my Quixotic nature may just be... well, I don't know... I think you asked a question and didn't like my answer about my opinion. ;-)
 
I'm going to go shop for some vinegar.
 
 
all the best,
mike
 
 
PS what about Rick? My guess is that if you don't know Rick the Printer then one of your best buddies must and we are well inside the 6*. I figured if you knew Rick and understand that my mentors come from that gang of rosebuds that you'd have that ah ha... mike's just mike moment. :-)
 
 
 

I think my estimation of your quixotic nature is just that, an estimation.  That and $1.82 will get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
 
And, while I did live in Athens for 3 or 4 years in the late 80s, I don't recall a printer named Rick.  There was a printer named Richard at the University who was very professional and seemed like a genuinely nice guy.  Other than that I'm not sure who exactly you mean.  Got a full name?  I sure miss an awful lot about that great town.  My accountant (and very close friend) still lives and works there.

Rick Hawkins, before the era of Kinkos he had the printer that people used to make the hand bills. His place was a cross roads; copy and offset printing, coffee, factory trained VW repair, sculpture, and sailboat maintenance.
 
:-) 

 
  My so called business dealings have built up a real catalog relationship with a lot of vendors and   they all know who I am on the internet...or at least that I buy their stuff. Heck I can probably heat my house this winter with the catalogs. As far as a look me in the eye I know you kind of thing...yeah I have that with a few of the guys in guitar center. I look like an occasional fixture there and some of them know it. I got so tired of going there and finding that what I was interested in wasn't covered under the current coupon.  The last time I was there I asked the salesperson (who was very helpful) if my item ( a Martin guitar) was covered under the coupon. My heart almost skipped a beat when he said yes. 
 
 I do a fair amount of research on the things I buy. I pretty much know the pad they build into the item. I know what the manufacturer basically charges them for it. I want them to be able to buy shoes for their kids for Pete's sake. I have never been the type to take advantage of a local business by looking at and playing their stock and then going somewhere else to buy it. If it costs a few dollars more I'll pay it....so I have a good feel for the worth of the thing and what a fair price is. I know what I won't be willing to pay. I think a vendor can start to get too comfortable with a business who buys product on a regular basis and attempt to take liberties with that relationship...in that case the relationship can work against you. I know everyone needs to eat. It can be a fine line there. "Honest" and "Salesman" usually are not in the same sentence in my case. I have been burned by the guys who are out to make their quota and don't care if you are left holding the bag on other non music items. Frankly a sales person needs to earn my trust now.
 
 There is one guitar shop in the city I work in where all the gear is top notch. They have the best of everything but I can't buy anything there but strings and picks. These guys must have  a few of those "relationships" with the locals ,and you know, if I played guitar for a living I might pay those kinds of prices without blinking. But for me I can go almost anywhere else and get a huge difference in price for the same items. Not talking a mere 10 or 20 dollars. If these guys are a few blocks from the county seat selling to lawyers and they can make it more power to em'. The more average Joes like me will find what fits for us.