Is it that expensive for a company to move a bass from one store to another?

SweetKetchup

SweetKetchup

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Nov 29, 2015
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Romania
#1
A company which has 2 stores in my country currently has a fretless bass that I'm interested in in the store that's in the other city. I asked them if they could bring it to the store in my city so that I can get a feel for it, as I've never played fretless before. They said they will only bring it so that I can check for faulty hardware, but that I have to buy it, if it has no problems.

Does the price of moving 1 bass outweigh 1 sale? They even re-stock from the other store, so it wouldn't even be a special transport...
 
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#3
Can only speak to USA....... but yeah it does cost money to ship things. You are basically asking them lose that amount of money. It's a hit they obviously aren't willing to take unless it's a guaranteed sale. I don't blame them.

In the USA, for a non-dealer like me, it costs anywhere between $35 - $70 to ship a bass. There's no way I'd ship to someone just so they can check it out.
 
#5
I am not sure what the law is regarding internet purchased in Romania, but in most of Europe you have a minimum of 15 days to try something you bought on the internet and return it if you don't like it, no questions asked.

If they won't bring it to the store, you could buy it online and return it if you don't like it.
 
#6
Well, as I said, they didn't have to send just the bass I want. They could wait until they re-stock the store and just add another bass along with the shipment that costs them anyway. The bass already comes packed in from the factory, they don't have to add anything more than maybe a piece of tape...
 
#7
SweetKetchup said:
Well, as I said, they didn't have to send just the bass I want. They could wait until they re-stock the store and just add another bass along with the shipment that costs them anyway. The bass already comes packed in from the factory, they don't have to add anything more than maybe a piece of tape...
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Unless the other store directly stocks the store in your town, this is not correct. Stores get their stock from a distributor (esp internationally), so while one store may do the ordering for both locations, the distributor ships to both separately.

Basically you're asking the store to invest the cost of shipping the bass from one store to another just so you can try it out, and then MAY purchase it. I wouldn't do that either, unless you offered to pay for the shipping. That way, the store isn't out anything if you don't want it.
 
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#8
I once somehow convinced my local GC to transfer a bass from Jersey for me to try. Didn't pay for anything and I didn't promise to pay for anything. I think I just happened to get a not so smart employee. It turned out the fretboard was separating from the neck and I said okay thanks fellas.
 
#9
I had an inexplicable experience with Guitar Center not too long ago: They had a used speaker cabinet in stock at one of their North Carolina stores that I was interested in. From their website I had the option of A) Buying it from the NC store and having it shipped to my house; or B) Having it shipped from the NC store to my local Guitar Center store and buying it from the local store.
Per the website, if I did the former it would cost me ~$40 in freight, and I wouldn't have to pay state sales tax.
If I did the latter it would cost me $175 in an "internal transfer fee" !!! ... and I would also have to pay state sales tax when I picked it up at the local store.

I even called them up and spoke to a store employee to confirm that this wasn't some sort of website glitch. Yep, $175 upcharge just to move a piece of gear from one store to another to make the sale.

And people wonder why Guitar Center gets such disrespect. :::smh::: (Needless to say I bought the cab from the NC store and had them ship it to me.)
 
#10
I was in a similar situation when getting my first bass. They ended up moving it from one store to another for free with no sale guarantee, overnight. I did tell me them it was my first bass (other than the borrowed one I learned on) so they were probably more lenient
 
#11
Leiria said:
I was in a similar situation when getting my first bass. They ended up moving it from one store to another for free with no sale guarantee, overnight. I did tell me them it was my first bass (other than the borrowed one I learned on) so they were probably more lenient
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That doesn't sound like most of the music stores around in this day and age. If you say it is your first bass (or even if you don't) they will try to convince you that what you are actually looking for is that Fender that they have had for the last 3 years ;)
 
#12
Bob_Ross said:
I had an inexplicable experience with Guitar Center not too long ago: They had a used speaker cabinet in stock at one of their North Carolina stores that I was interested in. From their website I had the option of A) Buying it from the NC store and having it shipped to my house; or B) Having it shipped from the NC store to my local Guitar Center store and buying it from the local store.
Per the website, if I did the former it would cost me ~$40 in freight, and I wouldn't have to pay state sales tax.
If I did the latter it would cost me $175 in an "internal transfer fee" !!! ... and I would also have to pay state sales tax when I picked it up at the local store.

I even called them up and spoke to a store employee to confirm that this wasn't some sort of website glitch. Yep, $175 upcharge just to move a piece of gear from one store to another to make the sale.

And people wonder why Guitar Center gets such disrespect. :::smh::: (Needless to say I bought the cab from the NC store and had them ship it to me.)
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Odd. I bought a used cab through GC within the past year and it was nothing like that. I had it shipped to the local store so I could check it out and deal with any issues right there. It cost the same for shipping to the store as it would have to my house. I guess the difference is you weren't commited to buying it when they did the store-to-store transfer (?).
 
#13
JACink said:
That doesn't sound like most of the music stores around in this day and age. If you say it is your first bass (or even if you don't) they will try to convince you that what you are actually looking for is that Fender that they have had for the last 3 years ;)
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Yeah, I guess I was lucky. I called friday afternoon saying I wanted a VSB TBird to try out in X store as a first bass, they said they only have them in Y store in that color but that I could go the next day. And Saturday morning I got there and there it is, still its shipping box full of Styrofoam. They did try to sell me a ridiculous amount of accessories and super expensive strings, though
 
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