Absloute Lack of Authorised Dealerships / Outlets selling Branded HI-fi Separtes

[Audio Slave]

I have never travelled specifically to buy, so really do not know what countries would head the list in terms of availability and pricing of goods, along with ease and cost of travel, but, of the two countries that I do visit from India, Singapore is a relatively comfortable flight time, and can, if one is able to take advantage of budget-airline special offers as and when, be reached very cheaply indeed. I don't have to tell you about the cost and experience of getting to London :sad:

Thad E Ginathom

I shall not be travelling to the UK for the sole purpose of buying Hi-Fi equipment. That would be a very expensive proposition indeed. The intended visit is in some other connection, and would be a stopover during my trip from the USA...

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

I shall not be travelling to the UK for the sole purpose of buying Hi-Fi equipment.

Have to admit, I suspected as much.

USA would be an interesting place to buy. Pity about the voltage.

 

[Audio Slave]

USA would be an interesting place to buy. Pity about the voltage.

Yes indeed. Roughly what you get for 100 in the UK you get for $100 in the USA as per my past experience which is a great advantage but the serious down side is the difference in voltage settings at which those products are meant to be operated....vs. the 240 volts power supply in India...

 

[askii2]

Demand and supply is the most important factor in pricing. Here is my list of countries for different classes of shopping (AV and others) -
US - Top of the line electronics, useless but cool technology items.
UK - formal wear, lounge wear.
Holland, France - Chocolates, liquor, art.
Singapore - Cheap electronics.
Japan - Photography stuff.
China - original duplicates of everything (duplicates made by the same manufacturer who makes originals).

Comparing US prices with rest of the world won't be fair because:
US pricing is very interesting and is different compared to other countries in that they have short discount cycles. It's possible to buy almost all electronic items cheaper by studying price variations for 1 quarter (3 months). US prices are usually very high when an item is launched and fall gradually over 2 to 3 years. They also have inventory clearance discounts going quite frequently. Since most of the chains have a wide range of items, they can afford to do this and still manage excellent profit margins. Follow weekly ads of any of the large retail chain and you'll know - wallmart, target, best buy, costco, fry's.

Comparing China prices with rest of the world won't be fair because:
Yuan is manipulated. So prices seen by rest of the world are lower then their actual value. Manufacturers who make stuff for branded originals have their operating costs covered and profits booked through long term deals. Making duplicates from the same factory doesn't cost anything except for raw material cost. Cheap labour makes things easier for them. Selling within china is straight forward since their Govt. doesn't care about brand owner's complaints.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

US - Top of the line electronics, useless but cool technology items.

That must be why all those gadget blogs, which look as if they are going to be really interesting, turn out to be a complete waste of time!

Singapore seems, to me, to have a wide choice of gadget (photo, audio, computing) and to cover all budgets.

 

[ajay124]

Wouldn't it be nice if all the brands we wanted, could be bought through Hifivision. I hope the group and individual deals initiative blossoms and expands into a multi brand set up for low/mid/hi end audio and video products.

Last year I was quoted 15K for the Chord Chameleon Silver Plus by a dealer. It's now available on the forum for 6K! :clapping:

 

[Audio Slave]

Wouldn't it be nice if all the brands we wanted, could be bought through Hifivision. I hope the group and individual deals initiative blossoms and expands into a multi brand set up for low/mid/hi end audio and video products.

Last year I was quoted 15K for the Chord Chameleon Silver Plus by a dealer. It's now available on the forum for 6K! :clapping:

That's a good idea but what about products that require auditioning before being bought? Are you referring to About hifimart.com ? Presently there is hardly much on offer there.

 

[AMITNOIDA]

I have missed the thread earlier. It's an interesting thread.
In audio field, the varieties are so vast that in a country like India, we get handful option. But the situation is changing slowly.

At Delhi, we have seen few outlets opened in last 1-2 years like Lakozy, Swish. Now for listening NAD, PSB one doesn't need to go to Mumbai. For Epos, Creek, Canton one can get opportunity in Swish Delhi. But, yes finding all the models ready in stock is difficult. The market is still very limited compared to mass market product like Sony, Philips. To grow the market, we the enthusiasts need to spread the interest among friends, neighbours. Just call your friends, neighbours and offer them good listening of your set up. The interest will grow.

Common people doesn't know of any brands other than Bose, Sony, Phillips - recently JBL etc. courtsey Croma, Reliance digital.

When I had started about one and half years ago, I had gone to Bangalore more than thrice to audition - of couse clubbing with official tour. I was lucky in that sense.

But about an year later, when I have set up my movie system, I could select the components from Delhi-NCR only.

We are lucky at NCR to take part in audio entusiast's get together, where we come to hear few more brands and sometimes find very good synergy and match.

In audio, it's patience and sweat which pays in country like us. Hope, the situation will slowly improve, I am hopeful.

 

[Audio Slave]

I have missed the thread earlier. It's an interesting thread.
In audio field, the varieties are so vast that in a country like India, we get handful option. But the situation is changing slowly.

At Delhi, we have seen few outlets opened in last 1-2 years like Lakozy, Swish. Now for listening NAD, PSB one doesn't need to go to Mumbai. For Epos, Creek, Canton one can get opportunity in Swish Delhi. But, yes finding all the models ready in stock is difficult. The market is still very limited compared to mass market product like Sony, Philips. To grow the market, we the enthusiasts need to spread the interest among friends, neighbours. Just call your friends, neighbours and offer them good listening of your set up. The interest will grow.

Common people doesn't know of any brands other than Bose, Sony, Phillips - recently JBL etc. courtsey Croma, Reliance digital.

When I had started about one and half years ago, I had gone to Bangalore more than thrice to audition - of couse clubbing with official tour. I was lucky in that sense.

But about an year later, when I have set up my movie system, I could select the components from Delhi-NCR only.

We are lucky at NCR to take part in audio entusiast's get together, where we come to hear few more brands and sometimes find very good synergy and match.

In audio, it's patience and sweat which pays in country like us. Hope, the situation will slowly improve, I am hopeful.

While I do agree with most of what you say.....but all said and done, it does feel like living in the Stone Age here as far as availability of Hi-fi separates are concerned and many other things...Because of the very low demand factor, India is not considered a worthwhile market to set shop in by many world class audio manufacturers just like India remains a barren land as far as Rock Concerts are concerned. With a population of 1.20 billions - one sixth of the total world population, every sixth person in this Earth being an Indian - it is a pity just as India's dismal performance in Olympics - just One Gold medal in 50 years - whereas very small countries (population wise like Australia, Finland etc) grab a large number. Similarly in the field of scientific research - against dismal - 2 or 3 Nobel prizes since 1947. All this hype about India emerging as a Super Power is just a myth when one looks at the ground reality.

Something is seriously and drastically wrong with this country - the youth of this country know more about Bollywood films and actors than about say Mahatma Gandhi or India's heritage. The priorities of the government and the people are all topsy-turvy. So what can be expected other than this dismal state of affairs? One area where this country excels all other countries is Corruption and Crime. No other Nation can beat India there. Extremely sad but true.

 

[Audio Slave]

AMITNOIDA
(Re-posting with correction of a few spelling errors)

LIIVING IN THE STONE AGE

I do agree with some of what you say.....but all said and done, it does feel like living in the Stone Age here as far as availability of Hi-fi separates is concerned and many other things too...Because of the very low demand factor, India is not considered a worthwhile market to set shop in by many world class audio manufacturers just like India remains a barren land as far as Rock Concerts are concerned. With a population of 1.20 billions - one sixth of the total world population, every sixth person on this Earth being an Indian - it is a pity just as India's dismal performance in Olympics - just One Gold medal in 50 years - whereas very small countries (population wise like Australia, Finland etc) grab a very large number. Similarly in the field of scientific research - again dismal - only 2 or 3 Nobel prizes since 1947. All this hype about India emerging as a Super Power is just a myth when one looks at the ground reality.

Something is seriously and drastically wrong with this country - the youth of this country know more about Bollywood films and actors than about say Mahatma Gandhi or India's heritage. The priorities of the government and the people are all topsy-turvy. So what can be expected other than this dismal state of affairs? One area where this country excels all other countries is Corruption and Crime. No other Nation can beat India there. Extremely sad but true.

 

[askii2]

I do agree with some of what you say.....but all said and done, it does feel like living in the Stone Age here as far as availability of Hi-fi separates is concerned and many other things too...Because of the very low demand factor, India is not considered a worthwhile market to set shop in by many world class audio manufacturers

Don't worry, thanks to this forum among several other things, the awareness of audio is increasing exponentially. Some brands as has been mentioned in other threads are offering their products in India at equivalent rates compared to rest of the world (retail chain level discounts not to be taken into account).

 

[Audio Slave]

Don't worry, thanks to this forum among several other things, the awareness of audio is increasing exponentially. Some brands as has been mentioned in other threads are offering their products in India at equivalent rates compared to rest of the world (retail chain level discounts not to be taken into account).

Yes there is no harm in being optimistic. However the change is painfully slow like everything else in this country - such as bad roads and a very bad power supply situation.

 

[Audio Slave]

askii2

Of course this Forum is very useful and offers a glimmer of hope to the Hi-fi enthusiasts and music lovers in India...

 

[wlg]

Hi
In 2003 I bought a Meridian 8kg single cd player for approx Rs.55000/-, at that time I was told the player would outlive me, sadly after 5yrs of good service it developed a problem, no service engineer was willing to service it as it was too complicated to even open, I wrote to Meridian who told me the model was discontinued and had stopped manufacturing the defective IC, hence I gave it away as scrap, Meridian have now opened a showroom in Delhi a bit too late for me.
We can buy the most expensive equipment but as we know there is no guarantee on electronics which can fail anytime, after spending huge amounts we now have to make sure a service center is nearby.

 

[malvai]

Guys!

i feel that one can rave, rant on this issue all one wants, but the fact of the matter is that : ONE WILL NEVER HAVE SUCH OUTLETS IN ABUNDANCE.

I say this from purely a business perspective.

The fact is that even showrooms in big cities don't make the kind of money that business projections predict.

look at it from this example:

If I were to put up a showroom with just 2 brands - say B&W + Bryston
just getting their entire range would cost me over 2 Cr (At demo prices).

Then if want even one piece of each gear for sale, I'd need another say 2.5 cr.

Then there are warehousing costs amounting to atleast 50k per month or 6L per year.

Doing up the demo room / showroom would be another 4L.

Then there is rent for the said showroom in a decent place. If you're talking delhi mumbai this will conservatively amount to 75 pm or about 10L per annum.

Plus the staffing cost of (conservatively) Rs 30k pm or about 3.6 L.

Plus electricity and other misc expenses...

Once you add this all up one realises why the showroom charges you more than the MRP abroad.

A thing that is so detested by people here.

It also makes it prohibitive to acquire by the masses.

Hence very few people buy - even in big cities.

Unless, the buying power increases, i doubt that showrooms in smaller cities will ever become a reality. As it is not a realistic business proposition.

 

[akd]

@malvai
As I said you belong to a metro (or outskirts) so you can afford to think the business proposition which is a luxury for us! I am not asking for a showroom, just want to exist which is also tough, every product that I purchase literally I struggle if its not ebay, why? because there is no source near by and they are accumulated in Metros/big cities for justified reasons, what will serve the purpose at almost zero cost is

1.at least organize the distribution chain, keep show room wherever it suits you
2.Make it possible for an ordinary person like me from an ordinary place to buy properly through the website

Take example:

to get CA products one has to contact Delhi, ebay sells at a hefty prices

there is no way other than becoming a member of this thread to buy Rega products because they don't care about a web site forget about distribution,why this is happening? why the dealer don't care about beyond PUNE/MUMBAI?

how will one buy Pro-ject products, NOVA audio, again at the mercy of some dealer at Mumbai

How one will buy NAD products, again La-kozy, either Delhi or Mumbai

I hope you will agree with me that to buy a quality audio product we don't expect a person to become a member of this forum first

I have nothing against Metros but hope you understand how it feels when you want to properly buy something and drift in wilderness for weeks!!!!

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Unless, the buying power increases, i doubt that showrooms in smaller cities will ever become a reality. As it is not a realistic business proposition.

You are right.

There is a new KFC outlet just opened near me. Personally, I hate the stuff, but the point is that, like other fast-food joints, millions of people don't, and millions of people are wowed by the marketing. Setting up an outlet like that must be a major investment, but the whole point is --- they know they have a market.

A market is an irresistible thing: as and when it comes to exist here, the supply will certainly arise to meet the demand.

 

[stevieboy]

I agree with Malvai fully. That's the business economies of scale angle.

On the other hand, most Indian dealers/distributors don't know jack on how to actually increase their sales using all the modern technology available to market themselves to people who do not have physical access to their products. Then they sit and complain about low volumes. A vicious never gonna go anywhere circle.

I've had and am right now in the process of ordering something from abroad and am having a far far superior customer experience, than I could ever hope to from someone here in India.

Lucky all the stuff I'm interested in is only available abroad

 

[malvai]

I agree with Malvai fully. That's the business economies of scale angle.

On the other hand, most Indian dealers/distributors don't know jack on how to actually increase their sales using all the modern technology available to market themselves to people who do not have physical access to their products. Then they sit and complain about low volumes. A vicious never gonna go anywhere circle.

I've had and am right now in the process of ordering something from abroad and am having a far far superior customer experience, than I could ever hope to from someone here in India.

Lucky all the stuff I'm interested in is only available abroad

Man, the guys abroad... heck even the users who are selling old gear or vinyls, really understand customer service. they are so straight up and helpful, one can learn from them....

and yes, stevie, most indian dealers know jack shit about their own products. of all the dealers that i have interacted with, the only one who stands out in terms of transparency, knowledge, impartial advice and after sales service is - Grattan Vaz of Boomerang.

I wish there were more people like him around.

 

[deba]

Kolkata till date has no proper dealer in A/V with showroom and its a metropoliton city.........Once I went to a dealer for demo and it was a real circus to experience....
)