Can someone tell me did I just get scammed?

white_falcon

Hi lads,
I recently went into my local music store and was just browsing for a pair of new monitors to see what was in stock.

I havent a clue about monitors as I'm just getting into music tech lately. However, the guy in the shop said he had a pair of Roland DM10's that were 299, but he'd give them to me for 200.

I thought, hey, feck it 100 off sure il do it, and put down a deposit of 20 euros. However, after just checking up online, they don't retail for 299, and they're not even manufactured anymore. I've seen people selling them on American websites for $145...

So, can anyone tell me what the actual price of these is please?

Heres a link to them

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/document?doc_id=98038&src=3SOSWXXA

I just don't want to waste 200 euros on a pair of crap monitors

jtsuited

i've heard those things before. i think. it was some cheap roland monitors. Do not buy them.

You have been scammed. What you were doing believing music shop staff (particularly in Ireland) about what something retails for is beyond me.

200 euro is a good bit of money and is worth keeping in order to get a decent set of monitors. You cannot spend too much money on monitors. They are the most important thing in your studio setup, by far. Better off not impulse buying them.

white_falcon

yea typical...im curious to see how much they cost now though so i can go into the shop and just go "eh...how come they cost this much, but u just sold them to me under false pretenses for this..."

cornbb

I wouldn't say scammed, ripped-off would be more like it. But thats pretty much a universal problem when it comes to shopping for music equipment in Ireland. I'd do my best to get my deposit back if I was you. It definitely pays to research what you are buying in these cases, and the vast majority of the time it pays to buy online.

TelePaul

OP you're going to have to remember that a) musicians friend is an online retailer and b) prices in the US are notoriously lower than Ireland when it comes to almost any product. I just did a quick search and an American strat goes for $950 (dollars). They're 1300 euro here, and even if you get a cash discount you're still looking at 1150 or 1200. If you're going to compare online prices, check Thomann (American sites like sweet water and musicians freiend will be prone to VAT and import duty).

white_falcon

TelePaul wrote: »

OP you're going to have to remember that a) musicians friend is an online retailer and b) prices in the US are notoriously lower than Ireland when it comes to almost any product. I just did a quick search and an American strat goes for $950 (dollars). They're 1300 euro here, and even if you get a cash discount you're still looking at 1150 or 1200. If you're going to compare online prices, check Thomann (American sites like sweet water and musicians freiend will be prone to VAT and import duty).

yea i know its far cheaper to buy online - ie. thomann etc. its just when someone says il give you 100 quid off (1/3 of the price) i kind of thought, well hell, sure im sure they can't be that much cheaper to buy online. thomann dont even stock them, and all sites i've looked at don't sell them anymore. i think the price of 299 that he was selling them for may have been 5 years ago.

its basically like saying il sell you a keyboard that cost 500 euros 3 years ago for the same price now - technology decreases in price as it gets older. you can't sell people things based on their price a few years ago and then pretend that its a good deal...

im just glad i only put down 20 euros...

EDIT: I was just linking to musicians friend because it was a site that showed the ones that i was talkin about. i couldn't find anyone in ireland or europe that showed the price of them which was why i was asking here how much they should be and how much i should have been sold them for. they also tried to sell my a set of edirol monitors for 200 euros i think, when the exact same ones at 110 euros on thomann (delivered inc. vat)

empirix

TelePaul wrote: »

OP you're going to have to remember that a) musicians friend is an online retailer and b) prices in the US are notoriously lower than Ireland when it comes to almost any product. I just did a quick search and an American strat goes for $950 (dollars). They're 1300 euro here, and even if you get a cash discount you're still looking at 1150 or 1200. If you're going to compare online prices, check Thomann (American sites like sweet water and musicians freiend will be prone to VAT and import duty).

unless of course you get them to mark the item as a "gift" when sending it.

studiorat

empirix wrote: »

unless of course you get them to mark the item as a "gift" when sending it.

best time of the year for that carry on is right now...

If you pay duty on imports, shipping etc. there's not usually much difference.

Most Irish pro-audio dealers can match Thomann if you ask, it's also possible to get products on approval, to try them out before you buy. The only reason I'd buy a product on the internet is if it was not available here.
The problem is most people think a musical instrument shop is a pro audio dealer. Try Sensible music, NJM, Audio Warehouse, Future Sounds, Big Bear, Tyrell plus many more.

jtsuited

i think something to consider though is that while say guitars, or mics, or midi-controllers or whatever can easily be bought with this philosophy

ie. i'm in my favourite music shop and i see x mic for €100 off the normal price, I get it.

monitors should not.

They are not something to just buy because of the discount. Which in this case was a ridiculous one.

TelePaul

empirix wrote: »

unless of course you get them to mark the item as a "gift" when sending it.

Apparently Heathrow airport have employed a full-time guitar expert to ensure the values listed match the actual value of the item.

empirix

studiorat wrote: »

best time of the year for that carry on is right now...

If you pay duty on imports, shipping etc. there's not usually much difference.

I just bought Pro tools Mpowered and an M-Audio Axiom 25 key for €325 including shipping from the states, they marked it as a gift, i know it arrived in Ireland today, i hope it didnt go through heathrow with mr guitar expert there! But my point being is i saved about €150 + if bought with Thomann. That my friend is a big difference.

I bought a few things marked as a gift from the states and they all got through - its worth the risk!

studiorat

A big difference 'cause you didn't pay the duty...

I've bought mixing consoles, guitars, microphones from the states and GB and Europe, paid duty on some and not on others. If you get hit for the duty it evens it out a bit.

I bought a HD 2 rig last year, I thought about importing it but didn't, knowing that I can pitch it through the front window of the dealers if it lets me down is more comforting...

Personally I prefer to support local people and have some sort of a relationship with them, it works both ways, the dealers I deal with here will always give me a good price and a good line of credit.
I had the Pro-Tools for 3 months before any invoices were even sent, while waiting for some extra bits and pieces to come in, you won't get that online...

cornbb

Niall - Dahlia wrote: »

We allowed name and shame the shop here?

If the OP wants to thats ok with me, lets not have any witch hunts though.

white_falcon

cornbb wrote: »

If the OP wants to thats ok with me, lets not have any witch hunts though.

Palmers Waterford....

jimi_t

You've an Access Virus Ti and you're spending that litlte on monitors... Away with you and go buy a pair of Adam A7s !

white_falcon

jimi_t wrote: »

You've an Access Virus Ti and you're spending that litlte on monitors... Away with you and go buy a pair of Adam A7s !

lol...i know i know...i overspent buying the keyboard and then i realised i was broke...now i have to get crappyish monitors...

im looking at buying some for 300 euros, but they all seem crap for that price, u get what u pay for i suppose

at the moment im using my harmon kardon soundsticks and they sound class, but they're not exactly built for that purpose, so i think i may be damaging them at the moment by using them