restocking fees

The two remaining dealers in my area will check out a piece of demo equipment for a home audition. Screw that waiting for something that is being shipped. I'll take the local dealer first over mail order.

Aren't you then limited only to the brands that your local dealer sells? Numerous manufacturers sell direct: Wright, Welborne, Tyler, Zu, Moscode.... So I hear that you would rather not wait for their products to ship, but I'm confused as to what that has to do with paying re-stocking fees to hear a product that you cannot get locally?

Obviously, it costs the manufacturer money to box, ship, track, converse via e-mail, receive the product back into inventory, converse again via e-mail, and then refund the money if there is no sale. I'll never understand the expectation that they should do all of this for free. I don't work for free, so why should they?

Thanks for clarifying that, Jea48. Sorry for my confusion.

He isn't worried about getting screwed or feeling sorry for himself for maybe working for free, and he's not counting pennies thinking about a restocking fee. That's a real sales person!

No, that's an accommodating chump who ain't gonna be around long. Would they sell more product without a re-stocking fee? Not enough to offset the loss of providing free trials to the customers who expect them to work for free. Those are known as "D customers", those that cost you money every time you do business with them. And they will ruin your business.

Wilson Audio, McIntosh, B&W, and others did not become mainstays in the industry by giving things away. Just as most of us buy with our wallets, they too must repeatedly check theirs...or they are gone. Some manufacturers enter the market with free trials for a period of time, but few will make it if they continue that way. It's not pennies given away. It's far more than that. It costs them big dollars, as well as the fact that would-be customers come to praise them primarily for being willing to give away freebies. In the end, such a reputation is not good for business.

There are many roads to success. Plenty of dealers and some manufacturers offer in home trials with no restocking fees. Others charge, and If you are willing to pay them that's great!

I completely agree.

On the other hand, I'm willing to bet that the majority of folks who protest a re-stocking fee aren't buying anyways unless they first establish that the product can be had at a significant discount. In this case, they are not the type of customer who can contribute to the growth of a business. They are good PR ONLY when they are given something for free.

We are not talking about taking a salesman's time. Most salespeople don't own the business, and they have nothing to do with steering the ship. We are talking about when the salesman OWNS the business. If a salesman isn't good at his job, two months of measly pay will force him to look elsewhere for a better paying job. However, if an owner gives away his time and product without enabling himself to offset his costs, he too will have to look elsewhere, with failed company in tow.

From your initial post:

More high end manufacturers are selling direct and offering home auditions

Not one of the companies you mention in your last post is a high end manufacturer.