"Skipp the wait-list price"?

The number of Axe-Fx III units being offered on seller sites is naturally quite low right now, but the number of FAS products overall sold on the gray market is quite large, especially in Russia, India, Turkey, Brazil, and China.
 
I don't see FAS being grilled here. The skip the wait list price is a business decision and personally I don't care because I'm not yet even on the list. The fact that units are resold worldwide is a direct result of their own decision to initally make the unit available in the US only.
 
I don’t see the “Skip the line” proce as a big deal either.... From the perspective of FAS, it increases customer satisfaction since you’re allowing people to get units quicker and still have them under warranty. And the extra income presumably makes the company stronger which leads to more support / R&D which in turn also creates increased customer satisfaction.

Solid business decision.
 
ChristThePhone said:
I don't see FAS being grilled here. The skip the wait list price is a business decision and personally I don't care because I'm not yet even on the list. The fact that units are resold worldwide is a direct result of their own decision to initally make the unit available in the US only.
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I am not going to continue to dignify the crybaby attitudes here. Done here! Whatever you say, after all, you are in charge............
 
ChristThePhone said:
I don't see FAS being grilled here. The skip the wait list price is a business decision and personally I don't care because I'm not yet even on the list. The fact that units are resold worldwide is a direct result of their own decision to initally make the unit available in the US only.
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As well as having an archaic distribution method based on unique importer/dealers per regions (giving them the monopole of pricing), when Fractal could directly sell the unit worldwide -- mainly today in an Internet era with international shipping companies that can already take care of all customs/importation process. If people could order directly, the whole grey market wouldn't exist...
 
I went to the Fractal site this morning to see if the AX8 was available (convinced my Son to buy one) and saw they were on back order. Checked the AXE/FX III for grins and first I thought they had raised the price to $3500 (WTF), but after reading further I said to myself - what a brilliant move. Offer it to the customer who cannot wait, he/she gets the unit with warranty, and Fractal makes an extra $1K profit and essentially "fixes the scalpers wagon". Figured there would be a doozie of a thread about this. I am still in awe of my AX8. No desire for anything more.
 
Spidouz said:
As well as having an archaic distribution method based on unique importer/dealers per regions (giving them the monopole of pricing), when Fractal could directly sell the unit worldwide -- mainly today in an Internet era with international shipping companies that can already take care of all customs/importation process. If people could order directly, the whole grey market wouldn't exist...
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This is known as a customer service driven distribution model. We put our customer's satisfaction ahead of profit margin. If a unit goes down in China the owner would need to ship it back to the US for service. With regional distributors the service is done locally resulting in rapid turnaround. Furthermore no one here speaks Chinese or German or Spanish or Portuguese etc. Our distributors do and can assist the customers in their native language. Tour support is also important. Sometimes a touring band needs a loaner unit or other service which would be impossible to do remotely.
 
FractalAudio said:
This is known as a customer service driven distribution model. We put our customer's satisfaction ahead of profit margin. If a unit goes down in China the owner would need to ship it back to the US for service. With regional distributors the service is done locally resulting in rapid turnaround. Furthermore no one here speaks Chinese or German or Spanish or Portuguese etc. Our distributors do and can assist the customers in their native language. Tour support is also important. Sometimes a touring band needs a loaner unit or other service which would be impossible to do remotely.
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I speak portuguese. Can I work with you? ;):D
 
Personally I'd prefer to have the freedom of choice. Order in the US and pay for service here in Europe or order at G66 and get their stellar service for free but I understand that could be a hassle on your end.
 
FractalAudio said:
This is known as a customer service driven distribution model. We put our customer's satisfaction ahead of profit margin. If a unit goes down in China the owner would need to ship it back to the US for service. With regional distributors the service is done locally resulting in rapid turnaround. Furthermore no one here speaks Chinese or German or Spanish or Portuguese etc. Our distributors do and can assist the customers in their native language. Tour support is also important. Sometimes a touring band needs a loaner unit or other service which would be impossible to do remotely.
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Yep, that's what I said... archaic vision of a modern world.
Ironic when it comes from a company that makes some modern leading edge technology products.
 
ChristThePhone said:
"Skipp the wait-list price"?
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To save others the visit to another part of the thread, you said:

ChristThePhone said:
Personally I'd prefer to have the freedom of choice. Order in the US and pay for service here in Europe or order at G66 and get their stellar service for free but I understand that could be a hassle on your end.
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This covers US and Europe. What about China? South America, etc, etc...

Fractal would need to be dealing with all sorts of minutia regarding shipping, returns, taxes, import duties, warranties, etc.

It just isn't practical...
 
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Admittedly I'm an engineer and have little to no clue of running an international business. I just see how local music stores like Thomann (the EU version of Sweetwater) evolved from little Ma&Pa store in a little village into Europe's biggest dealer shipping worldwide.
 
ChristThePhone said:
Admittedly I'm an engineer and have little to no clue of running an international business. I just see how local music stores like Thomann (the EU version of Sweetwater) evolved from little Ma&Pa store in a little village into Europe's biggest dealer shipping worldwide.
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Yes... But their focus is different. They are strictly a retailer of products that others manufacture.
 
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