I made a recent trip to Guitar Center to pick up a replacement MBox 2 and thought I’d share some info with you.  Guitar Center and Musicians Friend are one and the same.  Guitar Center will match Musicians Friend prices… but, if you weren’t aware,  they might be able to do a bit better.

Here is how the deal works:

Everything is commission based at GC. There are two ways they make commission. They get a small commission from their gross sales (like 1%) and they get a large commission from the profit they make (like 10%)–these numbers may vary a bit, but you get the point. Now how is “profit” calculated? Every item has what you might call a “wholesale price”–this is known as GIP (which stands for something but I don’t remember what) (It is pronounced “jip”.) Anyway, GC will never go below the GIP(unless the item is dammaged or something weird).

The “guaranteed lowest price” is a certain % above the GIP. This % varies quite a bit. Some items are over 50% GIP, while some (especially during some super sale) may only be 5% above GIP–but the vast majority of stuff has a profit of 15-30%.

All prices at GC are negotiable to a point. Some (few) items have a minimum price set on them by the computer–not much you can do. Some salespeople (especially the older guys who have lots of regular customers that buy from them)like to get a lot of profit–not much you can do here either. Also, if you are getting a loan from GC (No interest till X) you have to take the guranteed lowest price.

Generally, if you buy lots of stuff, you can easily 10% above GIP–which is usually pretty good price. GC employees often refer to 10% above GIP as the “Pro Discount”.

The lowest price that you can possibly get from anyone ever will be 5% above GIP.

If you want a good deal at Guitar Center, be nice, buy a lot of stuff, and tell them (when you are ready to buy) that you want to pay 10% GIP. Make them show you the screen (look for “GIP 10%”).

If they won’t or claim that they can’t, don’t believe it.

By the way, virtually every GC in the country can sell gear from the inventory of virtually any other GC in the country, which can be delivered anywhere in the country.

If they guys at your local GC are giving you the runaround (or playing “hardball”), go to the other GC locations in your area, or call up as many GC locations as you like (from around the country) and pick the one with the lowest price and have them sell you the gear from the inventory of your local Guitar Center–where it will be waiting for you to pick it up. In this situation, the GC employees at your local GC do all the work, while the GC employees in some other state get the profit. This will chap the hide of your local GC employees–be sure to tell them that you would buy from them, but they aren’t playing straight with you. Tell them to show you the GIP.

By the way, certain items make a small profit anyway, so 10% GIP might not save you that much. Examples: Mackie mixers and HR824s, most PA equipment, etc.

The time when an honest 10% GIP will save you a bundle is if you are buying lots of accessory type items (like the cheap mike cables).

By the way, you might wonder–if I can get 10% GIP, why can’t I get 5% GIP?

The answer is that you can–but at this point, you are ripping off the GC salesperson (in my opinion). Think of it this way: When you eat at a resturant, you give a 15% tip to the food salesperson. At GC, getting 10% of GIP will (typically) give the salesperson 2% of your total purchase. If you buy a $1000 worth of stuff, the salesperson gets $20. In order to make $100 per day, the salesperson would need to sell $5000 worth of gear every day.

Now, selling $5000 a day on the weekend may not be that big of a deal–but monday thru thursday, it isn’t easy to sell that much stuff.

If you still want to get 5%, you will be most likely to get it if you are buying a few thousand dollars worth of stuff from a semi-junior salesperson at the end of the month–especially if the month doesn’t end on a weekend.

Also, GC employees like you to use credit cards (cash is a pain on serialized items–which is pretty much anything over $100.)

I hope this helps you save a bit of money.  Make sure you take care of the Guitar Center guys and they will take care of you!

Justin Kaiser
Creative Identity Group