Please, wheres the best site for online purchases of Alpine headunits? I've searched, and found some competative prices, but is there a "known" site that offers Alpine for the best price? Any experienced buyers reading this? I need a HU that is simple, dont care for IPOD, MP3 or other. I just dont want to sacrifice sound for entry level price. Thanks.........

Erick

 

PM Darkknight (John)....He is a sponsor and can hook you up.

 

Dunno. Is Alpine known to price-fix? Some companies (Apple *cough*) force their authorized dealers to sell for a fixed price. Other places that sell the same goods who are not "authorized" will have you hanging without a warranty - though I think this practice should be illegal.

The safest bet would be Crutchfield - but they aren't the cheapest. Can't beat their support and I have nothing but good things to say about them. When I ordered for my car (Camry) they gave me everything - unit, harness, wiring instructions. Most other places will give you the box and a swat on the ass on the way to the register.

If you insist on shopping by price, try to find out if the site you are dealing with is an authorized dealer. Or shop for last year's (2005) models which are being discounted. Then come here and ask about them. Also: check Google and Google groups to see if there are lots of complaints about that particular seller. Do not rely only on the number of "stars" a store has on a comparison shopping site - some places found out how to scam this.

 

any amazingly low price will undoubtedly be from an unauthorized dealer. If you go this route, kiss any Alpine warranty good bye! If you go this route (dont care about warranty, and price is the highest priority), just go to eBay!

If you want to stay wiht authorized sites, go to www.shopzilla.com. They pull prices from any number of sponsored site (kinda like amazon, but also pull from Circuit City, Best Buy, etc).

Also, Sonicelectronix.com isnt bad (had 1 bad experience, but that was due to an item out of stock.......just call and ask for availability as they do not update the website often). Also try www.ikesound.com. Only used them once, but all their stuff is like 50% off.

Dave: I dont think John is an authorized Alpine dealer yet. Last time I spoke with him, he was in the process of getting authorization. When he does get authorized, he will be able to ellaborate on pricing. Most large brands have an "employee purchase" program. They usually charge Cost + %. I usually see cost + 10% (Normal....but alpine may be different).

Thanks

John

 

i got mine at

http://www.etronics.com/

 

Yup I'm not an Alpine dealer YET but its coming

 

Thanks!

Erick

 

It's generally known in the industry at MAP or Minimuum Advertised Price. They don't force you to sell at a "fixed price" per se, they just won't co-op you if you're not in compliance.

 

Yes and no. Most people who sell for below MSRP are doing so without the permission of the manufacturer. This is undoubtedly against their operations agreement that was signed upon becoming a dealer. You can find prices below the MAP, but its not with the permission of the manufacturer, and if the manufacturer learned about this, the person could lose their dealer status.

Most people on eBay have dummy corporations setup and run multiple sale / loss transactions to get the cost down to the appropriate figure to sell at a gain. That way, even if the manufacturer discovers of the low price, as long as they initially "sold" it at an acceptable amount from the dealer corporation, nothing can happen. The thing is that "technically" the warranty will be void upon receipt, as they are "technically" second hand goods (even though they have never been opened). This is why these sites offer their own warranties (the product is returned to the dummy corporation, and that corporation, which was the initial purchaser, files a claim on the original warranty, as if they had never re-sold it.

TRICKY TRICKY, but it works.

John

 

Yup. Best Buy, Good Guys, Silo and Circuit City were the best things to ever happen to companies like Sony.

Before that, you had mini-chains and mom & pop companies that dealt with products and discounts were commonplace and expected. Even Circuit City sold below MSRP when they first opened.

After the smaller chains were run out of business, suddenly these big chains were the only easy way to get big-name goods, and all these goods were now sold for MSRP. The only time you will see sales at these chains is when the manufacturer condones it - and the sale price is the same at all the chains.

This, extended warranties and the rebate crap have made shopping for electronics excruciating.