Piano World Home Page Forums Our Most Popular Forums Digital Pianos - Electronic Pianos - Synths & Keyboards Kawai Price Increase....Again??

I just called my local Kawai dealer. He has a CN29 for $1900-ish and the CA49 for $2300-ish. Stated there is a BIG price increase on April 1. The CA49 going up to almost $3k. Did a quick search on here and there was a price increase this same time last year. YIKES!

So I'm either going to grab a CN29 or a CA49 later today. Which one?? Hmmm.......

Inflation stinks!

Marcus

Is this your ‘only’ Kawai local dealer? You’d be surprised how much money driving a few miles out of your local-comfort can sometimes save you.

Now, I’m not very familiar with Kawai pricing, and perhaps you don’t have another Kawai dealer within a decent driving distance, so it’s your call.

I wonder if a certain ‘Kawai official’ could shed some light on this massive increase taking place on April Fools’ day; after all, we are talking about a $700 increase for the CA49 ($3,000).

It’s not a hoax, check Kraft music’s website. They also say that there’s a price hike coming.

I’m not going to get into another ‘free-market/price gouging’ debate; y’all can decide for yourselves; who knows, it might end up being all of the above: a free market with a gouging loophole built into it.

But I digress, and I’m not discussing this any further past this post (I’ve been having nightmares about $12,900 + $495), and my final advise to those who can’t circumvent/negotiate is to simply wait, wait, wait!

Patience is a virtue, and if I have to wait till I’m dead for that there N3 to come down to a reasonable price, then, so be it, I will die a’ waitin’!

Yes, Yamaha is also ‘raising’ their prices come April 1st, and the timing couldn’t be better, for it is an April fools’ joke at the expense of those who can’t wait (or better-negotiate).

Call around and you might get some test pricing. Especially online stores.

An Australian Kawai dealer (Carlingford Music) last week also advised me of a recent 10% price increase.

The last price increase was just a year ago- a 5% increase.

I can just hear my retirement investment account getting smaller each day due to its loss of purchasing power. Inflation is the most insidious tax there is. I think a CA49 will be purchased today!
Marcus

Remember, when all dealers are advertising the same price it's likely that the manufacturer included a Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) clause in the dealer contract. The MAP clause works as it seems, it specifies the minimum price that any dealer can put in their advertising but does not limit what the dealer can actually sell for. You must contact the dealers individually to see what the actual sale price is.

Some will still insist on MAP while others will be lower. If the dealer insists on the MAP price then ask them if it's the MAP price. If they know that you know what MAP is they may do better on the price or they may not. I bought my new CA99 in November for over a thousand dollars less than the advertised pricing by just calling around.

The First Rule of Negotiations is "If you don't ask you'll never get it." If you ask and you do not get what you asked for all you've lost is a few minutes of your time.

Nobody knows what a seller's motivations are. If you ask for a lower price and they refuse, they may still counter-offer with an acceptable price.

Ray

I agree with this in principle, but you have to be careful how to “ask;” because if the dealer senses that you’re simply asking ‘cause that’s what people do, he will call your ‘bluff,’ and perhaps even act as if you’ve somehow offended him/her.

You need to be assertive in your ‘ask,’ and pose it more like a statement and less like a question.

Also, please contain your excitement, and act as if you couldn’t care less; because, once again, they’re sizing you up from the minute you walk in, and if they sense weakness, they will not lower the price for that N3X from 17K, and then they will ‘act’ like they don’t need your business when in reality they are desperate for it.

Also, don’t be afraid to call them out on their BS; of course, do this politely and with a smile on your face; but still, if needed, let them know that you know how it works. (Especially, the MSRP scam).

The instrument is no where near the MSRP of $22,899.00, but many dealers, sensing your greenness, will act like they’re already giving you a massive discount ($5,899) for that there N3X; when in reality it is not worth more than $12K in my book, and if we consider inflation, perhaps no more than 14K at the moment.

I would not personally pay more than 12K, so that means I’ll be waitin’ for inflation to deflate!

Deflation, won't happen Pete14.

You could get 24 ES110s for that . . .or 2 B300 silents if you negotiated heavily . .

+1. I mean +10%, pardon me.

Agreed. That's why I called all over. There was no body language they could assess and it's a lot easier to walk away by just sayin "OK, thanks for your time" and pressing End Call. The dealer, unless you're a known repeat customer, simply sees you as a sale. If you don't pay their asking price, someone else will.

This works better on the higher-end stuff because that customer pool is more limited.

I do not know how well the "end of the month" tactic works in the music industry but it does work in others. Salespeople may be paid their bonus on a monthly basis so they may cut the price at the end of the month if it qualifies them for their bonus, or at least gets them closer to qualifying as the month comes to a close. As stores come to the end of their fiscal year, usually the end of the calendar year in the USA, they're facing a larger tax bill on their inventory. If they can sell more of the inventory in the last few months their overall tax bill can decrease. I used to buy a lot of IT equipment in the very last week of December.

Ray

Well, we should wait for Pete14 to pay the difference if inflation happens then...

I think he said he’d rather die than pay more. Of all methods of escaping inflation, death is the most effective.

Sounds like a wise man's advice who has seen it all. Just wondering if we all should follow Pete14 lead?

You mean die? We’ll all follow his lead, eventually. Imagine the hundreds of years of inflation we’ll avoid when we’re in our graves. Still, no musical instruments and no music, that’s hard to accept.

You mean +100%. Or you wanted to say +0,1

Deflation in digital piano could occur. I mean, general inflation is there (and it could get bigger), but digital piano could be something not essential, and the demand could decrease because people will have to face inflation in other items.
Shops with stocks, 2nd hand sellers will have to sell it the sooner the better.
There are a lot of "if", but who knows. May be in 2 months time I will sell mine for 1 kg of mashed potatoes.....
On the other hand, if you salary follow the inflation, who care... And I could buy a grand with a 10 years fixed loan, and thanks to a soaring inflation and my fixed rate, I will repay it at lower price..... A kind of deflation...

Inflation hits the savers the hardest. All the money in my 401k becomes worth less (hopefully not worthless)!