Is it me, or has the price of amps really gone up in the last 4-5 years?

[Guest Guest]

Fender, Mesa, Vox, Marshall...I was looking at prices and I swear they're 20% higher then they were last time I checked.

 

[hcprimerib]

everything else has gone up in price: gasoline, utilities, food. I wonder why amp prices have went up? hmm, never saw that coming.

[HKSblade2]

Everything is going up. Just finished a seminar for instance that discussed these very things. Most of what is happening is merely technology in place. That technology has an immediate cost to ANY business, however that technology used reduces need for more employees. CT is another huge impactor on mid wage jobs.

Parts companies, warehouses are all moving to automation. The upfront automation costs will have to be recovered before the $ starts to really show margins they expect. depending upon the scale of the automation, those companies will hike their prices.

Parts shoppers, new builders are all getting their parts online. They can get automated quotes without havin to talk to a salesman during regular business hours.

I was talking to an automotive parts supplier than went LSA. Large scale automation. He went from having 65 employees to 17. In the new age of healthcare, higher payroll taxes this IS the trend.

 

This affects the amp designer in much the same way. Immediately, they see the higher prices of their own inventory and shipping which they must pass on to the retail side of their product. At the same time, they might be rescaling their business as well (at a cost) and market their product respective to new costs etc. 

 

Off to catch another flight!