Would you pay to audition speakers

In retrospect, I can think of one instance in which it might be fair to charge for an audition: If one is asking a dealer to either order something from a line that he doesn't ordinarily carry or bring in an expensive reference piece from a line he does carry but will have to front the money himself, then I can understand his being concerned that if the sale doesn't go through, he might have to offer the item at a heavy discount in order to move it.

After reading all your posts I've decided to pass on the 500.00 audition. I'm going to buy speakers that I can audition for free. I did call the company that produces the speaker in question. They told me that they dropped that dealer due to his business practices. When I told him about the 500.00 audition he wasn't surprised.

Taters, you are in LA or Southern California, aren't you? It'd be valuable to know the name of the dealer to avoid wasting time in his store. Email me privately if you prefer.

It depends. In a store enviroment, absolutely not. Now if the dealer delivered the speakers to your house, and help set every thing up for a home auditionm, then I could see the dealer charging a fee, for his time and effort. Of course, one would expect that if the individual bought the speakers, that the fee would be applied to the cost of the speakers.

I have been in sales all my life and I wish I had a dollar for every time somebody said they were just looking and left with the item in tow. Put a god presentation together with a nice friendly, caring, helping attitude and you can turn lookers into buyers. It happens everyday.