tangramca, actually I am a former (recovering) dealer. If I had the answer to your question I would probably still be a dealer today.
In the 1970s and into the 80s there used to be dealers like you describe; I worked for one in the 1970s. But the high-end audio industry is a very different animal today. For one thing, much of the product available on the high-end is manufactured on a very small scale - one step away from a cottage industry. These shops cannot handle dealing with a multitude of dealers, nor are most dealers setup to coordinate with an infinite amount of manufacturers.
Another reason: in the 1970s and 1980s, most audio products were manufactured by large, (mostly) financially secure companies. Today there is a plethora of products, including well considered high-end products being manufactured in someone's garage. There's nothing wrong with that, but almost anyone who has attended a major audio show could agree that "are there too many audio products available" is a valid question.
I don't think that the Rolex analogy works well. Rolex devices are typically sourced through importers (aka distributors), and Rolex doesn't change models or features often. Also, if Rolex purchased by a shop doesn't sell it can be stored and resold much later at a higher cost as a "classic" product. Even if a dealer could afford to adopt a buy and hold strategy (almost none can), this has not proved to be largely not true for audio products, with the exception of NOS tubes.
Despite what others think. I'm not defending the current status quo as the best system. But in reality it's the system we have and I don't believe it's going to change anytime soon. But as I wrote before, if any of you has a better business plan please put it into motion and let's see how the audio community supports it. Please advise us when you setup your GoFundMe page.
In the 1970s and into the 80s there used to be dealers like you describe; I worked for one in the 1970s. But the high-end audio industry is a very different animal today. For one thing, much of the product available on the high-end is manufactured on a very small scale - one step away from a cottage industry. These shops cannot handle dealing with a multitude of dealers, nor are most dealers setup to coordinate with an infinite amount of manufacturers.
Another reason: in the 1970s and 1980s, most audio products were manufactured by large, (mostly) financially secure companies. Today there is a plethora of products, including well considered high-end products being manufactured in someone's garage. There's nothing wrong with that, but almost anyone who has attended a major audio show could agree that "are there too many audio products available" is a valid question.
I don't think that the Rolex analogy works well. Rolex devices are typically sourced through importers (aka distributors), and Rolex doesn't change models or features often. Also, if Rolex purchased by a shop doesn't sell it can be stored and resold much later at a higher cost as a "classic" product. Even if a dealer could afford to adopt a buy and hold strategy (almost none can), this has not proved to be largely not true for audio products, with the exception of NOS tubes.
Despite what others think. I'm not defending the current status quo as the best system. But in reality it's the system we have and I don't believe it's going to change anytime soon. But as I wrote before, if any of you has a better business plan please put it into motion and let's see how the audio community supports it. Please advise us when you setup your GoFundMe page.
