Regarding SR's trade-up policy, it is clearly a good deal for those who have the cash and who want to purchase more than one new SR product. But it puts those on a modest budget in a bind.
Firstly, when SR brings out a new product to replace a current product the latter has already depreciated in value by a significant amount due to the new product being introduced. OK, this is normal. But then SR requires you to purchase a product twice the value of the one you want to trade-up for.
So, for instance, if you want to purchase the latest version of the PowerCell, you have to purchase $10,000 in SR products to take advantage of the SR trade-up program. Well, that's a lot of money for many of us. And what if the PowerCell is the only product you wish to purchase? You are left with having to sell your PowerCell off on the glutted aftermarket where the price of PowerCells has dropped drastically.
You are lucky to get much more than $2000 for a used PowerCell these days on Audiogon. But you are better off in the end because if you do get $2500 for your PowerCell you have to come up with $2500 for the new PowerCell instead of $6500 with SR. In the end, unless you are really hot on a new SR product besides the PowerCell, you are much better off not going the trade-up route. It is no gift to customers of modest means.
SR might want to consider two options to make their policy user friendly to audiophiles of modest means. They could introduce an upgrade policy for some of their products such as the PowerCell. They could formulate a policy that does not require the purchase of a product that is fully double the price of the new product a customer wishes to purchase.
In the end, a more "understanding" policy would end up being be a win-win situation. It would not be as profitable for SR but it would come back to them in volume to make up for the lower mark-up. Most importantly, it would sow the seeds of goodwill. This act of generosity would be appreciated by many audiophiles and would end up bringing many happy customers to SR that they would not otherwise have seen. And, over time, the results would naturally be compounded.
These suggestions are meant to be helpful.
Firstly, when SR brings out a new product to replace a current product the latter has already depreciated in value by a significant amount due to the new product being introduced. OK, this is normal. But then SR requires you to purchase a product twice the value of the one you want to trade-up for.
So, for instance, if you want to purchase the latest version of the PowerCell, you have to purchase $10,000 in SR products to take advantage of the SR trade-up program. Well, that's a lot of money for many of us. And what if the PowerCell is the only product you wish to purchase? You are left with having to sell your PowerCell off on the glutted aftermarket where the price of PowerCells has dropped drastically.
You are lucky to get much more than $2000 for a used PowerCell these days on Audiogon. But you are better off in the end because if you do get $2500 for your PowerCell you have to come up with $2500 for the new PowerCell instead of $6500 with SR. In the end, unless you are really hot on a new SR product besides the PowerCell, you are much better off not going the trade-up route. It is no gift to customers of modest means.
SR might want to consider two options to make their policy user friendly to audiophiles of modest means. They could introduce an upgrade policy for some of their products such as the PowerCell. They could formulate a policy that does not require the purchase of a product that is fully double the price of the new product a customer wishes to purchase.
In the end, a more "understanding" policy would end up being be a win-win situation. It would not be as profitable for SR but it would come back to them in volume to make up for the lower mark-up. Most importantly, it would sow the seeds of goodwill. This act of generosity would be appreciated by many audiophiles and would end up bringing many happy customers to SR that they would not otherwise have seen. And, over time, the results would naturally be compounded.
These suggestions are meant to be helpful.