Yes folks. You heard me right. Yan ang na-eexperience namin ngayon dito sa Sydney. Just a few months ago, a major music shop chain "Allans and Billy Hyde" was foreclosed due to financial problems. Jackson's Rare Guitars, one of the best vintage/hi end guitar shop here in Sydney is also now closed.
When I arrive here in 2007, guitar shops agad ang hinanap ko and there were plenty around the CBD and Annandale area. Though prices are more expensive than US/Canada prices (a new Fender American Deluxe Tele is $1700 in the US while the negotiable price tag here is $2400), there's a wide selection of guitars, amps and gadgets you can choose from.
Now all that is left are smaller guitar stores. They don't stock high end equipment but rather cheap epiphones, squires, ibanez and the likes. Kung meron mang mamahaling gitara, you can look but not try it. These shops don't have much customers even on weekends but most of their sales are done online, thru ebay or other websites.
The Australian economy is doing much better than the US nowadays. Before the exchange rate was about 90 AU cents to an American dollar, today it's the other way around. I think the Philippine peso is rallying towards a better exchange rate against the dollar. A lot of Aussies would rather buy from the US and wait for a couple of weeks than go to a local music store due to the savings of buying online.
I think these are the signs
- We'll have to rely on other people for reviews and demo videos over the internet
- Fewer local music shops if not none, though stocks will be limited or per order basis
- If you want a high quality instrument, you'll have to trust the description and photos posted online by the seller
- You cannot test the guitar in the shop unless you are a valued customer or known personality
- Cheap and fake/imitation guitars will be wide spread (this is already happening)
- Resale value of guitars will go down drastically even for high end ones
I'm glad that music stores in the Philippines still stock better equipment but in a few years time we will follow other countries. Sulit, ebay.ph and the classifieds here are the starting point. Once we pinoys are comfortable with online trading/use of credit card, we will follow suit.
news link
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/strings-attached-as-guitar-store-goes-under-20121217-2bjai.html
buti nga sa inyo sa Sydney ganyan lang ang difference sa US prices. it's higher sa ibang states. tapos limited pa ang pagpipilian.
ganyan talaga ang nangyayari ngayon, pati din naman sa ibang bansa. maraming "pinatay" ang internet.
you'd also have to take into consideration Australian business laws na mas stricto sa US. this is also aside from Australia having the highest wages in the world (high cost of living din)
pinaka masarap na panahon ng E-commerce ay noong late 90s or early 2000s. doon talaga kahit ano mabibili mo basta mabayaran mo. eh ngayon, may mga trade agreements. may mga websites sa, say US, na hindi nagshiship sa, say, Australia. although hindi pa din probihitive dahil marami rami pa din ang willing to ship. you'd just have to find them.
I believe na once maging very common ang online selling, baka pag interesan na yan ng gobyerno. dati more than a sum of 1000 dollars ang pwede mong bilin at iparating sa Auspost na hindi ka matatax. ngayon ata 900+ na lang.
pati damit at groceries online na din. and even my friend buys his toilet paper online.
mas mahala talag sa Aus, kaya mas makakatipid ka sa online purchase. im sure there will be ways around that later.
I know of someone who owns his own lot, and building, he lives there but the first floor is his shop. family owned. wala siyang renta. tumutulong ang family niya. so he's capable of competition.
siguro panahon lang yan before a solution comes up. malay natin, sa sobrang dadami later ang mag oonline purchase, then mas lalaki at mas magiging makulay ang black market (ie. gumtree)
now kung iilang thousand dollars lang ang pinag uusapan, some australians would rather have a custom guitar made, starting with highly selected wood and materials. kung dadaigin lang ng local made ang foreign guitars. bakit ka pa mag foreign if local is WAY better? Perry Ormsby has been making killer guitars for so long na. He even made one for a Quiet Riot member.
He even helps people become self sufficient by conducting guitar making classes, refret and redressing courses, pickup making classes. if you're able to build a guitar , im sure it will be easier to maintain guitars. he conducts these classes all over Australia (base from what i saw in the facebook wall posts)
as for me, under the conditions you've mentioned, when the time comes na you'd really want a good guitar, kailangan na talaga ng planning. like another friend of mine, he lives in Sydney. pinagplanuhan niya talaga.
tiniming niya sa trip niya to the US. pinag ipunan, para malaki ang budget and may range siya. he was able to find what he liked. happy siya.
