So I have a question: was the purchase price for the piano here below its actual, real, factual cost to the dealer? If so, how can dealer manage to do this? Or is it like the car industry, in which cars are sold below "invoice?" Selling a car for less than it actually cost the dealer to purchase it clearly cannot happen in real life, which must mean that the "invoice" includes dollar amounts that are in addition to the actual cost to the dealer. In this case, if the pianos are being sold for less than half of the MSRP, doesn't it follow that the manufacturers are actually charging the dealers less than half of the MSRP to buy the pianos?
I apologize if this was raised and answered earlier in this thread, but I do not have the energy to read all of the pages of prior posts, especially now that it seems clear that there is a lot of inflammatory surplusage included on those pages.
I am privy to both the real wholesale prices and MSRPs from almost all manufacturers. Some manufacturer severely inflate their MSRP while other are more resonable. There is no real relationship between MSRP and dealer cost. In almost all cases, the actual selling prices are significantly lower than the MSRP (Steinway excluded).
For the best guide (and to see who has abnormally high MSRPs), go to
Piano Buyer and read the pricing information about MSRPs, Larry's "SMP" (Suggested Maximum Price), and how to calculate a reasonable "street price". His guidance isn't perfect, but it is quite good, and Ive seen nothing better.
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