Taylor 214ce for $xxx? Anyone ever used HelloMusic.com?

[ebick]

I saw it on FaceBook and just peeked to check it out.  They are certainly not giving anything away, but it does look like they have very good deals.  It's a high pressure thing.....limited quantities, here's the deal, buy it now or it's gone.  But for example, today, you could get a Taylor 214ce for $xxx.  I measure against GC who I have found to be fairly market and they offer it at $xxxx.  I thought they might get you on hidden costs, so I took it just one step further.  It says $9 to ship it.



edited for no pricing rule--please PM all prices--thank you!

[Brian Swerdfeger @ Taylor]

FYI - HelloMusic is not an authorized Taylor dealer and any guitar purchased from them will not be covered under our warranty.

We do not sell to HelloMusic, so they are buying guitars from somewhere and re-selling at a loss.

Hope this helps!

B

[dkoloff]

FYI - HelloMusic is not an authorized Taylor dealer and any guitar purchased from them will not be covered under our warranty.

We do not sell to HelloMusic, so they are buying guitars from somewhere and re-selling at a loss.

Hope this helps!

B

Brian,

So how do they get their inventory and why sell at loss? Loss Leader for other guitar sales?

[Jannie]

It's possible they aren't real Taylors but pretty exact looking copies (but that doesn't mean it has to play good or has a good neck or that the Sitka top was a piece of wood that was worth more than going into a $50 guitar but what the heck, no one will notice it once they put the braces in huh), a friend manufactures in China an there are other companies there who copy his stuff, and then actually use his very photographs from ads on the internet to sell it as if the same-but it's not. I don't know how anyone would get away with that in the US but if they are not an authorized dealer, something is weird because there are authorized dealrs all over the country.

In the photograpghy industry of which I am much more familiar, copying is huge, SanDisc memory cards costing often hundreds are copied and sold on ebay all the time, and the forums get all kinds of people bemoaning cards they bought off ebay and they only have about half the memory that they paid for. This copy thing is big business in China and a real problem and I don't think the Chinese government does anything to disuade it.

I don't know about these guitars but the general rule is if something smells fishy (like no factory backing/warranty) or if the deal is too good to believe, then it probably is not for real. Buyer beware.

[ebick]

I'm wondering the same.  For the record, I posted about the Taylor just because of the relevance here.  It's the only one I have seen them offer.  Their stuff is very random, and I'm not really in the market for anything, but occassionally something will catch my eye and I will want to "validate"  their pricing.  So far, as I have said, I have found them to be "comfortably" below the main-stays.

[Brian Swerdfeger @ Taylor]

They seem to be buying guitars from our authorized dealers for the same price you would expect to pay, and then putting them on their site and selling them for a loss.

I think they are doing this to get you and your data - I would not be surprised if they later sell the data to a bigger fish.

[michaelw]

They seem to be buying guitars from our authorized dealers for the same price you would expect to pay, and then putting them on their site and selling them for a loss.

I think they are doing this to get you and your data - I would not be surprised if they later sell the data to a bigger fish.

hi Brian,
i believe on that site they require one to register with their e-mail
address beforehand in order to see what the price of the item is

thank you for responding to this thread & these questions -
it is very insightful & will hopefully help protect some customers
that would unknowingly be purchasing an unwarranteed guitar

have a good weekend
m

[Jannie]

Yes, I went to their site and you do have to sign in and give them information, which I did not do.

[not darth]

I really really appreciate Brian's contribution to this thread, may save someone a LOT of headaches!
Just like Taylor to take care of its 'family'.   

Best to stick with authorized dealers if you are buying new, and honestly, there are many quality 'Mom & Pop' stores that are authorized dealers that can beat GC prices by hundreds of dollars.  That is somewhat counter-intuitive, people usually assume big box stores can give the deepest discounts, but do yourself a favor, wherever you live, and check out The Podium, Guitar Rodeo, LA Guitar Sales, Musician's Friend and I can't think of the others off the top of my head - but those are stores owned and run by people that absolutely love guitars and music and are the kind of folks that would rather you buy an $800 guitar that speaks to you, than an $1800 guitar that doesn't work for you.  (Okay, MF and LAGS are not little 'mom n pops' anymore, but they still have the spirit and enjoy they success they have because they've done right by their customers.)
 
-K

[ebick]

Yes, I went to their site and you do have to sign in and give them information, which I did not do.

Absolutely true....which I also did not....sort of.  I use a service called mailexpire.com.  This allows me to set up an alias for my email so that I don't have to give out my real email address.  At a certain pre-set time (or sooner if I choose), the alias expires and I will no longer get e-mail from them. 

This is a great thing, btw, I encourage you to check it out.  It takes a bit of dedication, but it is free and it works great.  Additionally, because each alias is different, you can see/tell if someone has passed out your e-mail address.  Thus far, HelloMusic has not.

[ebick]

I really really appreciate Brian's contribution to this thread,

I do as well.  I hope no one took this as me trying to sell HelloMusic or circumvent authorized Taylor dealers....I'm not.  Just truly wanting to know if it's legit.

[not darth]

I really really appreciate Brian's contribution to this thread,

I do as well.  I hope no one took this as me trying to sell HelloMusic or circumvent authorized Taylor dealers....I'm not.  Just truly wanting to know if it's legit.

I don't think anyone got that impression.

-K