Why did Jackson USA guitars rise in price?

[Dmytro86]

A few years ago, a guitar could be bought for $1500-$1700. Now the guitars cost ~$3000. Despite the fact that the MSRP of new guitars has not changed. What is the reason? Will there be a price cut?

[ed]

Do you mean the used market? Also the prices are that mostly in USA. Where i live in europe prices are mostly the same.

I think the reason is the USAs way of printing money since covid and shelling money to people and people pay more for things= inflation through the roof.

Also its not only USA its imports too attleast in reverb.

[metalhobo]

economics

[Lemonheadfr]

I noticed it too, on reverb prices are skyrocketing to insane levels. Here in France it's not that crazy, USA Jackson are not common but you can still find theme at decent prices.

[pianoguyy]

A few years ago, a guitar could be bought for $1500-$1700. Now the guitars cost ~$3000. Despite the fact that the MSRP of new guitars has not changed. What is the reason? Will there be a price cut?

Forgive me if this is a silly question (or a common sense question, depending on which way you look at it)

Do you want to make the same amount of money today as you did 5 years ago.

[Dmytro86]

Forgive me if this is a silly question (or a common sense question, depending on which way you look at it)

Do you want to make the same amount of money today as you did 5 years ago.

I earn exactly the same amount in US dollars as I did 5 years ago)

But my question is specifically about the Jackson USA electric guitars. Automobiles, smartphones, TVs, even tube amplifiers, digital amplifiers have not doubled in price. However, the Jacksons have risen in price.

[Nightbat]

Forgive me if this is a silly question (or a common sense question, depending on which way you look at it)

Do you want to make the same amount of money today as you did 5 years ago.

...Depends on purchasing power

[pianoguyy]

I earn exactly the same amount in US dollars as I did 5 years ago)
That says more about you than it does anything else.



But my question is specifically about the Jackson USA electric guitars. Automobiles, smartphones, TVs, even tube amplifiers, digital amplifiers have not doubled in price.
Cars go up every year.
Phones and televisions are technology, they typically go down in price. The reason they have gone up is because you are buying 'better' each time.

IMO, the price increases of guitars have remained relatively low for many years, having only doubled over 2-3 decades. Where as everything else has gone up 7-10x in that same time.

[metalhobo]

According to the consumer price index, on average goods in the US have only increased in price by 100% (doubled) in 30 years (since 1991): https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

This is based on the overall CPI across this time range. You can visualize the CPI as well as drill down into various categories here: https://www.bls.gov/charts/consumer-...line-chart.htm

Note that a doubling in 30 years is congruent with an average inflation rate (CPI) of around 2.3% per year, which is supported by the plots.

The fact that the prices of guitars (and specifically American-made Jacksons) have inflated much faster in the past few years than other kinds of goods can probably be partially explained by supply/demand coupled with price elasticity.

Also I'd like to point out that the OP's statement:

Despite the fact that the MSRP of new guitars has not changed.

is incorrect.

USA Jacksons underwent an MSRP hike of 25-30% within the last year or so. I think there's a thread on it somewhere. This could have a delayed effect on the cost in the used market.

But what caused the major increase in new prices? I really think it comes down to elasticity. FMIC doesn't sell a lot USA Jacksons. Hence every USA Jackson rolling off the line these days is essentially a "custom shop" instrument (their words, not mine). They can't take advantage of economies of scale, so the unit price is higher. If more people were buying USA Jacksons, the price would be lower.

Another thing to keep in mind is product cannibalization. Notice how the new MIJ series is over $2000 for an import. Well, if you could get an import for $2000 or a USA model for $2500, which would you get?

[Dragon Lair Guitars]

I'm not sure if I'm interpreting the question of the OP correctly, but I have noticed a sharp increase in the price of Jackson guitars, especially the USA select models over the past decade. When I was a teenager my parents bought me my first Jackson from a boutique shop. It was a USA select SL2H in translucent black, which I still have. It was only $1400 as a mint guitar from that shop. This was probably around the mid to late 2000s. Since then, USA select SL1 and SL2H guitars generally start around $4,000 now.

When we look at the industry as an aggregate, there hasn't been this type of increase when we look at, for instance, a PRS Custom 24, or a Gibson Les Paul Standard, or an Ibanez Prestige, and so on. A PRS Custom 24, 15 years ago generally ranged from $3500 - $4500, as it still does today. However, with Jackson, their higher end guitars definitely experienced a unique increase over only a few years unlike other companies. I think this is what the OP is getting at.

To his point, I have realized this myself and have fielded differing opinions from multiple vendors as to why this has happened.

[metalhobo]

I think it's also worth exploring the possibility that it isn't the case that usa jackson aren't suddenly becoming overvalued, but rather that in the mid-2000's they were severely undervalued. remember that in 1984 a soloist in a solid color with a floyd rose and case had a retail price of around $2000. today that's equivalent to almost $5300. on the other hand, it's interesting to note that in 1996 the retail price of an sl1 with case was $1920, which would equate to about $3350 today, much lower than the current pricing structure but pretty much in line with the pricing as at was a year ago.

[pianoguyy]

And as far as Gibson goes - their prices have gone up. They've just cheapened the same guitars. Mass producing/automating and outsourcing lesser models like Studios to keep prices low. Although, I believe even Studios have doubled since their latest bankruptcy.

[Mechayoshi]

I agree with the ‘undervalued’ theory. I haven’t been into this for a fraction of as long as most of you here and even I can remember when I was seeing Jacksons go for much less than they were worth. So while I agree they are somewhat over priced, I think it feels even more so that way because we’re used to the great value you used to get.