Pro's and Cons to doing biz the "carvin" way?

[gemini8026]

Question for some of you fellows with some marketing/sales knowledge.

Why are there not more companies out there that do business like Carvin? Selling direct to the public offering lower prices. Is it because of product exposure? Or are there various reasons why it's a good/bad way to go about things.

I think ALL of us dream about having the options that Carvin guitar buyers have when they are buying a guitar, and the few hundred dollar difference not having the middleman in there eliminates as well.

They make high quality stuff at a fair price, and most of there buyers seem happy. The resale on the gear isnt too hot however, but not THAT bad as some make it out to be.

Anyways, just curious because I like the way they do business, while offering quick turnaround times for custom guitars, good prices, and a high quality USA product.

[SeventhSon]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

Dell certainly makes a lot of money doing it the "carvin" way.

[1trussell]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

You know, my only complaint about the way Carvin does things is that I can't try them out before I buy. That's the only reason I haven't gotten a Carvin yet.

[illumina]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

market prescence.

if every guitar store in a 50 mile radius only has fenders and gibbys, newbies must think they're good, right? "wow, people must love these guitar, since they're everywhere".

Everyone one knows what a Fender is. Most know Gibson. How many new guitar players know about Carvin, Parker, Warmoth, etc. ?

[StukaJU87]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

[ QUOTE ]
You know, my only complaint about the way Carvin does things is that I can't try them out before I buy. That's the only reason I haven't gotten a Carvin yet.

[/ QUOTE ] I have yet to be able to "try" a USA Jackson before I layed out my cash. None of the stores in my area have new ones. [img]/images/graemlins/bs.gif[/img] They may as well sell them the "Carvin" way. [img]/images/graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[Tetsuo]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

Having Distribution is very important. With the internet it has become less so though and it makes it easier for a company like Carvin to do this though. My business is the flow of the market though so I really can say having supply of your product in brick and mortar distibution is still very important.

George mentions Dell does well yeah very well but there are still a ton of people who buy Compaq from Best Buy because they can walk in. It is not 100% needed but a very good thing to have local availability

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

If I am not mistaken, Carvin has a trial period on their instruments. If you don't like it, you can send it back (at your shipping cost).

[thurston]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

I was going to complain about not liking any of their body styles, but that new California Carved top looks sharp. I wish you could spec something besides Carvin's house pickups though.

[xenophobe]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

Carvin makes a good product, but their marketing and advertising sucks. Most people don't even know about them, or the people who have heard about them don't know what to think.

[toejam]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

I'm surprised more people don't know about them since they've been around for like over 50 years.
I own an SC90, bought it off their site about 3 years ago from the In-Stock section... I fell in love with it. I bought a DC400 off ebay after that, had that for awhile, then traded it to Jgcable for his Carvin DC120 12-string, then I wound up selling that on ebay to another member of the Carvin board. LOL I don't think I'll ever part with my SC90, though. And I really want to order a 7-string eventually. I've got their single rack DCM150 power amp, too. They really do make great products, and their pickups are very nice. I've only played their C22T and C22N series which are the "classic" models which are a little on the bright side and don't have all that much gain, similar to a PAF, but I hear their other pups are also pretty good.
I think a lot of companies should offer more options like Carvin, even if they have to include the middle man and charge a tiny bit more.

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

I never liked the Carvin styles at at all. I've played their stuff and found them to be nice and well made though.

I think most people like to lay hands on stuff if they can. Lotsa music stuff leaves shops on layaway too...

I think the people that buy carvin, are the ones that are savvy, have money and understanding of the way things are. I have come to the realization that NO ONE sells the stuff I want anymore if I want it at a place I can play with it a bit. I have to order just about everything I buy, some VERY expensive purchases have been made on a leap of faith really. Once you get to that point in your experience or wants, Carvin look great...

[ChickenScratch]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

Carvin's way doing business works for me, I get exactly what I want, no modding. My tastes are simple, 24 frets, neck thru, ebony board, floyd trem 2 humbuckers, active electronics. A regular guitar off the shelf like this would cost me way more than I pay for a Carvin and not be made in the US in most cases.

I'm a huge fan, last year alone I went from owning no Carvins to owning 3! Just fell in love with the stuff.

[Big D]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

I've never bought a guitar from Carvin. But my band's entire P.A. is Carvin and we're super happy with the quality relative to the price. We've purchased our board, four 2000 watt amps, snake, four large subs, four 2x15" cabs, etc. from them and it's all worked great.

[Flametop]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

I bought a DC400ca in '98/99 and i've been more than happy with it. I have heard some rumblings of a decline in customer service and quality lately though. Nothing first hand mind you, so I would (myself) have no problem giving them another try. I have ordered other gear since the guitar also.

[Twisteramps]

Re: Pro\'s and Cons to doing biz the \"carvin\" way?

I ripped into Carvin not too long ago in a thread (sorry folks, the Carvins I owned and played just weren't real great to me) and found one I liked recently.

It's a Holdsworth "fatboy" model. Thing played and sounded great, was light as a feather, and I even kinda like how it looks. Damn thing was at Guitar Center and had a huge scar/messed up place on the top... and was still $599.

If I wasn't so wishy-washy on guitars, I'd order a Holdsworth. But the thing that also kills me on buying Carvin new is the resale value. That also keeps me from every buying a Hamer USA guitar new too, and ditto for Peavey.

Pete