Ukulele Friend

Ukulele Friend in Hawaii is a great place to buy an unusually good ukulele. I received an email from him today, showing his beautiful inventory. Unfortunately, he's stopped listing the prices.

I've bought a couple from him because I saw the uke, saw the price, and thought that was a good deal. Now, you have to call. Unless I was absolutely dying to have a particular uke, I wouldn't call. I'd think that would be a nuisance for him, too. And then I have to wonder, do the prices vary according to who's calling or what kind of mood he's in. : )

EDIT: Okay, looking at more of the ukes, some of them do have prices.

They also respond very quickly to emails. I haven't bought anything from them, but there have been a few that have caught my eye over the years, and they always have responded very quickly with details, answering any questions that I had, and sometimes filling me in on some further background on the ukulele.

I doubt that they vary the price based on who is contacting them. They don't strike me as the type of people to do that. That said, I don't know if they negotiate on price at all, though. I never tried. The ukes I asked about were either too far out of my price range anyway, or there was some other reason that I wasn't going to buy it, (like a neck that wasn't going to work for my cranky fingers), so I just thanked them and moved on. There is one that I still wish had a slightly different neck so it could have worked for me. That one was in my price range at the time. Sigh. They were even nice enough to get a sound sample recorded, since there wasn't one there when I asked about it. I really wish that one could have worked out for me, but my fingers keep reminding me that they've been injured and are picky about ukulele necks.

IIRC, they even responded quickly on a Sunday evening, when I didn't expect anyone to be tending to the business. So if you don't feel like calling, just send an email if something catches your eye.

Shawn is a one person operation here in Hawaii he is very respected and has maybe more knowledge of vintage ukes than anyone i know...he has been doing business for many years now and has a nice showroom in Kaimuki..he loves the Ukulele and has many happy customers

he does list prices on his ukes but the really nice ones i am sure speaking directly to him best way to get info from him if you are a serious buyer

I recently bought a brand new I'iwi anniversary uke from Shawn. He is a great guy and really bends over backwards to make certain his customers are happy. I agree that I much prefer when a music dealer lists their prices. Usually when a instrument is listed as "Call for price", I instantly lose interest. I honestly can't think of a single reason a customer can benefit from a price not being listed.

a showroom in kaimuki?? I'm glad/sorry you mentioned that...

bearbike137 said:

I recently bought a brand new I'iwi anniversary uke from Shawn. He is a great guy and really bends over backwards to make certain his customers are happy. I agree that I much prefer when a music dealer lists their prices. Usually when a instrument is listed as "Call for price", I instantly lose interest. I honestly can't think of a single reason a customer can benefit from a price not being listed.

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I think I've only seen high end ukuleles on the site, and the "special" (my word, not theirs) high end ukes, like the Moore Bettah listed, we all know are a high price. If you're genuinely interested, I think you'd contact them, and that would give them a chance to fill you in on more about the ukulele and answer any questions you might have.

If you instantly lose interest if there isn't a price listed, maybe you weren't serious about the ukulele in the first place? Just a guess, or at least, just how it would be for me. If I'm interested, I can at least send an email with an inquiry. It only takes a couple minutes.

Just my perspective on that.

They're certainly not the only ones to not list prices on all their items for sale.

Joyful Uke said:

I think I've only seen high end ukuleles on the site, and the "special" (my word, not theirs) high end ukes, like the Moore Bettah listed, we all know are a high price. If you're genuinely interested, I think you'd contact them, and that would give them a chance to fill you in on more about the ukulele and answer any questions you might have.

If you instantly lose interest if there isn't a price listed, maybe you weren't serious about the ukulele in the first place? Just a guess, or at least, just how it would be for me. If I'm interested, I can at least send an email with an inquiry. It only takes a couple minutes.

Just my perspective on that.

They're certainly not the only ones to not list prices on all their items for sale.

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i agree with you call for price is to weed out folks who just want to talk about the uke...if you look at the site only the super high end hard to get ukes are listed call for price,i get it

what is that saying if you have to ask the price you probably can not afford it...lol

Shawn carries high end ukes for folks who understand what he is selling IMO

I get the sense this isn’t the kind of place most people pop in to try out a handful of ukes on a whim. An international destination for sure. Probably not as explicit as other places but…

“Visit By Scheduled Appointment Only.
Visit the Ukulele Friend Showroom by scheduled appointment to learn of some of Hawaii's most iconic and treasured historical ukuleles and purchase select vintage and custom ukuleles from 21st century ... ” https://ukulelefriend.com/ukulele-friend-address/

It’s essentially the Guitar Salon International of Ukes… or the protocol for visiting could be more similar to a fine violin dealer, or art/antiquities dealer…. GSI’s “visit us” page messaging:

Visit the GSI Showroom

If you’re in the Los Angeles area and would like to come in to view and try out any of the guitars we have in stock, you’re more than welcome – we’d love to meet you. If you do so, we ask that you simply let us know beforehand – the best way is by contacting us by phone or email.

Why does a guitar store need appointments? Well, we don’t have a walk-in storefront – many visitors are surprised to find out that the GSI offices don’t share the typical layout of their neighborhood music shop! This is mainly because we’ve found that our guests are better able to focus on the instruments they’re looking at if they’re able to relax in the showroom by themselves and aren’t competing for ‘sound space’ with others playing guitars in the background. The caliber of instruments we sell isn’t well-suited to a raucous ‘megastore’ environment, and having a proper way to evaluate instruments is critical.

That said, if you simply can’t check in with us first, we’re not going to turn you away at the door if we can help it. We’ll do our best to accommodate you.

See you soon!

*Showroom hours are: Mon.-Fri. 9am-5pm

https://www.guitarsalon.com/blog/visit-the-gsi-showroom/

badhabits said:

a showroom in kaimuki?? I'm glad/sorry you mentioned that...

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One would think that with a club around here that boasts over 3,000 meetup members, the largest in Florida, has 4 annual festivals, two open mics a month, and a jam session every week, that a nice ukulele store could be supported. Not so. The only decent one, a tiny store, went out of business during COVID.
Still, there is one luthier here who does pretty well, LoPrinzi Guitars and Ukuleles. Local club members get a nice discount there.

As the old saying goes: "If you need to ask the price you can't afford it."

Maybe not that true about ukuleles compared to other instruments. But true enough.

Shawn has upon occasion put two or three instruments on sale. But it's rare. I bought a maple Aaron Oya tenor from Shawn. It was one of his least expensive ukes, yet Shawn answered my many questions and gave me his honest impressions about its sound and condition. A truly nice guy.

His collection of antique instruments is remarkable, and his knowledge of the history of ukuleles is equally amazing.

hawaii 50 said:

i agree with you call for price is to weed out folks who just want to talk about the uke...if you look at the site only the super high end hard to get ukes are listed call for price,i get it

what is that saying if you have to ask the price you probably can not afford it...lol

Shawn carries high end ukes for folks who understand what he is selling IMO

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I'm not sure I understand how "call for price" weeds out folks who only want to call to talk about the uke. They can still talk about the uke after learning the price, even if they have no intention of buying it. Lol.

I can afford high end ukes. I have owned quite a few. And don't get me wrong - my comments are not directed at Shawn. I think Shawn and his shop are wonderful. However, I wonder why a shop like Hawaii Music Supply will show the price of every instrument - no matter how expensive - while other shops will not. If the price is fair - what is the harm in sharing it? When I see someone list "Call for price" - my mind translates it to "Asking more than I should and I know it".

bearbike137 said:

However, I wonder why a shop like Hawaii Music Supply will show the price of every instrument - no matter how expensive - while other shops will not. If the price is fair - what is the harm in sharing it? When I see someone list "Call for price" - my mind translates it to "Asking more than I should and I know it".

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My suspicion is that he doesn’t want to set the market on certain high-end, used ukuleles that might fluctuate in value quite a bit. HMS mostly deals with new stuff (occasionally there are consignments), so there’s a MSRP, even from the custom makers. For others, they do an auction and let the market decide.

For something like the 2016 Moore Bettah currently at Ukulele Friends, I’m guessing that the price changes each time another sale happens and there’s more data about what it could be worth. I have no idea what UF is asking, but a member here sold a MB for ~$14k on eBay the other day, and then a new MB sold for $22k at auction at HMS a week or so ago. I don’t know what earlier used MB sales were, but the new data suggests the one at UF could probably sell at or above $14k.

I certainly don’t like the approach as a buyer, as I prefer to know what something costs and then decide, but I get how the value of a one-off custom uke can really vary and having buyers call gives you flexibility.

bearbike137 said:

I'm not sure I understand how "call for price" weeds out folks who only want to call to talk about the uke. They can still talk about the uke after learning the price, even if they have no intention of buying it. Lol.

I can afford high end ukes. I have owned quite a few. And don't get me wrong - my comments are not directed at Shawn. I think Shawn and his shop are wonderful. However, I wonder why a shop like Hawaii Music Supply will show the price of every instrument - no matter how expensive - while other shops will not. If the price is fair - what is the harm in sharing it? When I see someone list "Call for price" - my mind translates it to "Asking more than I should and I know it".

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i guess you need to ask Shawn why he does business like he does you have lots of money which is great and you can do what you want but not trying to argue with you Andrew and Shawn are totally different kinds of dealers and it seems to work well for both of them..

my 2 cents

Joyful Uke said:

If you instantly lose interest if there isn't a price listed, maybe you weren't serious about the ukulele in the first place?

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I wouldn't have to call about the Moore Bettah because I have an idea what the price would be, but there have been other nice ukes offered, and I had no idea how much they might cost. I don't usually shop for a specific make and model, but one will catch my eye, and I'll want it. Then I have to balance the appearance against the price. Will I want to call and find out that the price is $10,000? Unless I know that I want it and I can afford it, I don't want to make a phone call.

Jerryc41 said:

I wouldn't have to call about the Moore Bettah because I have an idea what the price would be, but there have been other nice ukes offered, and I had no idea how much they might cost. I don't usually shop for a specific make and model, but one will catch my eye, and I'll want it. Then I have to balance the appearance against the price. Will I want to call and find out that the price is $10,000? Unless I know that I want it and I can afford it, I don't want to make a phone call.

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As I said, you can send an email, which I've done with quick and helpful responses. I haven't yet bought anything from them, but still say that they've treated me well, in responding quickly to my questions.

Pretty quick and easy to send an email asking "How much does that ukulele cost?"

And with email, you don't even have to try to figure out time zones, which I don't do well.

Shawn replies pretty quickly with the price so just email him. He’s so nice so don’t feel like you’re bothering him. There’s no pressure or obligation.

My thoughts. By not listing a price on a high end item, if it doesn’t sell in the time frame you’d like it allows you to reduce the price to reflect market demand without publishing the reduction in price and making it look like your discounting a premium product. Or maybe not, just my thoughts. I’ve bought a grimes from Shawn, incredibly honest, kind and might be one of the nicest guys I’ve ever bought anything from. He’s incredibly passionate about ukes, that’s for sure.