Music store etiquette

My rule of thumb is to not touch if I don't intend on buying.

In Nashville we have some amazing guitar stores. With stores like Gruhn, Corner Music, Artisan Guitars, Cotton Music and a few others we have a ton of quality high end stores. They will set you up with a private room to try out instruments, you get the all star treatment. You can really sit down and get a feel for the instrument without being drowned out by a 16 year old cranking an amp to 12.
 
When you find an Ukulele Petting Zoo that is run as a not-for-profit charity, then go ahead and play all day and never buy anything. Also tell me about it so I can go and play, too. Meanwhile, stores in the real world need you to pony up some money now and then. Saving a few bucks buying a uke online will be small comfort when your local stores go out of business. You pay a little more for the opportunity to play before you buy. Seems like a fair deal to me.
 
The bottom line - if you want your local music store to be around a while, patronize them, and that means buying more than strings.

Yes. This!!!

In an unrelated recent thread, another member advised me not to buy from my local shop because of their markup. I'm well aware of their markup - everything is always priced at full MSRP unless on sale, and the sale prices are usually comparable to the everyday online prices for Amazon/Musician's Friend - but generally if the local shop has what I want, I'll buy from them anyway. The shop has been there my whole lifetime (plus a couple more years!) and I'd like to see it stay that way, so even when I know I can get something elsewhere for less, I'd rather keep my dollars local. Not to mention that the shop will stand by the products they sell - I'm not sure that the Big Boxes would do the same.
 
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Wow. Tons of responses. I appreciate the feedback. I think you are all reinforcing what I was already feeling. At first I didn't even think twice about picking up ukes a trying them out. With many other products (take the Apple store for instance) we are trained to go in and play with the merchandise and then go buy it online (showrooming). Obviously things are quite different for a mom and pops ukulele store. It took awhile until I finally started thinking 'maybe the store owners don't appreciate this'. Maybe I am just a little slow or too self absorbed to realize how other people felt about it. Or perhaps the ukes themselves were too irresistible to think about anything else. In any case, I don't play them any more. And I do appreciate the responses. Happy holidays.
 
Fun to read the responses.

Myself, the times I go into a music store usually mean I'm looking to see if they have any weird or unusual guitars. I have no problem whatever playing the store's guitars---I figure that the time will come when somebody's brought in something fantastic that I just have to have, and that's it, it gets bought.

But I don't go in, in order to strum new stuff. . . unless I know they're carrying what I'm looking for. I guess I'm more into old acoustic guitars.

You know, I got into ukes because there's a nice music store that I was stopping by to check their situation, didn't see anything but was in a rare "buy" mode and I got talked (half-talked; I'm also responsible) into buying a cheap Mahalo. So it goes.

The idea of using the local store to check out something before ordering on-line doesn't fly well with me: I respect the practical differences between instruments too much; I've seen how models vary, and since I buy an instrument for life, the extra $50 or $100 doesn't matter all that much, since I know exactly what I'm getting and I'm happy getting it.
 
Wow. Tons of responses. I appreciate the feedback. I think you are all reinforcing what I was already feeling. At first I didn't even think twice about picking up ukes a trying them out. With many other products (take the Apple store for instance) we are trained to go in and play with the merchandise and then go buy it online (showrooming). Obviously things are quite different for a mom and pops ukulele store. It took awhile until I finally started thinking 'maybe the store owners don't appreciate this'. Maybe I am just a little slow or too self absorbed to realize how other people felt about it. Or perhaps the ukes themselves were too irresistible to think about anything else. In any case, I don't play them any more. And I do appreciate the responses. Happy holidays.

I think the general feedback has been, "Go to your local music store, try their ukes and buy from them". The idea is to not use the dealer for "show rooming" but as your actual resource. As Captain America said, a few extra bucks on a uke really doesn't amount to much over time. There are so many areas of my life where I can save money but I WANT to support my local music store.

My local camera store chain "Ritz Camera" has closed. Now there are a lot fewer choices available locally. Same thing with my local hobby shop. I would hate to see the music stores go that route.
 
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Well I read this thread yesterday and then today I found myself with 20-30 minutes to kill between two appointments and a Sam Ash store in between. Stopped in. I had no intention of buying anything, but of my 13 ukes three were impulse buys, one a used baritone from that very store. So if I never go in unless I have an intent to buy then Sam will never sell me anything.

Anyway I played a Kala uke for about 15 minutes, very carefully, while the salesman ignored me and sold a woman a guitar (probably for 3x the cost of the $175 Kala). I left the store with one uke that was in tune, because I had tuned the Kala. So I think I did them a good deed, and I might have bought it. I didn't but still. I did not go home and order that exact uke off the internet. That seems like cheating.

I was in a music store in Germany and the sales guy noticed that I was tuning a uke before I played it. He handed me an electronic tuner and said, "Tune any uke you like." So I tuned all of his ukes - they all needed it.
 
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So if I never go in unless I have an intent to buy then Sam will never sell me anything.

The issue here is not going in to browse and leaving empty-handed - I think many music stores (as well as other stores) know that if they allow browsers to spend time with their wares, impulse buys will happen. But that's a whole other thing than going in to a local shop try the merchandise, and not buying it there but instead buying it from a cheaper retailer. Like you said - cheating! Not fair! :)
 
So I tuned all of his ukes - they all needed it.

BWAA-HAAAA - don't they always! :)

I bought a Kala pocket uke in Sam Ash in Manhattan when I was up there a few years ago (last time I go on a business trip for a week without something to play in the hotel). Anyway, it was behind the counter and the sales guy actually grabbed a tuner and tuned it before he handed to me. Of course, he tuned it to GCEA so the strings were floppy loose and the intonation was terrible - but, hey, he was tryin'!

John
 
That is funny John, the uke I played today was a Kala Pocket Uke. I tuned it by ear to whatever sounded good. So it is not in any standard tuning. But the next person who plays it will be able to make it play, if he or she arrives in time. So I did help. I think if I worked within walking distance of a music store I would volunteer to go in and tune them all three times per week. For free. It is so frustrating to walk into a store and find all the ukes untuned.

I was a bit irritated that the Kala has a nicer action than my homemade mini uke. I need to go back and adjust now.
 
I would buy an 'ukulele from the local stores if they had any worth buying. It's just not an instrument they really focus on around here. I will always choose local over Internet if we're only talking a difference of $40 or so (which is about all the difference I find, if it's even that much).

That said, I hope (plan!) to visit the "local" store in Nashville, Indiana when I'm down there next month and come home with a new uke. I've already set aside the money and done a ton of research so I have every intention of helping the small business owner that runs Mainland Ukes.
 
Having run brick and mortar music stores, online music stores, and exhibitions/fairs, I can say this;

If you're seriously considering an instrument, short of damaging the instrument, pretty much you're welcome to try it out, plug it in, get a new set of strings on it.

If you're just curious, most of us don't mind you trying it out for a couple of minutes if you take care of it.

If you're looking to jam, I'd say give it a little thought. Coming in with 5 band mates and jamming on 3 instruments in the middle of sat crowd rush ain't gonna win you any friends... on the other hand if you pop by chat with the owner during a quiet period and ask if it's cool, you may have a bit more joy.
 
My old favorite mom&pop went under a couple years ago. :(

There's Old Town Music in Pasadena and it's walking distance from a place I frequent, so I stop in sometimes. They have a few low-end ukes on a rack and a couple nicer ones (I remember a Fluke) on the wall, but I don't think anyone who works there is really into them.

Last time there I bought a pair of shakers, and a folding music stand with a nice shoulder strap carry case for $10. I didn't really need one, but thought I could offer it at the next meetup (several people don't have stands) and take orders for my next trip if anyone wanted. (They had a huge stack of them.)
 
I would buy an 'ukulele from the local stores if they had any worth buying. It's just not an instrument they really focus on around here. I will always choose local over Internet if we're only talking a difference of $40 or so (which is about all the difference I find, if it's even that much).

That said, I hope (plan!) to visit the "local" store in Nashville, Indiana when I'm down there next month and come home with a new uke. I've already set aside the money and done a ton of research so I have every intention of helping the small business owner that runs Mainland Ukes.

You will like it!
 
There are two local music shops that are great for ukuleles. I also like the people at both and would love to support them. That being said, I still see myself making all of my ukulele purchases online (probably used) to get the best deals.

Typically when I go into one of these stores I play the instruments for 20-30 minutes and then buy something small like a set of strings or a tuner. But I have all the strings I need. So now when i go into these stores (probably about once a month) I just look at the ukes rather than playing them.

Is it rude to go to music stores and play the instruments with no intention of buying? How long is a reasonable time to spend playing the instruments? How do music store owners feel about this? I realize there are no right answers I am just trying to get a feel for what the etiquette is as I really have no idea.


When i was after a martin soprano(which i didnt eventually buy) and sadly i sold (no i regret it soooooo much )
i went to sam ash which had it and looked it a few times, and played some other ukes. Eventually i put it on layaway
and would go in and play the thing until i had the full amount to take it home.

I don't think its bad to go to a store once a month and try things out, it may give you a sense
of what you may want to buy brand wise in the future. Also its great to test out brands...even if
you are going to order online you may go 'hey that cordoba concert uke at guitar center was great, ill check
musicians friend now to order it".
 
I agree with most of the replies on here about using common
sense and showing a bit of restraint as to not 'showing off'
and taking over the store!
In a previous life I was a guitarist,and I had one musical friend
who would think nothing of going into a store,playing a guitar
for half an hour,then move onto another and do the same.
I always found that a bit extravagant to be honest!
Any stringed instrument I was considering, a few minutes told
me how responsive it was,and what it sounded like.Which for
me seemed perfectly fair,as a prospective (and usually certain)
buyer!
 
Yes. This!!!

In an unrelated recent thread, another member advised me not to buy from my local shop because of their markup. I'm well aware of their markup - everything is always priced at full MSRP unless on sale, and the sale prices are usually comparable to the everyday online prices for Amazon/Musician's Friend - but generally if the local shop has what I want, I'll buy from them anyway. The shop has been there my whole lifetime (plus a couple more years!) and I'd like to see it stay that way, so even when I know I can get something elsewhere for less, I'd rather keep my dollars local. Not to mention that the shop will stand by the products they sell - I'm not sure that the Big Boxes would do the same.


haha...that was me!! You were talking about a used uke and I was giving you the used price benchmark and recommending not to use the MSRP from the store...different scenario. If buying new, that store is a good place to consider as they have the inventory and will give you 70% of your purchase price credit within 3 years in case you want another uke.

I've purchased 2 ukes from the same store but I don't play any ukes more than 5 mins if I don't plan on buying one. I've been offered to try out their Taylor uke which I refused since I knew I wasn't going to buy it.
 
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I don't think its bad to go to a store once a month and try things out, it may give you a sense
of what you may want to buy brand wise in the future. Also its great to test out brands...even if
you are going to order online you may go 'hey that cordoba concert uke at guitar center was great, ill check
musicians friend now to order it".

Guitar Center & Musician's Friend is the same company. Checking out a new Martin (for example) at a Mom & Pops store knowing full well one will order it online to save 20 bucks is bad mojo in my opinion.
 
I thought music 123 was musicians friend sister company too......

Absolutely correct. Guitar Center's big box is bigger than most realize. Per Wikipedia:

"Guitar Center's sister companies/subsidiaries incorporate Music & Arts, Musician's Friend, GuitarCenter.com, LMI, Giardinelli, Musician.com, Private Reserve Guitars, Woodwind and Brasswind, Music 123, and Harmony Central."
 
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