Cosumer mass market equip. vs. pro shop equip. ??? (1 Viewer)

[Everett Painter]

Hey guys, I've wondered about this for some time now and was hoping you could help me out. I know that many times electronics companies will issue a product with a different number to different sellers (ie. Best Buy vs. your local electronics shop).

To use my example. I'm getting ready to purchase a Yamaha CD Player. I have found the unit at Best Buy/Sears and what appears to be the exact same unit at my local shop....but they have differing model numbers. Now the cases look exactly the same...on the yamaha site the product pages for these 2 products are identical (specs, features, etc) with simply the model number being different.

Now, are these exactly the same with the model numbers being the only difference? If so, why do companies do this?

Thanks

Everett

By the way, this came up because I found the unit on closeout at Best Buy/Sears but don't want to go that route if there is a quality difference.

 

[StephenL]

I don't know about Yamaha CD players, but the HTR and RX-V receiver lines are identical. There is plenty of internet folklore and claims by unscrupulous dealers that a manufacturer's "high end" line has better components, more power, etc. Don't believe these claims unless you get them in writing from the manufacturer.
http://www.yamaha.com/yec/customer/f...vers/faq00.htm

 

[Paul Clarke]

The smaller A/V shops, the specialty shops can't compete with the giant chains like BB and CC if they all are selling the same exact product, even down to model number. So some manufacturers use a different model designation for their popular sellers. This keeps everyone happy and with a good shot at staying in business. Every retailer is free to fight the battles of margin and marketing as they see fit. Denon and Yamaha seem to be the most obliging of the manufacturers.

 

[Westly T]

Makes it easy for a shop to guarantee the lowest price even if the local shop down the way has it for less, because it's a different model number! I've also noticed some shops avoid having the same product as their competitor, for example: I was looking for speakers and found that one store carried only the 5.25" speaker in one model line while the other had the 5 1/2 of the same model line. If you wanted a 5 1/2" at the first place you had to select a different model line or brand. It really angered me looking at the price guarantee sign after that.