A consumer's advice for small business owners (about cables)

[AJM1981]

I like supporting small businesses when it comes to buying stuff. Happy to pay a reasonable marging extra. No need to cut corners to the extreme.

There is only one thing that made me doubt my preference.

Last week I dropped by for a simple short rca cable at the average electronica store. The conversation the salesperson started was fine, basically about what gear I owned and what I was looking for when looking around at their audio section. All ok.

Then I indicated that I needed a short lenght rca cable. He handed a mid-priced one over from behind the sales desk (or their luxury one; don't know the span of their range), being double the price of the simpler one. All ok, it is business within reasonable margins. The argument of giving people good stuff over the cheap stuff can be applied.

I mentioned briefly that it was a nice cable, though I would like to request for the simplest one they had. So he changed it for the one I meant for half the price and within fair margins.

He then continued about some people who believed cables sounding better versus some who didn't. I mentioned that I was on the non-believing side and just needed the simplest one. All fair till so far. Still a good service.

Only at that point the short preaching started about that some people could really hear difference and he knew those people were right. So it would be either about "non-trained ears" or "the quality of gear" that was the bottleneck.

I indicated that it was a bit the science versus commerce discussion and left in good harmony.. I think.

The only thing is that I visited the store to buy a cable, and left with my cable and the comment that either my judgement and / or my gear kind of suck. To put it boldly. : ))

Maybe I would buy a bit of a more expensive cable (never overpriced). But in that case I would get it for complementing the gear optically when the back of the gear would be exposed and / or when a bit more sturdiness matters. Nothing related to the context of audio quality.

So.. dear salespeople in small businesses. Please try a slightly different step in approach for a change.

 

[xanalog]

Last week I dropped by for a simple short rca cable at the average electronica store.

I remember the days of RadioShack, Crazy Eddie's, Fry's Electronics. And now left only with Micro Center and BestBuys.
But you are really talking about 'small businesses' ('mom-n-pop' stores?), that I don't think really exist anymore: do they?

Especially, now that online retailers -from amazon, to ebay, to aliexpress- not only dominate the marketplace for electronica but do so much better for the benefits of the consumers. The online space, along with its enormous variety, selection, specification and the competitive pricing are nothing that any small businesses could ever afford... then or now.

Shopping locally is a great gesture but the guilt you felt leaving the joint becomes even more painful since we've all become more aware of escalating costs of labor, real estate and our environment.

Would there have been a valid/justified reason(s) for not purchasing "Amazon Basics" short RCA cables, similar to the ones @amirm tested here at ASR?
I guess the answer to my own question would be that it'd depend if you are;

Happy to pay a reasonable marging extra...

for performance or in attempts to keep a small store in business.

 

[DVDdoug]

I don't really blame them for being ignorant... They might be trained and there is usually an incentive to "up-sell".

I read something once that said audio/video stores have to stay (somewhat) completive on the big items because customers will check online. But after the deal is closed on the main purchase they can get a big margin on "upgraded" cables.


Oh... My dad was a salesman... sometimes not a good one... He was working in an apartment store, I guess in the TV department. The store had a "loss leader" TV that had been advertised. The boss told the salesmen, "If anybody sells that TV they're fired." I was shocked when he told that story. I suppose if the customer demanded to buy it, they'd have to turn the customer over to the boss.

 

[DWPress]

I too will gladly pay a fair margin more to keep a small business alive. Not if they're jerks though...

 

[Rick63]

apartment store

 

[Devnull]

First thing I do when I go to an audio store is check out the cables. It's a good indication of the level of competency and the amount of bullshit you'll get from the salesman. Never been in a store that had thousand dollar interconnects or power cables that didn't have salesmen vomiting crap out of their mouths.

 

[AJM1981]

First thing I do when I go to an audio store is check out the cables. It's a good indication of the level of competency and the amount of bullshit you'll get from the salesman. Never been in a store that had thousand dollar interconnects or power cables that didn't have salesmen vomiting crap out of their mouths.

I am ok with anyone's opinion about cables and a conversation about whatever they please. Though I would perhaps sincerly compliment a customer with whatever decent system someone has at home and focus on the optical and functional design differences instead of entering a rabbit hole discussion. There is a basic outspoken rule 'The customer is always right when it comes to taste'. There is no need to virtually burn them and win a discussion about taste.

I don't believe in cables, but I am the type of customer that wants to integrate a loudspeaker into my interior as a piece of furniture. Since the backs of my loudspeakers are also kind of exposed and I like to swap stuff on (not that frequent) occasion. I prefer some complimenting solid stuff instead of rusty nails (i would probably not notice it double blind). Cables can be part of the visual as well. But I have never looked forward to any kind of cable soundwise.