Prymaxe Vintage sucks, but let's talk about food too! :)

[01010111]

DEATH TO PRYMAXE

DEATH TO PRYMAXE

DEATH TO PRYMAXE

this.

Yup

I buy direct for everything that's not some big brand, buy locally when it's available, and buy online if it's some big brand that isn't stocked locally. This, within reason, is what I try to do with everything I buy.

I've only ever been to Prymaxe to check out their demos, and I don't really think their demos are very good. So, I've only been there one or two times. I didn't even look at their prices or "sales." This kind of shit pisses me off to no end. I was raised in a farming community and watching them get slowly raped by the industry has made me very conscious about my buying decisions. There's a popular joke with farmers I'm this area: a farmer wins the lottery and when asked what he is going to do with the money, he replied "I'll just keep farming till it's gone." Getting a "good" deal often means fucking someone else, so I'll always eat cheap and live poor because I'm willing to spend the money to know I'm not fucking someone else to get a good deal.

[stripes]

so I'll always eat cheap and live poor because I'm willing to spend the money to know I'm not fucking someone else to get a good deal.

yes

[bugzaney]

can i get a tl;dr on the prymaxe hate?

[Chankgeez]

Their constant 15% off sale cuts into builder profits. They pretty much strong arm builders into going along with it.

At least that's how I remember it. Someone, please, correct me if I'm wrong.

[warwick.hoy]

Sounds about right chankerz.

Also continual 15% off devalues brands and erodes resale value on the used market.

Also. Prymaxe lies to USPS on weights to save on shipping. Poorly packs pedals to save on shipping.

Also. Shady employment practices which may or may not be the case at this point.

[FuzzHugger]

oh and all fuzzhugger shit on clearance.

them hate you now tom-boi

Looks like he's willing to lose money to teach me a lesson.

Their constant 15% off sale cuts into builder profits. They pretty much strong arm builders into going along with it.

Yes, they demand that builders let them discount their pedals by a constant 15% (or they'll drop you), demand that builders give them an extra discount on their pedals (or they'll drop you), and then if you drop them because of this, they threaten to sue you and discount your pedals even more. Based on my experiences, anyway.

can i get a tl;dr on the prymaxe hate?

Why yes, you can!
Link: viewtopic.php?f=142&t=35954#p677014
That's only my personal experiences and opinion of them...there've been others vented in this thread, customers and ex-employees.
And of course, there's been lots of like expressed for Prymaxe here too, and that's fine. I'm not pushing for any boycott, I'm not even mad at them, I just think that they deserve to be exposed for certain things and I have a right to share my opinion (as does anyone on ILF / the internet).

[fishtankdork]

I always try to buy direct from builders whenever possible but have always resorted to 2nd store (ex. Pyrmaxe, analog haven) when the pedals I wanted were unavailable direct. Reading these posts are deff gonna make me research who I buy off of more. Most my board is composed of small builders and I'd hate to be killing their profits( most of them work 2nd jobs and have bands!), they are all swell guys who generally will do anything to help you out. I was deff unaware of this side of the business. I hope it goes well for you, and as tempting as those fh pedals are at that price, Ill pass out of respect for you good sir.

[proroby]

Noted. No more Prymaxe for me. Go Tom.

[bugzaney]

thanks. pretty sure i returned the only pedal i've ever bought from prymaxe. i will now make it a point to not buy from prymaxe and continue to buy direct or used.

[alexsga]

i will also no longer buy from them. cheers guys

[htsamurai]

hm, yep I can't find anything decent in prymaxe. Why would you try to strong arm small builders to fuel the situation you put yourself in instead of trying to compete in an even market?
rudimentary econ; fuck the guy trying to fuck things up for everyone.

[kosta]

Yup

I buy direct for everything that's not some big brand, buy locally when it's available, and buy online if it's some big brand that isn't stocked locally. This, within reason, is what I try to do with everything I buy.

I've only ever been to Prymaxe to check out their demos, and I don't really think their demos are very good. So, I've only been there one or two times. I didn't even look at their prices or "sales." This kind of shit pisses me off to no end. I was raised in a farming community and watching them get slowly raped by the industry has made me very conscious about my buying decisions. There's a popular joke with farmers I'm this area: a farmer wins the lottery and when asked what he is going to do with the money, he replied "I'll just keep farming till it's gone." Getting a "good" deal often means fucking someone else, so I'll always eat cheap and live poor because I'm willing to spend the money to know I'm not fucking someone else to get a good deal.

You're good people, wfs1234. That's that real talk right there. Couldn't agree more.

[muttlegs]

Did I miss something? You do not have to supply to Prymaxe. If people don't like the deal then do not bother. Small builders are in the unique position that they can control their own pricing and can customers away from mainstream brands to the benefits they offer. When they stop building to order and can produce in more volume then they want to build in quantities I can imagine most cost effective and open a world of opportunity with their manufacturing process even on a small scale. I have no idea on the amount of traffic prymaxe/pro guitar shop etc. or the order sizes they place. It would be interesting to know. If you sell more at lower margin but your manufacture cost is slashed because you can batch build is it not simple maths? All that customer facing work is time consuming and builders have more time to focus on getting the gear right and developing new products. Customer service and managing lead times and orders is a skill of its own. Plus they invest effort in demos that are at least well recorded and better than buying blind.
I have ordered gear internationally from both from these online retailers and direct from builders (more than often on preorders) and had no problems except the import duties you face buying direct. Not ever need repairs yet though. If the total cost was the same or up to 10% dearer I would happily support the builder. Most people who want hand built that or limited this are gonna take the time to hunt for it and will find builders direct anyway.

[Chankgeez]

... You do not have to supply to Prymaxe.

Unless Prymaxe sues you, but the judge throws the case out of court and sentences Prymaxe to be your butler.

[onyxrhino]

I've had good dealings with Tom and I respect his business decisions, but I don't really get the hate for Prymaxe. It's up to the builder if they want to supply them or not. It's up to Prymaxe whether they want to offer coupons or incentives that eat into their own profit margin. This is simple business. The boutique pedal business is sort of unique in that the builders go through distributors like Prymaxe while trying to distribute direct as well. I get that Prymaxe's coupons make it more desirable for customers to buy from them than from the builder's own site, where the builder makes more profit. But if the builder doesn't want to sell through a distributor, they don't have to. I don't see anything underhanded going on here. It's just business, plain and simple.

Fuck Prymaxe Vintage. They ...care apparently less for their suppliers than for their customers.

This quote kind of made me laugh. Oh, the horrors of a store that cares mostly for its customers!