It was just a matter of time...

[Toobist]

Walmart huh?

Saw a post about this model and wanted to google it. Look what came up.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Miraphone-98- ... y/30417338

[bisontuba]

Incredible....I wonder if on 'Black Friday' it will be on sale ...
Mark

[joh_tuba]

A bit confused by that link.. Looks like Walmart is acting as a middle man for Music123 which is just another name for WWBW and Musician's Friend.

Right?

[NCSUSousa]

Same thing has happened on Amazon.com. Music123 (WWBW, Musician's Friend) is selling as a 3rd party through their site. I have no idea if they're all the same company, but they're sure pulling the same stunt at the same time on multiple sites that allow 3rd party vendors.

[iiipopes]

Sears is also doing this. It's not actually being sold by Wal-Mart. It's just to get the store name out there. There's the stuff that is actually sold by or in the store, and the rest of the listings are generated by a proprietary search engine that is like a cross between a price search 'bot and the Amazon cooperative.

[Michael Bush]

I think if I were Herr Theinert, I would be on the phone with a contract lawyer to find a way, first, to get out of the relationship with Music123 (if they have made any agreements that make this possible, and it isn't just WM marketing acting on their own), and then to find some way of making sure this doesn't happen again. Hard to imagine that this is good for the Miraphone brand. What percentage of Miraphone sales come through Music 123 that couldn't be replaced elsewhere?

[MartyNeilan]

I think I need to ask my wife to pick up something from Walmart on her way home...

[bort]

I think if I were Herr Theinert, I would be on the phone with a contract lawyer to find a way, first, to get out of the relationship with Music123 (if they have made any agreements that make this possible, and it isn't just WM marketing acting on their own), and then to find some way of making sure this doesn't happen again. Hard to imagine that this is good for the Miraphone brand. What percentage of Miraphone sales come through Music 123 that couldn't be replaced elsewhere?

Huh? Why would Miraphone care about this? If someone wants to buy the tuba through that website, how is that any different from any other website? It's not like it's being sold on the black market, by an offensive/objectionable company (bite your lip, you know what I mean ), or being sold illegitimately. This is just how "marketplace" vendor transactions work.

You could probably buy it on Amazon the same way as this -- no different, just a matter of which other company is getting a cut of the sale.

[NCSUSousa]

If you think the Walmart - Music123 relationship is good, take a look at this one on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/ ... 1401911672
I'm actually interested to know if I pay $80.61 (+$732 shipping), or $786.67 for the one from Japan, will they send me a real Fafner or just a lapel pin shaped like one?
I am glad that the total cost is less than the $2500 Amazon 'A-to-Z Guarantee' reimbursement limit in case these 3rd party ads are not accurate.

[bisontuba]

Better yet.....
Mark

[Michael Bush]

Huh? Why would Miraphone care about this? .

I have learned in my professional life that you can be "above" the idea of "guilt by association" all you want; your customers probably aren't. They believe in it as firmly as they believe in gravity. Having your stuff marketed on walmart.com places you in the mental world of a price-only buyer and those who market to them.

Maybe you are right and that is or ought to be fine with Miraphone. But I think they're going to have a mighty hard time competing for the business of a price-only or a price-mainly shopper, and it does not help their market position to be shown in that context. And if anyone thinks Walmart is not a price-only world, I don't know what to say in response to that.

[bort]

Is your point that appearing on the Walmart website "cheapens" the Miraphone image? If it were being sold *by* Walmart, I could kind of understand that a little bit. But being sold *through* a marketplace at Walmart, I don't see all the fuss. I don't know the exact arrangement, but it's more that you're buying from Music123 through Walmart (same as you buy from Music123 through Amazon). This is more of Walmart trying to capitalize from the Amazon marketplace concept. I'm sure that Walmart signed a deal with Music123 to be able to sell everything through their marketplace, whether it's a $1 item or an $18,000 item.

Will anyone really buy an $18,000 tuba from Walmart? I sure hope not. But if someone chooses to do that, the only thing Walmart had to do with it was brokering the deal, and getting a small part of the profit for their trouble. To the buyer, it's the same tuba and more importantly, the same price.

[Dan Schultz]

I wonder how Walmarts 'liberal return policy' will react to one of these tubas being carted in to the customer service counter and the customer saying they lost the receipts and packaging.

[bisontuba]

What I read (IF I'm reading it correctly)...

Guitar Center is in desperate straits.

Big +1!

[Heavy_Metal]

So much for "Always the Low Price"... Wal-Mart's price is the same as everyone else's, except the place in Japan.....

[deholder]

Waiting for what Brook Mays has to say about this....

I lived in Dallas when that whole deal went down. My first 186 was from Brook Mays and I was surprised a few years later when the store suddenly closed.

[Tubaru]

Walmart has been working with Music123 for quite some time. Last September I was looking to purchase a Meinl Weston 2141 and it showed up on a search as being available from Walmart. Being a Walmart associate I tried to order one through them just to see if I could use my 10% discount on it. They wouldn't let me because of Music123 being a martketplace vendor. Walmart lost that sale. I could have really used the discount.

I do not see it being any different than what Amazon does.

[windshieldbug]

Guitar Center is in desperate straits.

GuitarWind!?

[TWTuba]

Funny that the horn is listed in the "Toy" section!

[eupher61]

Every manufacturer has the ability to limit where their products can be sold by a retailer. It just has to be in a contract. I'd be surprised if Miraphone doesn't have such a restriction which limits where WWBW can advertise, and the prices they can advertise.