Buying Car Audio on the Internet - by Eddie Runner

Buying on the internet may be an easy way to compare products and prices and also very easy to shop. But the online world of car audio is kind of strange.  Beware.

First off, there are many Internet car audio shops that are nothing but a web page. Some college kid got him some free web space and now wants to make some beer money, so he has scanned in a buncha car stereo catalogs and made a nice looking web page.

Some of these have never intended to actually send out products, they just want your money and they will disappear in a short time only to re emerge again with a different name. BEWARE!!!

I always search their web page looking for a legitimate street address, if they take credit cards and most legit businesses will also happily give you references.

Another popular (and I don't know why) is the so called wholesale club. There is a very popular one (but I wont mention names) and if you send $40 they supposedly send you a wholesale catalog and you can buy at cost.  Do some research first, use http://www.dejanews.com or Google.com and lookup what folks are saying about a place before you buy.  This popular wholesale club has had many complaints that I have seen online. They never have the good stuff, they sell only refurbished units, and take forever to ship to you (if at all).

There are some pretty reputable places to buy on the internet but buyer beware.  Check http://www.dejanews.com or google.com (usenet search) before you decide. 

As far as brands available on the internet, many manufacturers DO NOT PERMIT internet sales. They prohibit internet sales because the FIERCE competition brings down the profit margins and ultimately could put the manufacturer out of business. (dealers would rather carry a product they make money on)...

Because
1) manufacturers can promise the retailer there are no other dealers within so many miles of them, this reduces price competition and helps the dealer make a decent profit. Without a decent profit, the dealer would not want to carry products from that manufacturer.

2) some manufacturers don't like internet or mail order sales because the products may not receive professional installation from trained installers. Badly installed products sometimes cause a bad reputation for the manufacturer because of many failures.

To be a legitimate dealer for these products, the dealer must sign dealer agreements. Basically legal contracts that agree to the terms the manufactures specify, many times thes contracts state NO MAIL ORDER SALES! And no sales to other dealers because they might sell MAIL ORDER... Customers ONLY, in the store ONLY!

BUT!

1) there are lots of dealers that are not signed up that would love to have these good brand names.  These dealers many not be eligible to be a REAL DEALER for these products because they may be too close (in miles) to an existing dealer, or they may not have a storefront or enough sales volume that meets the criteria set by the manufacturer, or any number of other reasons.

2) there are lots of folks on the internet wanting these products.

3) The legit dealers get BIG discounts if they buy alot of stuff!

SO, its quite common for

1) Some legit dealers try to make an extra buck by trying to cheat the manufacturers, ignoring their contracts,  they order extra products that they know they can't sell in their stores just to get a price break for ordering a bunch of big numbers, and then so they wont be stuck with stuff they cant sell, they sell some of the stuff sideways to distributors or dealers that can't get those products direct from the manufacturer ..

2) for the legit dealers have to MODIFY or remove the serial numbers on the products that they sell (in breach of contract) to distributors or non-dealers of the brand so that the manufacturer cannot TRACE the product back to the LEGIT DEALER and sue them for breach of contract. And its against federal law to intentionally modify or remove a serial number off of most electronic gear!

3) for distributors worldwide to have ANYBRAND a store could ask for. This being the case, from a retail standpoint there might not be a reason to sign up direct with any manufacturer!

4) internet dealers to have EVERYTHING YOU WANT, even though the manufacturers of that product don't permit internet sales. 

5) much of the internet stuff might have illegally modified serial numbers. 

Most of the so called high end car audio manufacturers (put high end brand name here) prohibit internet sales, yet anything you want is available. These products are called graymarket goods. Many have serial numbers that have been doctored and wont have a manufacturers warranty if they ever break..  The manufacturers are looking for the dealers that are cheating them!  They are so mad at the bad guys they will deny you warranty service in an attempt to shut them down!  (that kinda sucks for you if you buy these goods!)

Sometimes the dealer selling you the product doesn't even know the products are graymarket. Sometimes the dealer cheating the manufacturer is cleaver enough to make the altered serial numbers look unaltered, their main concern for him is to have a sellable product that cannot be traced back to them by the manufacturer. 

It is quite common (and illegal) to to find modified serial numbers of electronic equipment on the internet. It is usually the LEGIT dealer of the products and not the END RETAILER that modifies the serial numbers.

Sometimes when you send gear in for warranty repairs some manufacturers will tell you about the altered serial numbers, some go so far as to tell you the gear must be stolen!  I think they are only trying to enrage you and give themselves a legitimate way out of doing warranty repairs for you. Maybe the higher ups are telling the service people to tell you these lies, but in reality it really doesn't have anything to do with stolen gear. In the USA there is a law against altering serial numbers on electronic equipment. It has nothing to do with theft or stolen property at all. 

ANY DEALER that sells these high end brands on the internet will probably be the same. If the manufacturer has a NO MAIL ORDER RULE. Then you will not find ANY DEALER with these products legitimately.

If you really want legit products with full factory warranties GO to a store in your town or call the manufacture directly and ask them to recommend a dealer in your area.

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