Richard, I'm glad to hear you value custom service so highly. A well-run business with such principles deserves to succeed and I wish you luck.
However! :wink: I still have reservations regarding UK dealers as they are still beholdent to the official UK distributor ultimately, for one thing. Seemingly there has been little consistency in their conduct regarding Supreme's case and that does not rest easily with me.
Secondly, your "wager that there is naff all in the price" between yours and that of a Japanese dealer just doesn't stand up. I followed the link to your eBay listing and the first MIJ Tokai I found was an LC70 with a BuyItNow of ?579, plus (a very reasonable, I must add!) delivery charge of ?10. If I were to order that same guitar from Japan, after shipping, VAT and import duty, I would be saving about ?150. Now, maybe business is so good for you (and I'd be pleased to think it is) that ?150 is small change and therefore "naff all" but for me it's still a fair quantity of loot (or 'the start of a new guitar fund', as I tend to think of money!!).
You seem like a decent bloke from your posts on here and if your service is as good as you claim then that should be a good incentive for people to give you their custom. But please focus on that as a marketing point, not the price, because it's far more credible. A dealer who says, as you have, that you'll take responsibility to take care of the customer is worth a lot. As long as you deliver on your promise!
However! :wink: I still have reservations regarding UK dealers as they are still beholdent to the official UK distributor ultimately, for one thing. Seemingly there has been little consistency in their conduct regarding Supreme's case and that does not rest easily with me.
Secondly, your "wager that there is naff all in the price" between yours and that of a Japanese dealer just doesn't stand up. I followed the link to your eBay listing and the first MIJ Tokai I found was an LC70 with a BuyItNow of ?579, plus (a very reasonable, I must add!) delivery charge of ?10. If I were to order that same guitar from Japan, after shipping, VAT and import duty, I would be saving about ?150. Now, maybe business is so good for you (and I'd be pleased to think it is) that ?150 is small change and therefore "naff all" but for me it's still a fair quantity of loot (or 'the start of a new guitar fund', as I tend to think of money!!).
You seem like a decent bloke from your posts on here and if your service is as good as you claim then that should be a good incentive for people to give you their custom. But please focus on that as a marketing point, not the price, because it's far more credible. A dealer who says, as you have, that you'll take responsibility to take care of the customer is worth a lot. As long as you deliver on your promise!