PSA: Supplier Shortages

 

Toward the middle of lockdown, which took place (for us) between mid March and the third week of May, we received correspondence from our largest supplier that dealers should expect issues with high demand item stock. This was solely due to non-essential business shutdowns in their factory locations, and this notification, in turn, likely caused a rapid depletion of popular items in their warehouse.

We were notified that upon reopening, they would be fulfilling backorders with priority given to top selling items, causing a further wait for more specialty products, and additional backorders would be generated. This is still currently taking place, affecting many stores in our industry - us included. 

 We currently have our best selling pick gauges, regular tension student classical strings, 15' Classic Series Cables, and 80/20 Custom Light acoustic strings backordered - their respective orders were placed when stock was available, but backordered by the time it was processed. Other affected items, out of stock at the time of our last order, include standard non-coated D'addario acoustic 12s, all D'addario banjo variants except for Irish tenor, and Classic series XLR cables of all lengths except 50ft. Initially we had difficulty acquiring clip on tuners and capos as well - we have since sourced comparable products elsewhere for the time being. 

We ask that you continue to be patient regarding these issues, as many shops are affected. We are currently keeping a close eye on the situation, balancing well-timed orders with financial obligations. This is a challenge for everyone involved, and we appreciate your understanding.

ICYMI: Average Guitar for Average People Part 4 - Strumming

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Reverb Roundup: 8/10-8/15

 Got a new batch of small items up this past week. See the links below for more information:

MXR Block Logo Phase 45 - early 80s, no LED/9v

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MXR 6 Band Graphic EQ

ICYMI - Average Guitar for Average People Part 3 - Barre Chords

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ICYMI - Average Guitar for Average People Part 2 - Open 7th Chords

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ICYMI - Average Guitar for Average People Part 1 - Open Chords

Our whole channel can be found at this link.

Please considering liking, commenting, and subscribing. With 100 subscribers, we will be eligible for a custom Youtube URL for easier sharing. Every little bit helps!

Continuing the Fight Against COVID-19

Thank you to everyone who continues supporting us through this unprecedented times. This is intended to increase awareness of the changes we have made and new offerings to ensure continued convenience and safety against this stupid thing:

In Store/Sales

In-person sales have resumed since May 22nd as before with regular business hours. Curbside pickup for phone/online orders and contactless payment are now offered. Online sales via Reverb are fulfilled normally with no change in process. We have not yet had to address a max number of customer limit as of this writing.

To initiate a curbside pickup order, please call our shop number during business hours and choose extension 1 for instructions. Text based orders are preferred, as contactless payment links can be provided immediately and speed up the process.

Repairs

Tech availability is dependent on lessons schedule, with Thursdays being drop off only.

Contactless pickup and payment are offered by request, and preferred.

Lessons

At the beginning of the local business shutdown, we made significant upgrades to our technological capabilities to continue our lessons program as uninterrupted as possible for those students willing and/or capable to pursue a digital platform for their instruction. And while we have resumed in-person lessons, continuing to utilize these new upgrades to expand our online program is our next goal, independent of pandemic-related factors.

The Average Guitar for Average People Youtube series is an extension of this goal, as it provides an example of content and teaching style, while not undermining the more individually focused program we offer. If you like what you see, and would like to learn more in a more personalized and direct fashion, we encourage you to consider submitting an inquiry here for more information.

About Masks

Your mask protects us from more than just COVID-19.

As of July 1, 2020, the PA Department of Health has mandated mask wearing in public spaces, with few exemptions. Enforcement of order compliance has been placed on businesses, even at the risk of lost customers and revenue.

If you don’t wear a mask, and are capable of doing so, we could get fined, as per the PA Administrative Code of 1929, and the Disease Prevention and Control law of 1955.

With this in mind, we are now requiring masks for all store visits as well as in-person lessons. We will be making them available for purchase shortly. If you are unwilling or unable to wear one, we are happy to shop for you or arrange curbside purchases - detailed above.

PSA: Reverb Fees - Info for Buyers

As of this Tuesday at 11AM our time, Reverb will be increasing their fees from 3.5% to 5%. This is in addition to their existing transaction fees. This is in efforts to "invest more in growth."

From the email sent to site users:

We are modifying our selling fee to help us invest more to sustain our community’s continued growth. This year alone, we plan to increase our investment from 2019 by: 

• Investing over 30% more in marketing initiatives—including SEO, online video advertising, and other digital advertising—to get your inventory in front of more buyers from around the world.
• Expanding by more than 25% the capacity of our global customer support team focused on assisting you and your buyers as we grow.
• Increasing by more than 40% the capacity of our product team focused on creating and enhancing seller tools and services to increase the visibility of your shop and inventory.

Coincidentally, or maybe not, this also comes almost exactly a year after their acquisition by Etsy. With this new change, many sellers already considering alternatives might jump ship and make their way back to eBay, as the fees on guitars and basses will officially be lower there.

While it may not seem like a huge jump, we expect to see a bit of an increase in site prices across the board while those sellers who continue to use the site attempt to recoup these fees. Accordingly, sold prices will likely gradually make an increase over time, and as we use the site as a estimation tool on a regular basis for our consignments needing evaluation, trade in values, and purchase values, this change may be reflected in store as well as online.

But please consider this: They have chosen to increase these fees at a time when small businesses are shuttering at a record pace due to financial impacts from COVID-19 closures when their parent company's shares have been on a steady increase since mid March.

To be clear, for a shop as small as ours, Reverb is extremely valuable, and we are grateful for the platform. We would not be able to maintain a comparable eCommerce presence on our own, especially not one with the foundation we've established over the years, so we will be maintaining our Reverb store as we have been and adjusting accordingly. With that said, we have been extremely lucky with our bounce back from a 2ish month closure during what is normally the most lucrative time of the year, but not all businesses have been so lucky, and many still struggle.

We encourage you to seek out shops that use the site the way we do (as a promotional tool as well as a selling tool) and make purchases directly via website or phone, in an effort to further support small business during these unprecedented times.

Thanks for reading!

Popular on VG Academy - July 2020

This post is covering a little more ground than the older posts as it features popular items purchased since January. Feel free to check out these items and many more, on VG Academy On Demand.

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Efrain Toro - All of Rhythm

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Randy Howard - Hot Fiddlin'

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