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Hello, friends. I have a business idea in my mind, but before I go any further in its design there are a couple of questions that I would like to ask to all of you who play the guitar. Your answers will help me a lot.
The questions are: 1.- How often do you have to put new strings on your guitar? Once a week? Once a month? 2.- Where do you buy your guitar strings? In a store, in the internet...?
And here is my idea; Would you be interested in receiving your guitar strings in the mail weekly, monthly or in the frequency that you decide? The basic idea is: you pay a fixed amount of money every month and, in exchange, you receive your guitar strings weekly, monthly or whith the frequency that you choose.
RE: A question about guitar strings (in reply to DavidRG)
David
Looked into this a while back and it just didn't add up. I was importing 10 or 20 sets from the US; no problem. My mate ordered 1000 and they were held up in customs until he paid tax. So the big order got stuffed and there was no margin.
So we tried negotiating big quantities from the suppliers but first we realised how many strings (different makes/types) we would need (if we were to attract a bigger enough audience). Then there was the very small margins. Then what to do about "they didn't arrive". And then dead stock as an upgrade came along - ok not a frequent problem but stock in general is dead money.
We looked at three suppliers already on the internet and we really couldn't find an advantage that would give us an edge. We even thought of something like your idea but couldn't see it working. For one thing I like to try different strings and we had 6 guitars between us and couldn't say how many sets we needed of a given type over any given time. So we couldn't even sell it to ourselves
Of course if you find an edge then that might lead to success but we couldn't find it. But all the best.
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nigel (el raton de Watford - now Puerto de Santa Maria, Cadiz)
Posts: 15725
Joined: Dec. 14 2004
From: Washington DC
RE: A question about guitar strings (in reply to DavidRG)
I was once offered "free" string deal from close people dealing with a famous string company, but I turned it down because I didn't like those strings best. I sort of regret it, but I didn't want to be involved in promoting a string brand I did not prefer. I tried to get my favorite string companies to hook me up when I visited Namm 2 years ago, I made good relations with the CEO/owner of two companies I liked. No response back. Oh well. I like the idea...I normally buy $100 or so batch of strings from Strings by mail (couple different brands I like) and they last me a couple months normally. Depend on how much I play. I used to burn through strings a lot faster when I was younger, playing the same amount I do today, and have a theory that as we age the ph or oils or something in our fingers decreases to allow longer string life. Sounds crazy but I notice it in my colleagues as well.
Posts: 310
Joined: Jul. 16 2015
From: De camino a Sevilla
RE: A question about guitar strings (in reply to Ricardo)
quote:
ORIGINAL: Ricardo
I used to burn through strings a lot faster when I was younger, playing the same amount I do today, and have a theory that as we age the ph or oils or something in our fingers decreases to allow longer string life. Sounds crazy but I notice it in my colleagues as well.
true for me as well. my hands don't sweat any where near as much as they did when I was a young
RE: A question about guitar strings (in reply to DavidRG)
Ok. Thank you very much. I knew a guy who played a lot every day and had to replace the strings every week, because they used to end up rusted and really smashed.
Abou my post: I'm looking for some business to do, some idea to make me get some income, and that was a first thought I had. I'll have to keep looking for something better. Thank you, guys. :)