B Stock being sold as NEW. How can you tell?

The Lounge General Discussion
#21

I had this with Bax and an OP-1. The broken seal and a sticker on it that said ‘inspected’ made me strongly suspect it was B Stock, and initially I was pissed off about this. Of course Bax claimed it wasn’t B stock, but I don’t believe them.

SayIng that, The item had absolutely no signs of being used. It was in perfect condition, and as Bax were so much cheaper (by about 150 euros at the time) than anywhere else I decided to keep it.

The experience did make me question Bax’s integrity though, and I won’t be rushing back to use them. I found their customer service was terrible, and their offer of 20 euros off my next purchase from them was derisory.

3 Likes
#22

Had the B-stock experience with ModularSquare (Paris). In my case it was easy to notice, the 2 modules I bought brand new arrived broken, with a capacitor detached from te board and tucked inside a little bag in the box. They played innocent, tried to blame it on the manufacturer and then finally lost the package on the way to being fixed, leading to 2+ months of waiting which they also tried to blame on Intellijel who, after getting involved, solved everything in a week.
In my experience, very few shops are trustworthy to the point that I much prefer buying straight from the maker if at all possible, even that means paying a little more cash, I value my peace of mind more than I value money.
Despite the critics I have read some time back about the Elektron support, I found it absolutely perfect myself, but YMMV as usual.

2 Likes
#23

For me, the inverse has been true. Specifically with ProAudioStar.

I’ve ordered several products that were discounted b-stock units. And brand new, untouched units were shipped.
Everything was factory sealed with the manufacturer’s hologram stickers.

That seal on the box tells you so much.

I think this is important to do if you’ve found yourself receiving questionable merchandise in the past.

7 Likes
#24

I’ve heard of this a lot. I think they do this because they can’t advertise lower rates for new stuff so they lie and say it’s bstock to move inventory

1 Like
#25

(Pusher thumb extra hard into bottom of box)

Oops, this is a b-stock now, I guess

3 Likes
#26

ProAudioStar’s business model.

#27

Oddly enough I bought both my OTmk2 and A4mk2 B-Stock from Sweetwater at a pretty ridiculous discount (like, well below used prices), but both came in sealed boxes with all accoutrements (quick start guide, stickers, etc.).

I did have an issue with a button on the A4, the LED was a little flickery so I had it repaired (they couldn’t accept an exchange because there were no B-stocks left and they wouldn’t give me a new one, which I guess I understand). The repair took a long time, mostly because of covid-related shipping issues, but I did get it back and they both work great.

I don’t think I’d buy B-stock at new prices, but for a +30% discount, I’d do it again for sure.

1 Like
#28

If there is chicken nuggets in the battery compartment, it is probably brand new.

2 Likes
#29

I was hesitant to buy from them because of their crazy deals that they have every now and then. Swore it was an elaborate scam. Glad I was wrong.

#30

You’ll often get dropships, it may take a longer time to get your item if they wait to do a bulk order, their customer service / presales is a little weird. But they’re a real company :stuck_out_tongue:

#31

Any time I use points at Musicians Friend they ship B-stock if they have it.

If you pay full price and they ship B-stock you have every right to complain, and get them to fix it at their expense.

Had some Event Opals shipped from Sweetwater back in the day and they threw in some headphones to match a promo from another dealer. Despite specifying I’d rather have factory fresh monitors and no headphones the guy said everything was new. Got B-stock/demo monitors. Kept them anyways and they were fine. This was maybe 7 years ago.

#32

Guitar Center in-store is notorious for this. Practically everything in the synth section in the store near me is an open box that somebody bought and returned to the store. :roll_eyes:

3 Likes
#33

They know in the computer. I call and ask everytime before even driving there. Only needed one time to learn that lesson.

2 Likes
#34

Had one bad experience with BaxMusic although they “fixed” it.
Have been buying second hand since then.
Music gear is like cars: apart from peculiar items, the minute you drop your cash on the table, you loose a lot of it.
The more time passes by the less sense it makes to buy new … And that’s about the same for everything.
My 2 cents,
V

2 Likes
#35

yes

#36

No way. Cars lose half their value on day one. Synths only lose 10-20%

#37

Had heard cars were losing 1/3 of their price new.
Anyway, buying new (for me anyway) does not make sense anymore.
But that’s personal :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

2 Likes
#38

I am presently going through a situation where Musician’s Friend sold me an item as new, and it was mailed to me from a local Guitar Center (the king of B-stock items sold as new). As you can imagine, the box arrived with seal labels broken, and other evidence of a used product.

I immediately called Musician’s Friend to return the item, and in spite of explaining the situation, I might need to call again if I am charged a restocking fee. If I would have known that Musician’s Friend would send me an item from Guitar Center, which has never happened in the past, I would have passed on ordering the product.

2 Likes
#39

Re: MusiciansFriend. Former employee here. I ALWAYS disclosed to customers on the phone when something was going to be B-stock, but let me tell you, PLENTY of people did not.

They’re doing this because they can’t get stock in. At first I thought it was just COVID-related, but now I am realizing that other places aren’t having NEAR the amount of stock issues that they are. And regardless of the reasons, it should be disclosed and advertised as such, but they currently do not have the capacity to do it that way (and will not bother doing anything to fix that).

3 Likes
#40

MOOG Audio [in canada] pulled that shit on me. I ordered an ES-8.
they said they had new in stock. got it WAY late, and when I did…it was missing screws that hold the PCB on, and was kinda scratched.

when I asked them about that…they said “oh…ya that was in the demo rack, but its like new”
I told them it wasn’t new, and they can take it back.

again…NEVER using that shop again. freakin horrible. they are one of those shit shops that list stuff they can order for you, and have an item here or there, in stock.

be wary of them…
I’ll just order direct instead.

2 Likes