Teenage Engineering OP-1

The Lounge Other Gear
#494

You say this like you think it’s admirable for a company to absolutely rinse customers for every last penny of possible profit? Hiking up an instrument by £400 just because they can? You think that’s cool? Instead of such crazy notions as transparency (‘don’t buy at these crazy prices, we’re still manufacturing op1 but prices will be significantly higher next year’ or even something so ridiculous as a company passing on some savings to customers etc after tech materials become cheaper after time…

I can admire te as a business, this move makes sense if they wanna rinse customers for all they can, but count me out :wink:

#495

I absolutely don’t mind, I can think of no more boring world than one where we all think and act the same.
I will however point out that most of my comments re B are based in facts or are subjective and personal opinion and I try to make that clear, I admit to occasionally taking the p out of them though :wink:

#497

Synthstrom, Arturia, Behringer, korg… they’re the companies I’m looking at for future if the recent features/prices of their products is any kind of indicator.

Wouldn’t surprise me if at least one of those companies brings out some boxes next couple of years that suddenly totally overtakes TE, Elektron etc…And at a decent price.

1 Like
#498

A resume from my Side:

OP1 1400€ = 600€ too much
OP-Z 599€ = 599€ too much because only usable by ppl with very tiny fingers and very very good eyesight.
Resume = 2000€ not spend. Good for my Wallet.

5 Likes
#499
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#500

Totally agree. Sold mine mainly because of the poor quality. It had a broken key when i bought so had to return it. Got a new one and though working, it really was not worth the ”original” price. But then again it was fun, and people decide themselves about what something is worth I guess.

#501

I just checked ebay uk so that probably explains the differences, I guess though that the average of £750-£900 (£825) is more or less $1055 so not that fair out, interesting though that the new USD price is $1299 which is £1015, but the UK price is £1199 which is $1534.

So the second hand prices are higher in the US than UK, but the new price is higher in the UK, which would seem to contradict the price gouging of TE theory in some ways. Not sure if tax is payable on the US price though?

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#502

Haha!

#503

Could have all been a money making move by TE. Introduce scarcity, watch used market skyrocket, then reintroduce product with new prices relative to used market.

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#504

It is kind of a funny way to view things though, because it isn’t that simple. Let’s assume that one of those companies did make a box with features to rival Elektron or TE, and that they managed to bring it to the market at a fraction of the price, great (sincerely) but it isn’t suddenly going to render the other machines obsolete or useless or overpriced because it isn’t them. Same way that the Neutron isn’t going to compete directly with the 0-Coast, or a fast Ford isn’t going to compete with a Porsche - vive la difference, they mean different things to different people, some will buy one or the other, some will buy both, some will buy something else.

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#505

Anyone else notice that the synth and sequencer buttons on the valentines image are switched?

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#506

Ha, so they are!

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#507

So busy squabbling over $400 that we’ve missed this massive workflow shift, all along!

Well played, TE.

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#508

ahh it all makes sense now. Take my money TE!!! :star_struck:

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#509

Yeah, I like the OP-Z and especially the sequencing, but I think the OP-1 is a better form factor and a better instrument overall, if it had OP-Z sequencing I don’t think I’d keep hold of the OP-Z.

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#510

‘We’ve gotta cover the r&d for this button switch somehow guys, we’ve been working on it for a year and a half now… any ideas?’

‘Er, you seen eBay prices lately boss?’

‘Lemme check…ah, Nice!..You guys know what to do…’

#511

Without knowing their cost on components, design, labor, packaging, logistics, and the impact of inflation this claim has no ground to stand on. The market will dictate the price. If everyone out there who wanted an OP-1 says “Nah, that’s too high” then TE will have to lower prices… or not. I think a lot of the complaints here come from people thinking that TE, as an entity, is somehow your friend, or owes it to you to sell OP-1’s at cost. It’s fully within their right to offer it at whatever price they want. Conversely, it’s also fully within the consumer’s right to decide whether that price is worth the goods. And, apparently, to complain about the good ole days when it was only $800 or $999 or whatever.

3 Likes
#512

It looks like TE doesn’t include or even charge tax on the US version while they almost certainly include VAT in the UK price (it would be awesome if you could confirm this). That should explain most of the discrepancy in price, but alone, does not support my argument.

Does the UK have Reverb.com? I would be interested in seeing data from UK Reverb because eBay auctions may be a totally different beast (auctions often are), and Reverb’s data will include clear information on condition which should help us draw better conclusions.

2 Likes
#513

Gumtree is more prevalent here but it doesn’t have an option to see finished sales. There are two OP1s there currently, listed at £850 and £900.

#514

They said ‘seems’ like… :wink: