PRS guitar prices go up again.

Could've been worse...

Be glad we don't play the violin.

"How much is an expensive violin?​

While $30,000-$100,000 may seem “expensive,” in the professional violin world, that’s a pretty standard price to pay for the best quality violin.

What would be considered “expensive” in even the most advanced violin communities are those that are considered almost priceless, such as those made by Stradivarius, Guarneri, or Amati.

These violins can literally be millions of dollars! As of July 2019, the Messiah Stradivarius violin is considered to be the most expensive violin, at an estimated worth of $20,000,000!"

Most people that play violin don't spend 30k for one. A good amount spend around 5k or a little more.
 
This is the main reason I am doing the SEs again. I had a killer collection of Core guitars but had to sell them when my ex-wife ran off. Life happened and I'm not in the market for Core guitars, new or used.

Maybe some day. But for now I'm at least thankful that the newer SEs are so much better and I can enjoy them just as much.
I just added a SE Tremonti, after some tweaking, keeper!
 
Well...With The Gold Backed Standard Coming Back Into The Mix And Those US Treasury Notes Coming On The Scene Our Dollar Value Will Be Much Better With Fiat Money Going Away. I Am Counting Down The Days...Shouldn't Be Long Now.
 
The Silver Sky was $2,495 and then it went to $2,649. Today when I went on Sweetwater, the price is now $2,749. I guess when demand is so high, they are taking advantage of the pricing. When you consider it already cost more than the Fender Ultra and Vintage II Stratocaster's, its a little disappointing to see another price increase.
I bought a SS a little over a month ago. I really REALLY like it and play it every single day but that price was hard to pay. If I hadn’t had 3 guitars to sell I couldn’t have done it. The way the economy is these days this may be my last new guitar ever.
 
Makes it kind of hard for the best manufacturer of new guitars to stay in business if you won't buy any new guitars or amps from him.
No sarcasm intended, but if we keep paying the high prices and .letting these companies gouge us, it’s never going to end. and I dont just mean PRS, their all doing it. their not losing money. whatever the price increases are to them, they just pass it along to the consumer. Im very surprised people havent realized this yet!
 
I'm recalling that in 2020 and later in the pandemic, PRS went to the bank and borrowed heavily to keep the guitar workforce paid while they all stayed at home. PRS said at the time, 'We cannot lose our skilled workforce. We cannot replace these folks and what they know."

So maybe it's time to pay back the bank loan now that times are good again and demand is strong enough to raise prices. Because - again - PRS has a tremendously skilled and irreplaceable workforce, who (according to PRS itself) shares in a cash bonus system at the end of each year.

=K
There's some merit to this, but PRS wasn't unique in the situation. About every business owner I know including myself had to do this as well. If you wanted to keep your business and key team members that's what had to be done. Thanks covid!

Accounting was advised to run the low interest covid loan as an SBA loan. The loan had a lower payment in the beginning but the payment has ballooned to a significantly higher payment ammount.. still low interest but the new payment amount is noticeable.

All that said, I'm in the camp of not paying these prices. Every product has a price ceiling that customers are willing to pay. I found it in my industry and had to back down pricing a bit and others will find this as well if we the customers vote with our wallets. My customers did, and I listened. It's tough but I'm finding ways to make it work.
 
There are human beings in places who make decisions and take actions which directly impact the value of money, and as such, affect how much buying power your money has, both now and in the future. It's always Cause & Effect.

That being said, in the event I decide to sell any of my PRS guitars (or anything else for that matter), I will absolutely accept gold coinage in exchange for said item.

"Who is John Galt?"

Yeah, they're call accountants, and they're right down the hall from the C-suite.

Good luck with your gold - a loser, after inflation, for decades now.

Can we go back to PRS guitars now?

=K
 
Yeah, they're call accountants, and they're right down the hall from the C-suite.

Good luck with your gold - a loser, after inflation, for decades now.

Can we go back to PRS guitars now?

=K
This thread began with discussion of the current prices of specific PRS guitars and the suggestion that perhaps PRS guitars was motivated by greedy intentions in setting their prices. The statement I made was a dissenting opinion to the original post which called into question PRS' motivation for their current pricing, essentially coming to the defense of PRS guitar pricing strategies. (ie It's not their fault prices are so high.) Nothing more.
 
First off I never said the word greedy. I think we all want PRS to do very well as an American company who is providing many jobs here in Maryland as well as over seas. I don't think of SE guitars as low quality and owning one is still something to be proud of.

Paying their employees during Covid was something many of us did not realize or forgot about. However, they also had excellent sales during Covid.

But with 2 year back orders, you figured they are thinking, we can increase our prices a little as PRS sales are so good. The Silver Sky is the only core guitar under $3,000. It would be nice if it stays under that number, especially when you can get a Fender Pro II, Elite, Vintage II, and G&L Legacy guitars for at least $600 less.
We all get costs are going up. My Gibson 335 Figured 60's guitar went up a couple hundred dollars 6 months after my purchase.

Though shipping, material cost and labor are going up, most peoples pay checks are not increasing at the same rate as inflation. Sales may be strong now, but I can see that changing if our economy does not improve. It's a difficult slope to work through.
 
However, they also had excellent sales during Covid.
This is a very good point that honestly puts the guitar industry in a much different situation than most other industries during covid. Booming in record numbers while the others were going bust.

When covid first started there were some fire sales on guitars only to steadily increase to the pricing we see today. Although, they have been dropping, just check reverb and it's not uncommon to see $500 or $1000 discounts on guitars. Typically used, but new has to follow and the burden can't fall solely on the dealers to discount. The record numbers of new guitarists during covid is gradually turning into numbers of new guitarists quitting or phasing out as life returns. Same as it alwayis was, teach 10 people guitar and maybe 2 stick with it. That's my ratio anyhow.

Guitar takes work, time, practice, and dedication.. something not a lot of people have an abundance of in everyday life.
 
The Silver Sky was $2,495 and then it went to $2,649. Today when I went on Sweetwater, the price is now $2,749. I guess when demand is so high, they are taking advantage of the pricing. When you consider it already cost more than the Fender Ultra and Vintage II Stratocaster's, its a little disappointing to see another price increase.
I have been of the thought that the SS was already pricing itself out of the market. I love my PRS guitars but I could never pay what they wanted for the SS when I honestly feel that there are some others out there doing a Strat better. I have a Suhr Classic Pro that is probably the best built Strat I have ever picked up and played. I don't feel like the SS is on par with this guitar. The price of the Suhr has gone up a lot in the past 5 years and I got mine before they went nuts on the price but I still feel that it is a better built guitar and hard to beat for the money when you look at the build and the quality of them. PRS can't be beat for their 594, DGT, P22, CU24... etc.. They are the king of that arena. When you get into the bolt on world there is a lot of really good competition.
 
As for the higher prices overall, they are all doing it. Every fan of every brand complains when it happens. I am fortunate enough to be in a good place with my collection. I have thought about selling some off but haven't done it. I honestly am not desiring any guitar on the market at this point. I have a guitar to cover everything I ever want to play and then some. I feel very lucky to have assembled my collection before things went crazy.

I could purchase something if I found something that really sparked my interested but when a core guitar hit 5k, it really caused me to pause and think a lot more about what I was getting for that amount of money. That is getting close to what a private stock used to cost back when I first started buying PRS guitars. I am sure you may have been able to get a private stock for that back then depending on the options you chose.

The more prices go up the less I am motivated to sell some of my collection because I know that I won't be willing to pay what it would cost to replace them if I felt the need to do so. I actually prepped 3 guitars to sell but have not taken them anywhere. I had an arrangement worked out with my local shop to sell to them or put them in the shop on consignment and haven't taken that any farther. I feel like the guitars I prepped are enough of a duplication in my collection that I wouldn't feel the need to replace them but you can't get any of the them because these ones are not made anymore.

These higher prices make me even more attached to my current lineup than I was before because they feel like more of a value to me because I probably wouldn't spend what it would take to replace them and they are great guitars.
 
The Market Is Out Of Control And There Is No Denying That. When People Stop Buying Then The Prices Will Adjust. The Problem With The Used Side Is People Ask Insane Prices Just To See If They Can Get It And The Mindset Shifts To That Being The Real Market When It Isn't Reality. Over Time It Shifts Things And That Is Where We Are Right Now. In Between Reality And Fantasy With The Decline In Prices Coming At Us Quicker Than Most People Want To Admit or Realize. Markets Always Work Themselves Out Over Time And That Time Of Adjustment Is Upon Us. Look At What Is Happening With The Dollar And Its De-Dollarization Around The World Right Now By Many Countries Walking Away From The Dollar And Going With Their Own Currency For International Trade. There Is A Massive Financial Shift Happening And It Will Effect Everything (And It Should). Everything Will Be Put Back In Order Soon Enough With Pricing.
 
Speaking as a business owner, I know that there are things that incentivize your products and things that dis-incentivize them. There is a fairly elaborate calculus to pricing. There are certain exceptions, but generally raising prices doesn't typically incentivize a product, especially a mass-market product like an SS.
 
The Market Is Out Of Control And There Is No Denying That. When People Stop Buying Then The Prices Will Adjust. The Problem With The Used Side Is People Ask Insane Prices Just To See If They Can Get It And The Mindset Shifts To That Being The Real Market When It Isn't Reality. Over Time It Shifts Things And That Is Where We Are Right Now.
Thank you and bless you for saying the same exact thing I’ve been saying over and over. You’ve made the most intelligent statement i’ve read in a long time. This drives me crazy! You get one complete idiot who over prices something through the roof, and instead of everybody else saying “ this guys a moron and out of his mind” they say, “ oh, we must have our’s priced to low. lets raise them to match his” It’s like the blind leading the blind, and before you know it, the whole used market is thrown off!
 
New to the forum and just bought my first PRS today (technically 2nd as I had to return one with an issue).

I bought a new CE24 semi-hollow wood library and was able to negotiate roughly 15% off the listed price. I had been shopping for a used one, but the used prices were high and I found several stores that were willing to sell for less than advertised. I guess higher listed prices only mean something if the stores are actually getting people to buy at list price.
 
The Market Is Out Of Control And There Is No Denying That. When People Stop Buying Then The Prices Will Adjust. The Problem With The Used Side Is People Ask Insane Prices Just To See If They Can Get It And The Mindset Shifts To That Being The Real Market When It Isn't Reality. Over Time It Shifts Things And That Is Where We Are Right Now. In Between Reality And Fantasy With The Decline In Prices Coming At Us Quicker Than Most People Want To Admit or Realize. Markets Always Work Themselves Out Over Time And That Time Of Adjustment Is Upon Us. Look At What Is Happening With The Dollar And Its De-Dollarization Around The World Right Now By Many Countries Walking Away From The Dollar And Going With Their Own Currency For International Trade. There Is A Massive Financial Shift Happening And It Will Effect Everything (And It Should). Everything Will Be Put Back In Order Soon Enough With Pricing.
Well said, and said by an excellent human brain.
 
Thank you and bless you for saying the same exact thing I’ve been saying over and over. You’ve made the most intelligent statement i’ve read in a long time. This drives me crazy! You get one complete idiot who over prices something through the roof, and instead of everybody else saying “ this guys a moron and out of his mind” they say, “ oh, we must have our’s priced to low. lets raise them to match his” It’s like the blind leading the blind, and before you know it, the whole used market is thrown off!
Thank You! I Get Lucky Every Once In A While And Come Up With Something Good...
 
Back
Top