How to open a guitar shop.

[@johngeddes7894]

It is awesome how you give so freely of info that has been kept so close to the vest in my dealings with people. This is quite the education. I dont really know what to do with all of this knowledge, but I just love learning I guess. This is invaluable and ultimately transferable in many ways. Thanks for everthing and keep it coming.

[@UrquidiGuitars]

I have been a repair shop in Chihuahua México for the last couple of years, build a reputation, etc. Now I'm opening as a store. Yes I wanted fender, Ibanez, PRS etc. Wrong those companies do brush you off and the margin is small compared to other small Chinese manufactures companies. I do agree those leave you with a better margin. Now used guitars is a different ball game you can profit from those if you buy low, repair, and have salesman skills. Thank you very much for this video Phillip. Know your gear!!

[@johnwallace2319]

Great answer to a question i never asked, happy i wandered in here though, now i know what the stores are going through

[@andrewbutcher3391]

Great video and honest. Most people don't know these things and think you just order from Gibson when you want what you want. Same in the sports trade. Big companies are a nightmare! Pleased you are doing OK. Difficult business to be in.

[@trevorsmith9388]

Same when I opened a small camera store back in the 90's, the big boys, Canon, Nikon Olympus etc would not supply me, however, I got good service from Ricoh, Yashica, Rollei and other small manufacturers. I made a small living out of selling these fine products but things changed when I started writing a regular column for a national camera magazine, then the big boys were falling over themselves to get into my store. The two companies to deal with were Ricoh, fantastic backup, and surprisingly, Fuji Professional (not the amateur division who refused to dal with me full stop). The reason for writing this is , is to show that it is the same throughout most specialist retailers, be it guitars, camera's or electronics, they don't want to know you until you are established enough that you can show them that you can work for there products. I called it a day in 2005, I decided to get a paid job, it was far easier than trying to keep these multi national corporations happy, never regretted it

[@TonyB71]

I’m surprised this didn’t more views. Putting out our own shingle is lots of risk, hard work, lessons learned, rewards and the list goes on and on. As always enjoy the videos. I know you don’t own the store anymore but you reach more people by spending more time on your KZbin project. This day and age the smaller stores unfortunately are being undercut in price but often have better customer appreciation and service. Keep up the great work!

[@PC_HardwareTechUnboxing_1]

Wish this was longer...this was one of your better Vlogs. I have no interested in opening music store...but found it informative.

[@Satchmoeddie]

We opened in 1921. Without repairs, Guitar Center would have killed us. In the 1980s Ibanez were the best value in guitars you could buy, but we could not give them away. People wanted Gibson, Martin, Fender, Guild or the cheapest shit money could buy. Applause did well, though. Johnsons do really well. Gibson offered to let me become a certified restoration & repair shop. Taylor wanted $7,000 to attend a class on how to fix Taylor guitars. I've been fixing guitars since 1983, and helping to fix guitars since 1971. I learned from my uncle, TRAVEL! Buy guitars that are not popular in other areas, cheap, and resell them in markets where they sell better. Our shop was mostly drums. Johnny Smith owned THE Gibson shop, and CS Music said they would spend $20,000 and dedicate 1200 square feet to Gibson & Epiphone. That was bigger than our entire retail display area. Johnny Smith was the ultimate in cool, and would sell us Gibson at wholesale, so we could have inventory, and Gibson was NOT going to tell Johnny Smith no. He was the THE "Walk Don't Run" Johnny Smith. If he wanted to give us a Super 400 at his cost, he did it. F Gibson! It was CMI & Norlin back then.

[@alwaysrockn2009]

I'd definitely would like to hear some more info on this subject. It's really interesting to hear the intricacies of owning a small music business and having to deal with egos and service issues with brands that are trying to have dealers sell their products. Please roll out anther video. Rock on!

[@ehamwi]

Great video. Thanks for offering your insights on this subject. Rarely find candid and honest advice on business in general, and the music business in specific. Will check out your channel and subscribe.

[@zaz4667]

I love hearing the music business stories from Phil like these.

[@joeurbanowski321]

WE NEED MORE..!!!… lol..? Great stuff..!👍🏼

[@Lex10999]

Very interesting Phillip. No one ever talks about this stuff. Thanks for letting us have a little incite on how hard it really is to open a guitar shop. :)

[@Tattood-gv9fk]

Wow, this was very insightful. I used to dream of working in a shop. Thank You

[@citadel9611]

Just from this video, I think I would go more into the customizing business where people with guitars would bring them in to have work done on them. Maybe even sell my own brand. Really good video Phillip. Keep rockin brother!

[@SteveStell]

To open a guitar shop in 2017: Just take your life savings, pile the cash up, add lighter fluid, then ignite. Then look into some good bankruptcy videos on youtube lol

[@clintsequipment]

Thank you for posting this. I’m thinking of starting a guitar/music store. Glad I watched this.

[@IntoTheMystery13]

Wow this is awesome information

[@Fitheach81]

I'm in Ontario, Canada and recently found a non-franchise shop not too far from me. In talking with the guy there and saying how it's getting hard to find these places which is a shame because that's where you find something different and get to know the ppl working there. He was telling me some of the business politics that go on, such as one store might have the contract/rights to sell brand x for a specific area/region. Or how one year a certain company purchased all, or close to it all, PRS for Canada for that year or period then stored them until demand increased to the point prices could also go up. I'm not familiar with this or the terminology so I'm sure it could be explained better, but it was an eye opener for sure. And anyone in Canada reading this can figure out who the franchise company is - they have their place but from a consumer perspective it's the same inventory whether I drive 5hrs south, north, etc etc.

[@ronlight7013]

I'd be interested in hearing you go deeper into this - in any direction you'd care to. For starters, what's the typical (or typical range) margin in new guitars. When I pay "x", what do you get to keep for the store? How do you compete successfully with large online retailers given your bricks-and-mortar overhead? Don't you suffer due to not having economy of scale? Thanks, Phillip.

[@virtue696]

Thats secret information.. dealers dont want you to know what the margins on guitars are.. that would cause many problems if everyone knew..

[@jbrosupra]

+AquaCentauri I had a dealer tell me their mark up on ibanez was 25 percent.

[@jbrosupra]

@Kaptain Kid they all list at the same thing. Every guitar dealer. They are required to not go under a a certain price (MAP) and advertise it and if they mark up more then everyone they wont sell.

[@mikemogfrog]

very interesting and honest insight, awesome video, thanks.

[@sethcall2916]

In my local music store it is epiphone, Alverez, and Martin

[@GuitarExpress]

Very good advice! thanks for sharing!

[@sasquatchlife8836]

Great advice, thank you for sharing. How many employees did you start out with when you first opened? I figured I'll need a luthier, a few sales associates, and a store manager. At the bare minimum?

[@zachlikesbagels3890]

Thank you for the information!

[@markwhitelaw7192]

Curious, how hard is it to get good quality but lesser known/distributed brands such as G&L, Reverend, etc? I have one of each of those and love them so much but find it hard to find local dealers to check out more products by them. Wonder why more dealers, especially small ones, don't carry more products like that. I think it would be awesome to see a small store carry quality but lesser known stuff. Skip the big names and the "easy to carry" cheap stuff.

[@BTsMusicChannel]

If I were to open a guitar shop, Reverend is a brand I could stand by for sure.

[@kylelikeskjvbible]

That sucks that the manufacturer wont help you out with customer issues, its their product with the flaws, and they expect you to figure it out for em? thats bullshit

[@whiskeycrossing2409]

This was great. I am opening a store. If you have any advice on who i should contact first. Thank would be amazing.

[@CVK85atl]

you have any videos touring the inside of your shop?

[@triplev3539]

What are the Profit Margins on guitars, effects and accessories? or a ball park.

[@donttalktome4696]

Usually 40 percent.

[@minutesagoedited9761]

Looks like a giant fishing lure of some sort

[@sager.2753]

Hey Phil, I'd like to see more advice on this subject I've been watching your gear videos since about August and I was thinking about opening a store sometime soon but im not sure how to start

[@arrakeen20]

What’s that green guitar over your left shoulder?

[@jamiej14544]

Gibson, I heard, wants their dealers to buy in very large quantities, which is a major capital expense, otherwise they won't deal with you. Guitar Center has a lot of debt they are struggling with. The internet is changing things dramatically as well.

[@ehdforlife]

Wish video was a 100 times longer.

[@JoeyPBasically]

Can we get more videos like this

[@aj2674]

Did you deal with used?

[@Aquab0t]

would you ever consider selling one of those RG's?

[@PhillipMcKnight]

+Nolan Nuanes I sold the pink one and I do not think I would ever sell the other one.

[@Aquab0t]

+Phillip McKnight. fair enough. rock on brotha!

[@alext9067]

That's it on the likes? I found that interesting as hell.

[@vintagevinylvets1187]

Great video, very interesting information but WOW, you really talked way too fast in this. Your videos these days are much better.

[@TylrVncnt]

Vintage Vinyl Vets - quick tip, you can change playback speed in settings

[@nealixd.3011]

Actually, from what I have personally witnessed, you are better off opening up a used guitar shop. Atomic Music of Beltsville, MD is a great shop that opened in the mid 1990s in nearby College Park, near the U. of MD, and has done well, selling a vast amount of used instruments. I like Luis and Eric a lot, great guys. I like going there, because I see either real cool stuff I have not seen for 30-40 years, stuff I am curious about, but have not seen in new stores, or stuff I have never seen before at all, ha. They get a fair amount of real offbeat or modified guitars. But, also plenty of newer, pristine, stock stuff too. I got a mint 2014 Traynor YCV40 tube amp combo with all the accessories and a nice Fender cover they found for me for a very reasonable price. They have a great business model, but I spare you the details. They have guitars, basses, acoustics, amps, keys, drums, accessories, etc. I have been around a lot since 1965 in music, and they are a fun place to go.

[@craigpearce3217]

As I have been involved in other Franchised businesses, this really doesn't surprise me- the big boys dictate inventory and terms, and either you play their game or not- A big part of the problem is dead stock- if you are in the clothing business, it's a 100% markup because you end up with so much dead stock you can't give it away- I was also a Polaris Dealer, and they would tell you what you were buying-never mind if some of that inventory fit your market, they needed to sell it- As a John Deere Dealer I was required to order a certain amount of Tractors (in specific hp categories), and you will pay 4% above market rates for intetest for dead inventory-doesn't sound roo bad until your inventory is above 20 million-

[@nathanjones1209]

So, none of this matters if youre a used guitar shop, right? Companies cant tell you not to sell their stuff if its a used guitar spot?

[@McFlyGuitarsandStuff]

Stuff you need to know to open a guitar shop? DONT DO IT! LOL It would need to be the perfect location far away from competition.....ie: Sam Ash, Guitar Center. But you can never escape Amazon, Music 123, Musicians friend ect. I knew 2 people that opened store's in the 90's. One was a honest couple.......they went under. The other was a guy who started with sound rental (Which was a good fit for his cocaine business what with being around sound men, rock bands, bar's ect.) He later added a music store. He once told my wife "I love ripping stupid people off". I did a search and he is still in business.Go figure.

[@BTsMusicChannel]

It appears that it is a bad idea to go into the business of selling guitars independently unless you are already well-established. I suppose that's the consequence of the corporatization of art and culture. "This is America baby -- survival of the fittest." (The Jerky Boys)

[@johnscottreardon]

velly intellesting.

[@skeeveskeeve]

god that is an ugly ibanez