Where do you purchase?

[ccravens]

Interested in getting some ideas about where to purchase strings online. Assuming that all of the internet sites sell about the same products, I'm wanting some ideas about the prices on shipping.

This quest came about when I ordered a couple of sets of strings recently (I usually order many more at a time, but that's a long story) and was surprised to see that the shipping for the $7-8 worth of strings was $7. And no free shipping for large orders, as some places sometimes do.

Shame on me for not noticing before! I'm not sure whether it is allowed/acceptable on this forum to mention the name of the internet string-selling business, so for now I won't. Don't want to break any rules.

Now I'm interested in looking elsewhere, and would appreciate any advice.

[lenf12]

I hear ya Chris, I recently bought 3 Prime Tone picks from a well known online retailer for $5.73 PLUS $6.95 for postage. Ouch!!

Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[ccravens]

Sounds like the same exact dealer. Mine was $6.95 also.

Any place better?

[Capt. E]

I looked at two very well known suppliers and BOTH charge $6.95 shipping. One does Free Shipping only if you join their "club".

[Ancient]

Sweetwater music has free shipping. They are great folks to deal with.

sweetwater.com

[Payton]

Juststrings.com

Payton

[Tobin]

I usually buy from JustStrings. They do charge $6.95 shipping. But I always buy enough sets of strings that the shipping is pretty minor. The order I just placed a couple of days ago was close to $100, and the shipping seems pretty reasonable for what I'm getting.

The concept of "free shipping" is fooling everyone. They're not shipping anything for free. They're just building the price of shipping into the product so you don't notice it, and then making you think you got something for nothing like it was some sort of bargain. But you have no idea what it actually costs them to ship it, or how much of their price is for the shipping component. I like to have more transparency, so I know what I'm paying for the item and what I'm paying for shipping.

[allenhopkins]

Buy locally. Keep your local dealer in business. When you add in shipping (and subtract local sales tax), how much higher are his/her prices, anyway? If you told him you'd purchase in bulk from him/her, could you get a deal? Wouldn't he/she stock the obscure brand of strings you prefer, if you said you'd buy consistently them at the store?

I know this isn't possible for everyone, but one reason local dealers are in financial trouble, is that musicians are going on-line to buy most of their accessories, which were bread-and-butter profit generators for local music stores. If Joe's (or Joan's) Music goes belly-up, where will you get your repairs/adjustments/trade-ins, etc.?

There are good local dealers here in Rochester, and I know that's not true everywhere. But without our support, there may not be local dealers anywhere. Which is not a good thing.

[BradKlein]

Just a reminder that it's worth considering who you want to support with your small purchases of strings etc. I buy online, but also at local brick and mortar music shops - especially when i've spent time browsing their merchandise. I try not to leave without buying strings or picks or a tuner...
PS and online sponsors of this web site are at the top of my online list

[catmandu2]

Buy locally. Keep your local dealer in business. When you add in shipping (and subtract local sales tax), how much higher are his/her prices, anyway? If you told him you'd purchase in bulk from him/her, could you get a deal? Wouldn't he/she stock the obscure brand of strings you prefer, if you said you'd buy consistently them at the store?

Precisely my orientation. When I was changing strings frequently in my flamenco days, my local guys were only too obliging supplying me only wound 4th, 5th and 6th strings from Savarez sets in bulk -

[sblock]

Look around! You might consider looking at a website like Google.com/shopping, Amazon, or EBay. Search for the exact brand and type of strings you want. These places allow you to rank the results by price, INCLUDING shipping. For example, I just searched Amazon for D'Addario J74 strings and found a set there for $7.95 with free shipping. I also found something using Google/shopping for $6.74 plus free shipping. YMMV.

Or, take Allen Hopkin's advice and support your local music store by buying your musical accessories there. You probably won't match the online price, but your money will go to support the local economy and music business. This only works if they happen to stock the items you seek, however. Buying single strings or certain types of sets often won't work.

[Ancient]

At Sweetwater you can buy just a few picks and shipping is free. I have been ordering from Sweetwater for years and have never been charged for shipping.

[ccravens]

Juststrings.com

Payton

They charge $6.95 no matter how much or how little you buy. They have no free shipping no matter how large your order.

And their prices are no cheaper than anyone else's, so there's no savings there.

And buying locally is unfortunately not an option where I live.

[Warren H]

The local store in my town is really good about keeping strings in stock if they know what everyone needs. The owner even gives me a call when he gets a new bunch of strings in that he knows I like. This helps keep his business going and the store is there when I need something NOW. Even though the owner of the store is a generation younger than I am, we've established a good working friendship that benefits both of us.

You can't get that from the internet.

[UsuallyPickin]

Well .... The local store doesn't carry the strings I use , the picks I use and they rarely have an instrument I would be interested in purchasing. The last time I purchased a product from them was in October. It still has not arrived at the store despite assurances that it was not back ordered. Soooo ...I shop online now. Just Strings is my first choice and I order enough strings to balance out the shipping charge. I use Strings and Beyond when they have a better price and Sweetwater when they have what I am looking for. All are easy to deal with and have "friendly" websites. R/

[ccravens]

Sweetwater music has free shipping. They are great folks to deal with.

sweetwater.com

Sweet! I just checked, and they have free shipping, even on an order with just one pack of strings!

Unfortunately, their selection is limited, and they don't have the strings I use for my guitar (DR Rares).

[ccravens]

Just Strings is my first choice and I order enough strings to balance out the shipping charge. I use Strings and Beyond when they have a better price and Sweetwater when they have what I am looking for. All are easy to deal with and have "friendly" websites. R/

You and Tobin both mentioned this, about ordering a big order and that "balances out" the cost. Of course I understand what you are saying but not the logic. I also usually order big, as Tobin, near $100 orders, so the $7 Just Strings shipping price doesn't "seem" too excessive. Until I ordered 2 packs of strings and the shipping was as much as the strings. But you are still paying the $7, whether it "seems" excessive or not based your total purchase. That's why I'm investigating.

BTW, good news is, thanks to your suggestion, I just called Strings and Beyond, and here's the scoop: on orders up to $35, shipping is just $4. Order over $35 and shipping is free! And they seem to have a large selection.

Saving $3 may not be much to some people, but I'd rather save when/wherever I can.

Still looking around, however, and happy to explore other suggestions.

[Tobin]

Buy locally. Keep your local dealer in business. When you add in shipping (and subtract local sales tax), how much higher are his/her prices, anyway? If you told him you'd purchase in bulk from him/her, could you get a deal? Wouldn't he/she stock the obscure brand of strings you prefer, if you said you'd buy consistently them at the store?

I know this isn't possible for everyone, but one reason local dealers are in financial trouble, is that musicians are going on-line to buy most of their accessories, which were bread-and-butter profit generators for local music stores. If Joe's (or Joan's) Music goes belly-up, where will you get your repairs/adjustments/trade-ins, etc.?

There are good local dealers here in Rochester, and I know that's not true everywhere. But without our support, there may not be local dealers anywhere. Which is not a good thing.

That's one of those things that sounds good in theory, but may only truly work for a limited number of people. Where I live, a decent brick and mortar music store is at least 30 miles away. And even then, every time I've gone to one of them, they don't have what I'm looking for. I have purchased from them on several occasions, but I don't think the markup they're getting on a set of strings is what's going to make or break their business. I can't vouch for the validity of it, but I've been told that music shops only carry picks and strings to keep customers coming in so they can be tempted to buy more expensive things. As far as I can tell, they make their money mostly on higher-end instrument sales, lessons, and stuff like that. The accessories on the wall aren't going to pay their rent, and it's not worth it for them to actually stock a wide variety of strings.

So I do try to be helpful and buy from them when I'm there, but to be honest, it's usually not worth my time or gas to drive all the way over there.

[Jeff Mando]

I like to support my local music stores, but it is hard to beat online prices. On eBay, you can search for string prices that include free shipping. Using electric guitar strings as an example, buying 3 or 4 sets, drops the price to under $4 a set and that includes the shipping. If my local guy wanted to really give me a brother-in-law type of discount he STILL could only discount the same strings from $10 down to $8, so really no comparison pricewise. But, I still support him from time to time, if I need strings that same day, etc. But, he's made plenty off of me, instrument-wise!

[Payton]

Ccravens,

Sorry, but I didn't mention the price of strings or shipping cost. I just merely answered the question of where I purchase my strings. My take on the whole subject is what ever floats your boat is good with me. Thanks for capturing my post though!

Payton

[Br1ck]

I never walk into my local store, more often than not Griffin, without buying something weather I need it or not. Sometimes that is a guitar, sometimes a few sets of strings or a book, capo, tuner or what have you. So for my $20 I get an hour or so of getting my mitts on thousands of dollars of inventory, and the education that provides.

I placed an order with Juststrings recently because I couldn't find GHS silk and steel, and bought a few other things to mitigate the S&H charges.

Otherwise I like to support local business.

[ccravens]

I never walk into my local store, more often than not Griffin, without buying something weather I need it or not. Sometimes that is a guitar, sometimes a few sets of strings or a book, capo, tuner or what have you. So for my $20 I get an hour or so of getting my mitts on thousands of dollars of inventory, and the education that provides.

I placed an order with Juststrings recently because I couldn't find GHS silk and steel, and bought a few other things to mitigate the S&H charges.

Otherwise I like to support local business.

Many people have suggested local, and I wish I could purchase locally! Sadly, not an option.

I'm curious as to how the purchase of a "few other things" actually "mitigated" the $7 S&H fee. Did they decrease the amount that you had to pay for shipping? I was told they would not.

But if you mean (as I think) that "I bought more stuff, and my bill was larger, so the $7 didn't seem as much money to pay for shipping," then aren't you really fooling yourself while paying more? And the conspiracy-minded people might wonder if the higher cost of shipping actually made you purchase more than you needed, so the S&H wouldn't seem as bad!!




I'm not saying stores would do that, but that would be an interesting concept, no?

[Scott Rucker]

My small town, local dealer will order whatever I want in bulk at competitive prices. I guess I'm fortunate. I've also been happy with Just Strings, a Cafe sponsor.

[Kris N]

+1 to Amazon. The price is on par with everyone else, and when its not, its usually only $1 higher. With some strings you can even get a 15% discount if you set it up on quarterly auto ship. If you have Prime, it's 2 day free shipping to most locations.

[mandobassman]

Well .... The local store doesn't carry the strings I use , the picks I use and they rarely have an instrument I would be interested in purchasing...

This is my experience as well. I would love to buy local, but there are no stores near me that carry anything that I use. I can find much of what I need on Amazon and with a Prime account, shipping is free and I get it either the next day or even sometimes the same day.