I’ve never had any problems with Thomann. Always a 100% trustworthy. I failed my NGNY in july by ordering a b-stock Linnstrument from them and there was nothing besides a sticker on the box that would’ve given it away as b-stock.
I mostly buy second hand if I can but have never had bad experiences with any store. Probably due to not buying new stuff very often.
fair deal music (uk) sold me a korg monologue without battery cover lol
they ignored my first email, then the second time i told them it was illegal not to sort it out, i suggested they ring korg and order a replacement which they eventually did.
another shop is PMT uk which sells ex display stuff as new from their shop.
EU here. I have ordered from them many times over the years but only these last 3 times I was not satisfied. The god thing you can send it back within 30 days, so you have time to look over the item and decide.
Calling it a horror story because some bits of plastic are missing or broken is a tad entitled… On the other hand, they should abide by their own words if they have B-stock items on sale.
I was actually talking about this Strymon story:
yeah missing screen protector is annoying but not scary, however getting a new unit without knowing that it was opened and tampered with inside - that’s kinda scary.
anyway, lots of good responses here as well so I’m pretty sure it’s all good most of the time and with the 30 days guarantee it’s easy to just test everything and look for the screws see if they’re unopened etc. and just return the unit if needed.
I have bought B-Stock from Thomann multiple times and except for some dust on my Sennheiser in-ears I have never found anything that would make it look like used gear.
But of course, if you see how big they are I am sure that there are mistakes being made and I also think that it is totally unrealistic that everything that’s getting sent back will be sold as b-stock with a discount. I just checked and in Germany this is totally legit if the goods are still in a “new” condition. Don’t know about other countries of course.
I never order anything from anywhere that only has 1 in-stock. I know from visiting there that Andertons display stock is often in a pretty poor state. Not saying that they would ever try to sell those items but it does make me wonder what shop-displayed items are subjected to.
I’ve received a couple of eurorack modules that have looked like b-stock - screws missing, weirdly calibrated - but nothing more than that.
Just received a brand-new Digitakt. The DT packaging box from Elektron had a very obviously crushed corner but the retailer shipping box was pristine. Hmmm.
DT itself looks fine. Lots of smudges on the plastic screen protector though. Easily wiped them off. My DN had lots of smudges on the screen protector too. Maybe it’s a factory thing? Maybe?
I’ve gotten a few “brand-new” pieces of gear before with blatantly obvious scratches in the metal, etc. I think it happens with a lot of retailers these days. It sucks.
If a retailer stood up and said:
“We send 100% brand-new gear when you order. Guaranteed!”
I think they would quickly become a favorite.
I think, that it is the downside of the 30 days trial and free return option, that many shops offer. Someone has to buy these units. And I understand, why they can´t sell all returned units as b stock. Big shops offer the lowest price anyway. If you want to buy cheap, it might be risky. If you want a brand new unit, support your local dealer, walk into the shop for a talk and a coffee and buy what you see. It might cost a bit more, but you get the product advice (I hope, it´s the right word - I got it from the translator) on top.
Not everyone has the luxury of local shops. I live in a small town that doesn’t even have a store that sells clothes, much less synths. Closest city with a synth shop (Seattle) would be a 10hr round trip drive.
Perfect Circuit, Los Angeles is good.
Nightlife, Vancouver is awesome.
MOOG Audio, Montreal is garbage.
Guitar Center is 50/50.
Sam Ash, okay, but it’s just ghetto.
Big City Music is good.
Control, New York is good.
Control Voltage, Portland is good.
ROBOTSPEAk, San Francisco sucks.
Erica Synths, direct is awesome.
Expert Sleepers, direct is awesome (ZZZ customer service only, I don’t think he sells).
this is only based on my experiences
What a strange comment. Of course you are entitled to what you paid for.
Huh, problems with in-person or remote orders?
Analogue Haven is pretty great as well.
Such quibbling over phrasing, it’s incredibly frustrating to receive something broken in an intact and fairly packed box, which suggests that it was shipped broken, pushing you as the user to accept broken merchandise or deal with the hassle of getting it returned and replaced (possibly with another b-stock!) as the vendor will not give a discount for your troubles even if they shipped B-Stock as new.
I don’t mind scratch and dent if I’m compensated a bit for that, but it doesn’t work that way, and I don’t blame anyone for wanting items in the condition they expected. Setting and maintaining expectations is important to be able to trust any retailer at their word.
I don’t want my instrument shops to be like the sketchy Brooklyn camera gear sellers that advertised impossible prices then bait & switched and hoped they could force people to accept different prices (sometimes even different gear, like cameras with an “international” warranty not supported in America!) through force of will.
In person.
Sold me stuff with missing parts as new. They have no clue what’s going on, or what’s in their store. It’s a dump. dude was incapable of taking a credit card. And I don’t support shops that have no product, and just place orders for you, when you can go to the manufacturers website and order it there yourself. Makes no sense to have a shop full of “special order”.
Never again. (going on 9 years)
Edited adding: agree, Analog Haven is great 
I have one local store but their inventory and ability/willingness to order is a bit hit or miss. Otherwise it’s Guitar Center, Perfect Circuit, Sweetwater, etc. I would probably have to drive 8 hours to Chicago for the nearest big, interesting music store with electronic instruments
I recently bought a pair of Genelec 8010a studio monitors from Andertons, and had an unexpected experience. I was importing them to the US to ride the exchange rate wave, and the checkout listed some special policies around international orders, though it all looked unremarkable.
The surprise came when the package arrived with “tested” printed on the invoice for each item. Indeed, the interior poly bags for the monitors had the tape broken, though they otherwise appeared brand-new. I was curious what was going on, and after some searching the FAQ on the Andertons site, I found a full explanation of a confusingly-worded part of the international shipping policy I had clicked through:
As international shipping can be quite a complex process if any problems were to occur down the line, we want to ensure that your order arrives with you without a hitch. When you place an order to be shipped out overseas, you will need to view and agree to some terms and conditions that explain that we check over and test items being sent out to customers who are outside of the UK. Proceeding beyond this screen assumes acceptance of the terms. Checking the items minimises the chance of disappointment when they arrive (for example, missing documents, incorrect power cables and so on). For this reason you may find that items appear to have been opened when they arrive with you, however this is just to ensure that the products leave us in fully-working order.
Odd. In the end, I got a pair of new, slightly-open-box Genelecs for under $500 US, so it worked out.
Got a “new” Wavestate from Thomann and it was full of finger fat around knobs and most frequently used buttons.
Sent them an email about it they never replied.
Anyway after some cleaning I decided to keep it since besides that everything was working fine and confirmed coupon to get Native Wavestate VST hasn’t been used.
That sounds sensible to me. I mean it might technically make it open-box, but surely it’s better for everyone than having to send it back through international shipping and customs (twice) because of some immediately obvious problem. I’d appreciate that from an overseas seller.
It’s either Andertons doing something nice, or an interesting way to get rid of b-stock. 