[Harp-L] Hohner Price Increase?

["Robert Koch free" <rok68@xxxxxxx>]

> > I have a friend that works at a rather large music 
> > distributor/wholesaler.
> > He told me about the price hike and qouted me a $36.95 retail price for
> > Special 20s effective sometime this month. All the more reason to switch 
> > to Seydel Solist Pro's.  =8^D

  Whether true or not, US American prices for the MB Classic are
laughably low. In Germany, next to which I live, list price is around â27, 
in the US it's
$25 or about â18,50 (maybe less) at current exchange rates, including
shipping from Europe and US import duty.
  If the prices were the same the MB Classic would list at about $36,50, so 
a $7 price increase
isn't enough to redress the current imbalance.
  Actually, all other things being equal, US list price should be more than 
$36,50 to cover
shipping costs and import duty. We, European harp players, have been
subsidising the whinger quoted below for the last 40 years at least and it's 
high time he started paying for his own instruments.
  Interestingly, the opposite is true for the MBDL. In Germany it costs â42 
or about $57, but the powers that be in Richmond sell it in the
USA for $75. A good source in Europe tells me presumably in an attempt to 
price it out of the market.
  Ain't capitalism wonderful!
  Sunnyside in France