For the most part, I hate Guitar Center. One advantage to them though is you can browse their entire used inventory in every store in the country online.
One thing I have been finding lately in that their shipping charges are outrageous! I was going to purchase a 12" Splash cymbal for $19.99 and they wanted to charge me $17.99 to ship it standard ground! That nearly doubles my cost, so I passed. With a large company like Guitar Center, who I'm sure gets volume discounts on shipping with UPS (and has a slew of boxes and packing material available to them for literally no charge; they just recycle what comes in), I know darn well it doesn't cost them $17.99 to ship a 12" Splash Cymbal. Heck, my individual consumer cost to ship a 12" splash cymbal at normal carrier rates would be cheaper than $17.99. Guitar Center is clearly trying to make some money on shipping. I have been finding this on a lot of their items. I put it in my cart, see what the shipping charge is, and I delete it from my cart, because the high shipping charge is completely ruining the good deal I was getting on the item price alone.
Also, I've noticed that it's the exact same price if it is shipped to your local store. Who is going to have it shipped to the store? If it's the same price either way, I certainly want it delivered to my door, rather than have to go to the store and get it. Maybe if you are not home all day and are worried about it being left outside, but otherwise it's inconvenient to have to go pick it up at the store, and you also have to pay tax either way too!
However, that's where I think Guitar Center is blowing it. In my opinion, they should offer either free shipping or substantially discounted shipping if you pick it up in store. Here's why: If you go in to the store, you're more likely to spend additional money! If you buy a used snare and pick it up in store, wouldn't you be likely to buy a new head (or two) while you were there? If you buy a used cymbal and have it shipped to the store, wouldn't you be much more likely to buy a cymbal stand or boom arm than if you had it shipped to your home?
This is another of the many reasons Guitar Center is a completely mis-managed and poorly run company. Get more customers in the door buy offering a cheaper shipping alternative to give people incentive to come in and look around. They have an advantage over other online music retailers...they have an actual store you can physically visit. Why not use that to your best advantage? Imagine that. More customers = better business. Who woulda thunk it?
