Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

  1. #1
    Registered User Michael Neverisky's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    New England, USA
    Posts
    235
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    I hurried-up and dove in for a purchase before that 30% discount expired yesterday. Today I see good ol' Mel Bay is offering a 35% discount.

  2. The following members say thank you to Michael Neverisky for this post:


  3. #2
    Moderator JEStanek's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Pottstown, Pennsylvania, United States
    Posts
    14,284
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    Early bird gets the worm (book) second mouse get's the cheese if there is actually any left...
    There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want; and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second. Logan Pearsall Smith, 1865 - 1946

    + Give Blood, Save a Life +

  4. #3

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    On the front page of this website (MC), they are always showing what the current Mel Bay discount and code is. MB is always offering discounts between 10 and 40%. Just wait and watch the front page and you'll see what I mean.
    "Those who know don't have the words to tell, and the ones with the words don't know so well." - Bruce Cockburn

  5. #4
    Registered User Michael Neverisky's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    New England, USA
    Posts
    235
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    Exactly! The 30% code was on the MC page the day before the 35% code. So, yeah, wait for the 40% code which shows up a few times a year.

  6. #5

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    It would appear that they are struggling to sell books and compete with all the online videos and lessons. As frustrating as it may be if you received good material that will help you it is a bargain either way. You are also supporting the author of the books who I am sure are not being compensated very well for the effort it takes to put together the material.
    "Don't sweat the small stuff, it's all small stuff."

  7. #6
    Administrator Mandolin Cafe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 1998
    Location
    Lawrence, KS
    Posts
    3,835
    Blog Entries
    14

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    The 40% to my memory only occurred once this year. 30-35% is about as good as it gets.

    I wouldn't be so sure about the struggling part. The catalog they own is now largely electronic. It's massive and reaches an incredible world-wide market. A lot of those books go back to the late 1940s have all been digitized and appear literally everywhere: amazon, Barnes & Noble, Musician's Friend, Google Play, smaller e-resellers like Mandolin Cafe on Demand, hundreds of brick and mortar retail outlets and more sole big etailers and resellers than you can calculate. And get this: the company is I believe now only 4 full-time employees last I heard. That's a lot of income to spread around and use to operate efficiently. Books are print on demand by someone else so their overhead is largely office space and subcontractors. I know for fact that they do pretty good with the Mandolin Cafe. Not unusual for them to do several hundred dollars of sales per month off the classifieds here, and you could probably add a couple of zeroes or more to amazon sales. When you grasp their total reach, it's pretty astounding.

    To my eye they've transitioned well to digital and online. You go to NAMM Show and Hal Leonard has a massive booth with dozens of employees. Alfred Publishing also has a pretty big presence. Mel Bay doesn't bother. I don't think working in the book and e-publishing industry is any kind of walk in the park, but I'm an admirer of what they've accomplished. Lots of folks on this forum are publishers with them: Ted Eschliman, Don Stiernberg, Aaron Weinstein, Marilynn Mair, John Baxter and many more.

    Mel's son, certainly up there in years, now runs the company after the two grandsons that had been in charge decided to leave and go into the coffee roasting business.

    Amusing: one of their early books Mel himself is shown playing in the introductory pages what I call the mandolin chord nobody no one ever used, a two-finger G on the top strings and a repeat of the same on the 3 & 4 strings but two frets up the neck towards the bridge. Two G notes, two B notes. Makes sense a guitar player would figure that out but I can't say I've ever seen anyone use it. Went looking for it online, couldn't find it. Sort of a double sort of G chord minus a fifth. Sounds awful. Take my word for it.
    Last edited by Mandolin Cafe; Dec-19-2017 at 1:36pm.

  8. #7
    Registered User Michael Neverisky's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2015
    Location
    New England, USA
    Posts
    235
    Blog Entries
    2

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    Everything I've purchased for the past several years from MB hs been digital. Even to the point of duplicating books previously purchased.

  9. #8
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Oct 2008
    Location
    Chicagoland
    Posts
    720

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    SOP for retail businesses.

    Couple weeks ago I started getting 25% off emails from places I've bought from or even looked at in the past. Later, from the same places, offering 30-35% off. Last week "Up to 50% off", and this week it's free shipping.

    SOP.

  10. #9

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    Frustrating for sure, I generally just keep a note about what I might want and get it on sale at some future date. I could probably open my own store with all the books I have gathering dust - both real and virtual. If I want it now I just buy it no biggie but it is annoying when a sale pops up the next day.
    Northfield F5M #268, AT02 #7

  11. #10

    Default Re: Oh, Mel Bay... what's a long-time customer to do?

    I'm a book publisher, and if the folks at Mel Bay sell books through wholesale distributors (Ingram, Baker&Taylor, a few others), they have to sell to wholesalers for up to a 50 percent discount (or more for large orderto get the wholesalers to distribute, and amazon (as well as your local bookstore) orders through wholesale distributors. That's probably why they have variable, ubiquitous discounts (probably never above 40 percent) that channel customers to buy directly from their website. Book publishing is a very low-margin business!

Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •