Quote Originally Posted by Ajani
Thanks for the info! I always wondered how non-authorized dealers got their paws on high end products... the sad part is to realize that 'carefully selected' authorized dealers are the ones who willingly supply the shady internet dealers...

Trans-shipping was the bane of many a manufacturer during the heyday of the industry, and apparently, still is, at least for Marantz. Fortunately, very few of the "carefully selected" retailers were eager to sell to their neighboring, non-authorized retailers, but some were pretty blatant about it. Just as often as not, pushing a few items "out the back door" to a less worthy retailer was an easy way to get quick cash when money was tight. Apparently, many of these trans shippers felt that it really wouldn't hurt too much to sell a couple of receivers, or a few pairs of speakers to non-authorized retailers just for a quick buck. Little did they know...

Most of the time, a trans shipper will purchase only one or two items from an authorized dealer for the specific purpose of selling against that product. Sixth Avenue Electronics, back in the late 80's and early 90's was just such a retailer. They would bring in one or two pieces of a Denon item (usually a CD player), and then run an ad in the newspaper for a ridiculously low price on it. When the customer arrived, they were conveniently "sold out" of that item, but had something else that they pushed on the customer as a "better deal."

This was a very dirty business at one time.