Due to the rising costs of manufacturing Kerry Songbird soprano whistles I have decided that the retail price is way to high.This being the case,rather than delete them from our range,I will continue to sell them only from the Kerrywhistles on-line shop.At present the retail cost is £100 uk pounds.The new price will be reduced to £65 uk pounds from December 1st 2004.This meens that they will no longer be available from shops world wide.I hope this will be of help to people who would like one but feel they are too expensive.I am currently out of stock and am waiting for a new batch which will be ready near the end of November.They will only be available as tuneables.
Phil.
I’m not as quick as Bloomfield so let me think about this. The price of the Songbirds at the whistle shop is $110. Up until now they have been 100 pounds, just about 200 bucks at the website shop. So now they will be 65 pounds which I think is about 125 bucks. So if you want to get one better hope the whistle shop has some before the price goes up, I mean down. -mike
Yep, it’s the logic of the market. It seems kind of funny unless you’ve ever been in a small business trying to break a product into a niche market. Everything Phil wrote makes perfect sense to me.
If you’re not competitive at the retail level and your costs are still rising, you pull in your horns and sell direct. You cut all the retail mark up and some of your own profit to keep the product line alive doing limited runs and selling at a target price. Then you work like crazy trying to figure how to cut costs enough to take it back out to the retail outlets at the same price you’ve been selling direct. 
Up until now ,the whistle shop and only the whistle shop has been able to sell the Songbird at that price as we have been charging them the wrong price for them(as far as I know).This was an oversight on our part.Our RRP was $190.So now ,from us they should be around the $100 mark.As I said ,they will no longer be supplied to the trade.This oversight was brought to my attention just recently so all those who have got a Songbird from the whistle shop have had a good deal,others in europe have been paying more.Us makers fight a constant battle with prices as the retail trade add at least 100% on the price they buy them for from the distributors,they in turn add between 15-20% on the wholesale price,add the cost of making and materials and its a wonder us makers stay in business.But it’s the same across the musical instrument spectrum.Thats why I started the on-line shop,so I can sell some of my whistles at a cheaper price.I hope this puts things straight.
Phil.
I’ve played a few of these. What a misnomer!
Yes. They look much like the early metal Burke whistles, but sure don’t play like them.
I haven’t been brave enough yet to pay over the $100 mark for a whistle yet, other than a low F Chieftain, which I’m pretty happy with. As far as soprano whistles go I haven’t yet ventured into the Burke, Silkstone, and others, price range yet. I have a Dixon Alluminum barrell that was about $50. that I play the most- I like it alot- and I just ordered a O’Briain improved Feadog for about $37.-have heard good things about these. — As far as “it’s a wonder us whistle makers stay in business”, my grandmother used to say “always have a plan B.” --mike