The price of whistles is a strange thing.
How it goe’s is this you make a whistle think about how long it has taken to make add the cost of what went into it,set what you think is a fair retail price, half it for wholesale. you the sell a bunch to the wholesaler who say’s they want ten percent off, then also want 30days before they send payment which you have to wait 7 more day to clear.
Then you see that the whistle is selling for three times what you got for it,by a firm you didn’t sell it to.
So then why is one whistle xx$ and another YY$
It all depends on how much you thought was a fair price in the first place
Moral buy from the maker save some cash 
, and give them a fair price too 
Yes, buy from the maker. I can heartily recomend this from own experience for Colin Goldie (Overtons), Stacey O’Gorman (Alba), and John Sindt.
Mike Burke is also a pleasure to deal with, and I think his whistles are a steal for the price. Yes, I played a Copeland once, and I don’t see $300 difference in them.
Applause 
Gets my vote from experience of 3 different whistlesmiths,
who have all given 5 star service,
and a couple of internet shops who haven’t really given a toss!
Now, if only I can get a set of supersonic fingers to save
practicing 
Hear, hear. Words to live by.
Words to live by indeed.
In other fields than whistles known as “Fair trade”.
Highly subversive, too…
Now, there are some whistles I’d better get at a dealer’s. Like Generations, if he lets me toot in a dozen before I decide… to think it over :roll:
I couldn’t agree more, and it applies to more than whistles. When I’m buying a CD, I’d much rather buy it from the artist than from a store. Nothing against shopkeepers or anything, but if I buy from the artist they get their royalty (which doesn’t always happen, as we’ve been hearing lately) plus the markup of the wholesaler and of the store. Since I most often buy CDs from small (ie, not widely marketed) artists, I like for them to get what they can so they’ll keep recording.
The same would apply with whistles. If I want an Alba and I know how to go to the source (which, conveniently, I do), that’s where I’ll go, and that way I know she and others will be inspired and able to keep doing what they do.
Steven
I agree in principle, but not I think in practice. If you can find a good store for instruments or CDs then you can browse and play. You don’t have to send off dozens of cheques to different people to get CDs but only one per batch. Every time I pay for something in $US, I have to pay my bank a hefty fee. It isn’t worth it for small transactions. Also, with stores, you can go in and browse and I find that a pleasurable experience.
Now, all this depends on the storekeeper being considerate and competent (except the flat fee for foreign currency cheques). Obviously, this isn’t always the case. I’ve really enjoyed dealing with every instrument maker I’ve dealt with and so I do prefer this way of buying when the size of the order warrants it and I’m happy to buy something sight unseen.
OK, you got me – there are often extenuating circumstances. On the other hand, most of the CDs I’ve bought in the past few years I found out about by being at an event where the artist was playing, and they had some of their new CD out to sell. And I must admit, I do enjoy browsing in shops, although many of these CDs wouldn’t have been there.
Steven
Yeah, that’s another kind of pleasurable experience. Very few shops can afford to carry a lot of stock in the CD age and browsing ain’t what it used to be. Also, there is so much out there now that buying direct, even for CDs, is now the only way to get a lot of great music, be it at gigs or over the net. I’d just hate to see shops go out of business or become totally pop-oriented; at least, I’d hate to see the good ones disappear.
I’ve been really happy buying directly from dealers, which is easy and readily available for mid to high end whistles, notwithstanding whether there was an initial problem with or dislike of a particular whistle, the service and attention from Copeland, Burke, Abell, Sindt, Silkstone (Heyward), Schultz, Busman, Elfsong (Jasper), Alba, Overton (Colin and Brigitte), Serpent, Reyburn, Parkhurst, Hoover, Sweet, and just talking with Pat O’Riordan…has been terrific.
Regards,
PhilO
As a whistlesmith, I can heartily recommend buying from the maker!
Hand-made copper and chrome and stainless steel whistles. Mail woodhouse.uk@lineone.net for a pic and a soundbite.
Jetboy
Weston Whistles UK
I’ve often wondered whether whistle makers would rather I bought from them direct or through stores they sell to. I honestly don’t know whether a specific maker or makers in general spend an undue amount of time doing paperwork associated with individual orders. There are some obvious cases where it’s not so, but, say, a year or two ago, I didn’t know whether Mike Burke was being bogged down with individual orders (there were times when it seemed so) so that it would’ve been better had I ordered from Song of the Sea.
Stacey, would you rather people ordered directly from you or through one of the commercial outlets that carry your whistles? I’m really interested in what the 'smiths have to say on this matter.
Ofcourse this is always a problem, When I sell direct I get a better price,when I sell wholesale I sell lots of whistles at a time.
One by one orders take more time because you have to prosess each order.
For me Right it’s about right now,but I do find that sometimes the orders are taking awhile to prosess as the wholesale has been very busy.
The main thing that was bothering me is when wholesalers sell to others in the trade then they put on their markup is that then my whistles get pricey
so That’s the way it is, buy from me you will likely save money but it might take longer than say if you get it from Bigwhistle.
Ofcourse its because Phil keeps ordering more that you might have to wait 
i think i will now goaway put my head in a bucket/pail and give it a wack with a shovel.
Foolishly, I feel that if I order from a whistle maker,
the makist says something like
“Now, that whistle for …”
and makes it, knowing it’s going to a particular person.
When I get that whistle, I try to play it
acknowledging the effort made for me.
So, right or wrong, foolish or not,
it makes a whistle direct from the maker that
bit special - for me anyway
Noticing somebody quietly pushing a drawer full of ready made whistles shut 
I DO like that idea
Ten percent?, who asked for ten percent? Many of them want 30-40% off - which is hard to do when your price is low to begin with. Once I sent about 10 whistles to someone and they were held without payment for close to four months.
My policy is simple: No money, no ship. I offer a reasonable break to resellers. As a result, I expect them to take the initiative and pay me up front, and then to market what they get from me. It’s working, so far.
Cheers,
serpent