Hey folks, since average people talk about things, let’s talk about flutes.
I was just looking at current exchange rates, and if my 8-key Grinter flute (ready around Aug) was ready today to ship, it would cost me USD $4065 with today’s strong Euro!!! Wow. Plus another $508 for cocus wood (EUR400)…bringing that to $4573. Geez, in the range of a good Rudall.
For comparison, you could buy an 8-key from Terry McGee for US$3135, or a 6-key (if you could…) from Pat Olwell for US$2545. And so on.
The Ozzie $ has been a good investment over the last several months as well which I’ve been investing in, so if your a Yank with a weak dollar, hedge your bets fellas if your buying Euro flutes.
For europeans expecting their Olwell and Noy flutes, you have a serious bargain this year.
If your choice of flute has something to do with exchange rates and not just with love of the work of the maker, you are delving into the futures market whether you like it or not. I think a lot of buyers forget that in the time it takes to get to the top of the waiting list, a lot can change with exchange rates.
It’s a lot safer buying secondhand, at least in this respect. My recent spate of buying activity has been remarked on these boards. It has more to do with the exchange rate than with the state of my bank account. That, and the right instruments being available at the right price at the right time.
And, not to put a damper on this flute-fetish impulse-buying bunch (of which I am, ashamedly, a member), many more things change than exchange rates over the years. I once had a similar affliction for electric guitars. Rather than go into a lengthy analogy, I’ll suffice to say that, while I still play guitar, I have several guitars more than I need, none of which, in today’s market, will get me any more money than I “invested”. As a player, the ones I own were good choices and fit my needs, but – in case you don’t know this already – I mostly play a flute these days. My point is, of course, that things change over the years, while you wait.
G’s ‘advantageous market’ point is a good one only if you’re about to put down money on a flute anyway; I don’t like to think of instruments as investments. But this new financial advantage is only good IF the maker takes a deposit and gives you an approximate date. True, this holds you to a commitment, but the flip side is that they are held to their original price – none of this “I’ll contact you when you’re on the list” nonsense, and, “by the way, the prices have gone way up.” The two flutes I’ve purchased from makers in recent years both worked this way, Hammy, and a baroque maker named Simon Polak. During my waits, both makers’ prices went up, but my price didn’t, because I had made the commitment of a deposit. It’s the only way I’ll agree to place an order on anything.
Buying used is a fine way to avoid all of this, the wait and the ever-changing exchange rate… assuming the seller isn’t checking the latest quotes from The Wall Street Journal when he/she fixes their price.
Just curious – Is Grinter not going to charge you the price as of the order date? It seems a little odd to me that one could order something with a particular price, then pay several tens of percent more.
He is, I think. The point is just that the US dollar has fallen considerably versus the Euro. Michael quotes prices in Euros.
So, it sucks for folks in the US, but it’s not a problem for Europeans. I don’t think we could expect Michael to take a huge hit just because our currency fell apart. (Not that you’re suggesting it, Chas.)
It acutally sucks everywhere. We in the US can’t afford to buy flutes from Europe (remember the cheap European flutes of a few years ago, when a keyless Hamilton could be had for little over $500?). On the other hand, the European builders have a lot more trouble selling flutes to Americans, and lose an important part of their business.
Not to pry, but what’s the deal with your payment situation in China? Is a portion of your salary paid to you in foreign (ie US) currency? That was the deal with a friend of mine, anyways (she taught at a teachers’ college in Jiangxi province for a few years).
Ahh…right now the exchange rate is about 105 yen to the dollar. I remember back in March 2002, it was about 133 yen to the dollar! Sucks for the Japanese economy, of course, but it’s grrreat for me.
Time to send some more money home…
Actually, I (my wife, actually) have an 8-key due in August, and I have two whistles ordered at the same time, and the price was in US dollars when I ordered them. (I started to edit my post to explain this, then my batch of beer/wort started to boil over.)
My guess is that Michael will honour the deal you already struck. He has a dual pricing system, one for home buyers, the other for overseas, but he will probably tie his overseas pricing to the currency he judges to be most stable.
If you want to complain about the dual pricing system, think again. The Australian dollar is volatile because we have a small economy. if he simply had a single pricing system then Australian buyers could find themselves having to pay twice as much as they’d expected or Michael could find himself taking a loss on local sales. Since his costs are probably mainly in $A, this gives him and the buyer some security and stability.
Just an update that the whistles I ordered a year ago will cost the same in US$ as when I ordered them. I did expect this, but was concerned by the original post.
I have Grinter low-F and -G coming in a month or so, and I’m really psyched!! (Sorry if this belongs on the whistle board, I’ll go back there after my outburst.)
There’s a new blackwood Grinter 8 key at our regular session and it cost the owner 25.000 Swedish crowns in November, 2003, which is 3.488 USD. Not so bad.
Communicatd with Michael G about the cost for the flute. He and his wife are such wonderful people!!!
But…His stance is that the exchange rate at time of SHIPPING holds, not the exchange rate at time of deposit. Is it worth it to spend US$4.5 for a new grinter cocus flute in Aug this year?
Aren’t you only guessing what the exchange rate will be in August? It’s been worsening steadily for US folk to be sure, but the there was a trend the other way this week … August is anybody’s guess.
To avoid the gamble on future exchange rate fluctuations, it may be worth checking with a bank to see if you can lock in the exchange rate for a future transaction. This would be a “foreign exchange forward contract”, and is fairly standard in commercial transactions.
It would also make sense for a flute maker to set up something like this if most of his business is for export.
Really good idea Dave. I’ll keep this in mind if I order from overseas soon. To be honest, the exchange rate is just so unpredictable at the moment that you could, if you gambled, get the most fantastic bargain or be up for twice what you were expecting. A free trade agreement between Australia and the US has just been agreed, subject to ratification by the respective parliaments, and this could have further unpredictable effects.
Michael’s business is, I’m pretty certain, mostly overseas. It’s no secret, he told me himself. He’d be a fool to gamble on exchange rates, and Michael is no fool.
