ETC ION 1000 Price? Am I being ripped off?

LightingPenguin

LightingPenguin

Active Member
Hey Guys,

I just got a quote for an ETC ION 1000, without any LCD's or fader wings, for $8300.00, plus tax coming out to be a grand total of: $9109.25 for Los Angeles, California from our local dealer.

Does this price sound normal to you guys, or does it sound excessive?

I've heard the Ion price was around $6-7 thousand, not $8300. We've dealt with this dealer before, we have a reputation with them, so its not like we're just waltzing in off the street asking for a list price, they know us.

Any ideas?
 
I have not priced out an Ion, however when making a large purchase always get more then one quote. I would send the exact specs that they send you to another place and see what happens. At the worst, you can then go back to your original dealer and negotiate a bit.
 
This is probably closer to list price, but it at least shows you that you're in the right ball park.

$10,784.36

Certainly get one or two more quotes from other local dealers. I posted this link because it's a good quick-reference, but 90% of the time you'll get much better pricing from local dealers rather than from websites.
 
See this thread: Price on ETC Ion, for historical reference. The most significant post is likely this one (dated 07/22/09):
gafftaper said:
... A friend has suggested that anyone interested should buy their Ion soon. Currently, ETC is pricing Ion to compete for the low budget market. When Element starts shipping that may change.
Click to expand...

The only way to tell if you're being "ripped off" is to solicit at least three competitive bids from varying companies.
 
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MNicolai said:
Certainly get one or two more quotes from other local dealers. I posted this link because it's a good quick-reference, but 90% of the time you'll get much better pricing from local dealers rather than from websites.
Click to expand...

I would get a quote from either BMI, Production Advantage, or Barbizon. They might be able to get you a bit better of a deal and you might be able to avoid sales tax if you are not tax exempt. If it comes out to a few hundred difference, go with the local place, if it comes out to a 2,000 dollar difference, might want to call your local company and see whats up.

Just a little word before people go off on me on this... BMI and Production Advantage are my local dealers. BMI's office is 20 minutes away and Production Advantage is 2.5 hours, though I have been ordering from both companies for many years.
 
$8300 is pretty close to normal range, the lowest i've heard lately was mid seven thousand range, but that was a few monthes ago still.

The quote Derek posted is accurate, the time for a low priced ion is over. We bought our ion back in Nov. '08 for a about $4800 if I remember correctly plus about $1600 for the wing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Considering we just paid in the ballpark of $7k for our new Element 60 Fader/500 Ch, and he was the lowest price in the area by a longshot, I'd say that's probably about right...
 
Since people are throwing out dealer names here I may as well, too. Talk to Full Compass. I don't know why most people will immediatly brush off Full Compass as being too expensive, but I've been dealing with them for four years now and have been very happy with product availibilty, price, and customer service. I don't know what sort of facility you are buying the ION for but if its a school or house of worship, I know first hand that they love to give breaks to both of those groups.

My former high school purchased an Element 40/250 last year with a touch-screen for right around $5,000. The price of the touch-screen was around $800 leaving the price of the console at around $4200. If you don't think that's a great price for the Element RIGHT after it hit the market, then I really want to know who your supplier is.
 
Synchronize said:
Since people are throwing out dealer names here I may as well, too. Talk to Full Compass. I don't know why most people will immediatly brush off Full Compass as being too expensive, but I've been dealing with them for four years now and have been very happy with product availibilty, price, and customer service. I don't know what sort of facility you are buying the ION for but if its a school or house of worship, I know first hand that they love to give breaks to both of those groups.

My former high school purchased an Element 40/250 last year with a touch-screen for right around $5,000. The price of the touch-screen was around $800 leaving the price of the console at around $4200. If you don't think that's a great price for the Element RIGHT after it hit the market, then I really want to know who your supplier is.
Click to expand...

Around 4k is what our lighting guy just paid for his Element. Thats about the sweet spot for that console. Remember, when the Ion came out they priced it low to get it out there. They raised the price of the console pretty dramatically last year about this time.
 
LightingPenguin said:
I've heard the Ion price was around $6-7 thousand, not $8300.
Click to expand...

You are correct. It WAS selling for around $6k-$7k. But now it's not. Derek dug up a post from last year of mine warning that this might happen. It pays to read CB. :mrgreen:

The speculation, is that ETC realized there was a hole in their product line. People were not embracing Smartfade. The appropriate price of Ion was too high of a jump from what Express used to cost. So in order to not loose a lot of business, they temporarily dropped the cost of Ion down into the Express neighborhood until Element was released.

It's always a good idea to support your local dealer if possible. Production Advantage isn't going to be the person doing the repairs on your board are they? If you don't support your local dealer, will they still be in business when you need service. On the other hand for many of us that isn't an option. In that case, big national dealers like Barbizon, P.A., Full Compass, Mainstage, and BMI have greater buying power and therefore can get it to you at a lower price.

In my case, working at a state institution, it's all about the lowest bid. I have very little control over local dealer loyalty for big purchases. We had bids from all the big national dealers when we built my theater 3 years ago. It was amazing the variety of pricing between the big dealers. I would say it's definitely worth your time to contact all of them and be sure to let them know they are competing against each other so if they want your business they need to be aggressive in pricing.

I would call them up ask to speak to a sales person. Then say, "We need to purchase an Ion 1000 with ____ accessories and additional equipment. We will be making this purchase on _____ date (be specific sales people will be more aggressive in pricing if they know the purchase is a sure thing). We are contacting 5 major national dealers to for bids. Please send me your best price quote by _____ date. Please include all shipping costs in your quote." (They don't like the shipping part but it'll save you money). If they complain, about any of this tell them it's the standard purchasing procedure for your theater and you can't change the rules.

Finally don't forget to check the Dealer List in the Collaborative Articles Section.
 
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For those interested, I got a the majority of my quotes around 8500+. Thats from most of the dealers in the core of the Los Angeles area. So, it all turned out okay.
 
I actually priced out an ION for one of my clients last year, right around the time when the price jumped - and it was significant. He had a high $7000 quote, valid for 30 days, from our competition (ION plus a wing), and the best I was able to do was about $9500... and I wasn't making ANYTHING on that.

So I told him to go with our competition, just this one time... they didn't end up honoring the quote, since the price had jumped so much and they all of a sudden were losing money on it.

The ION, in my mind, is worth every penny of it's current price. For it's feature set and ease of use, it's in the right ballpark and I still recommend it. If you got it for the introductory deal, then thank your guardian angel :D

The Element is quite nice, too, but it's a different market (less ML control, more conventionals, more touring / busking opportunities)
 
GageStryker said:
The ION, in my mind, is worth every penny of it's current price. For it's feature set and ease of use, it's in the right ballpark and I still recommend it. If you got it for the introductory deal, then thank your guardian angel :D

)
Click to expand...

Yup. I got mine last Oct., Ion 1000, 3-2x20 wings, RFR and dual touch screens. $14,700.

An Ion 1000 at around $9,000, plus 2 - 2x20 fader wings at $3800, an RFR at $1900, plus 2 LCD Touch Screens at $1400, all adds up to about $16,000, which is a little bit more then an Expression 3 sold for 15 years ago. With an incredible feature set and functionality that the few consoles can match at the price. A steal IMO.

Still, curious as to the next console ETC is rumored to be developing....
 
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