I've heard the
Ion price was around $6-7 thousand, not $8300.
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.
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.