Just checking the price of a NEW Deering Banjo at Eagle Music in the UK and I see a massive increase of between - £2500 - £3000 when I last checked about 2 years ago. Don’t know the cause of the increase, less competition perhaps with Stelling closing down. Pound vs Dollar, Fuel prices or is it simply greed.
Nechville, Gold Tone don’t show any major increase.
It’s more than likely at the dealer’s end, but don’t know for sure. Yes, Deering banjos have gone up for me but not more significantly than others. I do know that supply is almost impossible to get from Deering, so that translates to higher prices from the dealers. Dealers don’t/can’t do that here because there is so much competition, but overseas it’s a different story.
Of course, keep in mind that transport and taxes have probably gone up beyond what Deering has issued.
I hear what you say @BanjoBen, I expected some increase but the gap has greatly widened and that was a shock. Eagle doesn’t have any competitors in the UK they are the sole Dealership for Deering in the UK and possibly for the whole of Europe. Thomann does have a presence but they are a German Company and any orders placed with them are shipped direct from Germany. Thankfully I wasn’t looking to buy.
@Archie - Have you seen or heard of Davidson banjos?
They seem to be in the same price point for the Deering Banjos that you’ve mentioned.
I saw that you’re not in the market now, rather just making chit chat. But if you were, considering the new cost of the Deering, would you have considered a custom build from a smaller builder?
If I were to buy today I’d consider Huber and Hatfield banjos.
Hi @JohnnyD I looked at Phil’s site years ago when I was looking to buy my Stelling. I like to watch the market and see what’s trending. This seemed like a big news item for UK buyers. Eagle Music dominates the high end banjo market over here. Most other higher end banjo retailers are gone from the UK.