When will the price drop on the mx-950? With the new mx-980 around the corner and with a retail $100 less, I would think that URC would lower the cost and retail of the mx-950. I sell about 2-4 mx-900's a week. I do have an mx-950 in my masterbedroom which I purchased at a training session. I do like the larger head and that it lights up when i pick it up, but i cannot justify the additional cost over the mx900. I would buy them if they lower the cost.

Hmm. I wonder what retailers who already have MX-950s in stock are going to do. They paid for them thinking they could be sold for $700. Soon they will be worth less than $600. Maybe they'll ask URC to pay them the difference so they can still be sold for a profit. I wonder how much these different remotes are sold for to retailers...

Guys,
These are not retail products, they are custom products. Very little comparison shopping is done on these unless you hang out on sites like this. You just show the client the remote and program it for them. Don't even give them the option of the 980 because it's not available yet.

I personally don't worry about "old" inventory because I won't even order the new stuff for stock until the old stuff is out of my inventory. (I will order for training)
Plus you will need time to train on the new models before they get rolled out to a client. That being said, I'm out of 950's as of this week. . .

The 980 is still a while away, so people who need the features of the 950 will still need a 950.

The 810 will probably start to replace the 900, but the programming path is completely different so it take a while to learn all the pros/cons of the new vs. old.

Jberger,
They may be custom products, but I have to believe that Amazon, Ebay and Online dealers are whipping our asses in sales otherwise why would URC continue to double dip so often.
What is so custom about shipping out a MX950 to any random Joe willing to pay 45% off and then tossing in the updateable software?

A custom dealer or installer wants to give his customer the best futureproof he can, b/c the number of people who don't personally or have their kids research what you bought online is becoming nil. That is why so many manufacturer employees are failed dealers who did not stick it out due to stubborness.

Joe,

Why do you continue to sell URC if you are so unhappy?
Move to another line like RTI that is very well protected if availablity bothers you so much. I'm not trying to pick a fight, it's just that you seem pissed off at URC in every post. It's not worth it, move on.

Personally I don't really care who else sells URC, We do very well with the line and it suits our market. I think the 810 is going to be a huge seller for us and can't wait to see if it will live up to my expectations.

This remote has zero usefulness without the programming, that's what clients pay for, IP. It's not like a flatpanel that works out of the box.

I've never had anyone say they could have bought it on ebay, amazon or anywhere else. And I'm certainly not getting my ass whipped because of internet vendors. If someone wants to source everything online and do it themselves it doesn't cost me a penny. It wasn't my client or my sale.

You've got to sell Value, not price. No one needs a remote, they need something that makes their system easy to use, that's what they want and we give it to them.

Theres an old secret to sales. As long as you think it is too expensive, the customer will also think its too expensive.

You have to put yourself in the mindset of the customer's budget, not your own.

Show them the most expensive first.

35+ years ago I was a SCUBA instructor and worked in a dive shop. I was into photography, not spear fishing. I had never used a spear gun and didn’t have any experience with them. When someone came in to buy a spear gun, I always showed them the cheapest one first. I sold a lot of cheap spear guns. One day after I had sold a cheap spear gun, my boss, the shop owner asked "Why don’t you show them the compressed air spear gun?" I said, “That costs 4 times as much as the cheap rubber tubing gun, no one will pay that much.” My boss said, “A lot of people will buy the first thing you show them. Next time someone comes in looking for a spear gun, show them the most expensive one first and see what happens.” I said, “No one will pay that much for a spear gun.” My boss said, “Show them the most expensive one first.”

Later that day someone came in and asked about a spear gun. My boss heard them ask and stepped out of the office and looked at me. I looked at him, looking at me. I showed the customer the most expensive spear gun first and explained the features and advantages. HE BOUGHT IT AND NEVER EVEN ASKED IF WE HAD ANYTHING ELSE CHEAPER, EVEN THOUGH THE CHEAPER GUN WAS HANGING ON THE WALL RIGHT BESIDE THE MOST EXPENSIVE ONE. When the customer left, my boss came out of the office and looked at me and smiled. I started laughing and from then on I always showed the customer the most expensive item first. I sold a lot more expensive stuff without any high pressure at all.

People like to do what’s popular and what other people are doing. Adding a phrase like, “This is one of our most popular models” or “Most people like this one” reassures the customer that he is buying something that a lot of other people like too.

No extra charge (but donations will be accepted)

I'm not angry, but I am critical and if I see patterns in which dealers are being used then I point it out publicly. I have curtailed my URC sales. RTI makes good stuff w/ lots of options and so does Crestron, but I have a legacy of URC products out there. I just don't like feeling a company is pandering to you in a dishonest way. Yes, I have problems w/ many companies out there. It's why true dealer status is necessary w/ a company before you even have a shot of being looked at as more than shit.

Online dealers are each selling ~75K+ in remotes, so most are getting decked by them and Ebay and Amazon are killing them.