[JakeJ]

I am curious as to how Massdrop is able to accept my payment well in advance of shipping the item?  I am under the impression it is illegal to charge for something until it is ready to be shipped.

[JohnR]

I've never heard of it being illegal. Every type of preorder would be out the window, custom orders, etc as well as crowdfunding... well maybe the last wouldn't be such a bad thing.

[randytsuch]

In some cases, I think Massdrop is acting as an alternative to kickstarter or indiegogo.

For a smaller company, they can collect the presale money through massdrop, and use the money to run a larger build then they could otherwise.
With economies of scale, they should be able to offer at a lower price.

For the most part, I would not buy audio gear through kickstarter etc because of risk of every getting anything, but I do trust massdrop to deliver.

[JakeJ]

Thanks for the response, Dale.  I am not upset (well, not until I  don't get a shipping notification for the nuForce primo8 I bought  ).  I was thinking maybe part of locking down the prices included payment to the mfr so they can buy materials for the group buy.

JohnR-

Makes sense and I found this information: https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/rights-delay-shipping-orders-card-charged-1294.php.  Basically a credit card issuer can (and many do) restrict the charge process to the time of shipment but there are no federal laws.

For my purchase I used PayPal so I would be paid in "cash" and not put it on a CC to collect that fancy "bank dust" called interest.

Four days until my primo8 ship so I'm kinda chomping at the bit.

[dB Cooper]

My concerns about Massdrop relate to:

*Huckster-style marketing. For example, in the copy for the K7xx, for example, they state that "the lows have been jacked up by 3dB for totally immersive stereo imaging". What the hell does that mean? That kind of 'word salad' isn't informative, but it abounds on Massdrop. Also, they imply that the headphone is the K712 (made in Austria with a $649 MSRP IIRC) to impress buyers with the savings, when it is in fact made in China at a fraction of the cost before Harman moved  AKG production there. Maybe better, worse, or about the same, but not

thesame.

*No returns: Suppose you decide the 'jacked-up lows' don't float your boat and you have buyers' remorse? Tough tiddies, if I read their policies correctly. All sales final AFAIK.

*Murky warranty status: The Shure SE535 drop stated that "there may be unfamiliar characters on the box" but not to worry about it. This suggests a possible 'grey market' sourcing to me.[/list]

[JohnR]

Well, the trade-off is the price! Not on everything - I guess it's like anything else, you just need to go in with your eyes open and make your decisions accordingly.

@Jake, of the three items I've bought from massdrop, two were delivered on-time or early, one was a little late but they sent an email giving the new time, which they delivered before. The delay wasn't their fault, the manufacturer had a holdup with something.

Related to those articles, massdrop is totally upfront about when they charge you and when expected shipping is. So yes, payment in advance but a much better experience than Kickstarter or Indiegogo (which I'm never going near again    ).

Not trying to be a massdrop apologist or anything... My purchases there also have a bit of a price ceiling, I don't get anything I can't afford to be disappointed about. I'm also avoiding anything with really long lead times like the recent round of massdrop-made headphone amps. If they're successful there will be more drops later, and there will be some user experience/reviews out there by then.

[cujobob]

Paying before an item ships (preordering) is fairly common, I'm quite surprised you haven't done it before, honestly. A lot of people are irked by that, but it's not something that Massdrop tries to hide. In most cases, they provide a product expected shipping date that they usually beat by quite a lot. They don't always offer great deals vs a sales price at a normal retailer, but there's nothing suspect about them IMHO. Pre-paying is what allows them to organize discounts. If they were tying up their own capital, you'd see prices increase to offset that.

[JakeJ]

Hey thanks for all responses!

JohnR -
Thanks again.  While Massdrop is fun to oogle I am trying the waters out with trepidation.  I bought a pair of the nuForce primo8 IEM's for travel.  They were $149.99 on Massdrop with an MSRP of $499.95.  Always keeping the motto "You get what you pay for" I decided the reviews were pretty positive and it's likely the primo8 is somewhat over-priced at the MSRP but still worth a try.  Time will tell.

Agreed on Kickstarter.  Bought into the Pine64 single board computer and when it finally arrived (delay after delay) it was only a partial fill of the whole BOM.  Took them weeks to get the rest of the parts shipped and the final item (a case to house it in) was nothing like the original design and looked like some attempt  to substitute an off-the-shelf plastic box.  The entire thing was like a rabbit pooping on the run.

Dale -
That is very interesting.  I'm sure you could write a page or two about that experience but posting it here would likely fall under "dirty laundry", if this thread doesn't already.    Something to keep in mind though, to carefully read all the ad copy and make sure one understands exactly what one is getting into.

cujobob -
I've pre-ordered a couple of albums on Amazon.  Both times I was put in a queue and sent an email when it was in stock and then paid and received the album.

Looking forward to hearing the primo8 and comparing to my cheapo LG armature driver IEM's and the SQ of my Audeze EL-8.  They ship on 12.19.17 and I have not received any notifications of delays...yet.  Fingers crossed.

[JakeJ]

And I for one thank you, Dale.  It hasn't been all that difficult to figure out who's full of shit and who isn't and it's nice to know there are some people that can be trusted.

Jake