Above all the custom builder who successfully separates themselves from the commodification of guitars won't be discounting much or at all....
More specifically what are you guys selling? If you are of the belief that what you sell is somewhere in the spectrum of being compared to a commercially available guitar, say a Martin for discussion sake, then you will likely be viewed this way by the market and your prospective clients may want a discount as they have been conditioned to expect from big box commodity guitar resellers. Discounts can be for working musicians, Labor day, put your dog in a cage on the roof of the family station wagon day, or Tuesday....
What I am trying to say here is your approach to discounting should be consistent with your approach to the market and what, exactly.... you perceive your value proposition to be. If you present yourself to the market as just another builder of something that is easy to measure and well understood such as say a D-28 copy be prepared to play in that space as the retailers do, discounts, sales, lots of tire kickers with belt buckles.... but not that many takers.
If instead your value proposition is one-of-a-kind instruments that are "special" in some sense that does not place you firmly in the spectrum of commodity instruments your value proposition in being different can also command business terms that are also different.
What I speak of is how you position yourself in respect to the market, your branding, the space in the market that you occupy i.e. high-end expensive or low-end inexpensive or something in the middle. There are no Lutherie police that will break down your door at 3:00 AM because you gave a wedding player a discount... you can do what ever you wish....
But do you really want to have given this discount and is there anything in it for you?
I shoot from the hip frequently and prefer it that way... I enjoy the flexibility of being able to not let a rigid approach to anything take my own choices away. I also enjoy being able to do what it takes to get the deal done, make everyone happy and then........next.
If the question is does discounting to artists your brand make my answer would be generally no..... Although we all know what can happen when someone famous embraces your chops and plays in public with one of your creations.... Unfortunately what is usually the case for most of us is the local musicians who don't have money and fame and likely statistically speaking will never find it either may play one of ours. No offense intended to these folks ever either.
As a businessman I'm keen to protect the bottom line and have a responsibility to do so too. If you believe that you provide real value the fastest way to convince others that you don't provide real value is to not value your own stuff all that much yourself.... If you present a front that thinks nothing of knocking a grand off your price you are also presenting an Image of someone who has lots of headroom built into your price.... not good...
As such my belief on special pricing to musicians is as follows:
1) Evaluated on a case by case basis with no hard program to solicit this kind of business.... and I don't even want this kind of business....
2) Any deal structure should meet everyone's requirements at the moment the instrument goes out the door with it's new steward. Any reliance on future payments, fame, endorsements, referrals will likely leave you empty handed and pissed off.... YMMV and this has never happened to me either because I won't enter any deal that does not leave me whole at the moment the money changes hands and the instrument has a new home.
3) Discounting can also send a negative message that your stuff is not exactly in so very much demand that you will grovel for business and take what you can get.... also not good.
With all of this in mind my suggestion to everyone here is to first determine what space in the market you wish to play in first. By space I mean are you making inexpensive offerings (and likely losing your shirts too...) that could be spec guitars? Do you direct market or have resellers? Are you keen to do commissions? Do you have an established name in the trade and a waiting list? There are lots of models but your approach should be inline with what your model is and reinforce that model.
I know of lots of stories where deals with practicing musicians did not work out for one reason or another and remember too we all have to be absolutely nuts to go to all of this trouble to sell to a market, musicians, who traditionally have no money....
So.... if you can make any sense out of my madness here the real message is go your own way but first determine and know what this way is and have all that you do including "if" you even offer a discount under special circumstances remain in line with how you wish to market yourself and your wares. I also strongly suggest that you never, never, never get into any deal that requires futures or more specifically something that is supposed to happen in the future, payment, endorsement, promotion, referrals, etc.
And then there are the three rules of being an attorney and no offense to our OLF attorneys intended:
1) Get the money up front!
2) Get the money up front!
3) Get the money up front!
As for me I have sold to a number of gigging musicians and every deal that I ever did had no reliance on futures be it payment, endorsement, promotion, referrals, etc. I'm two old a dog here to believe the three great lies with one of them being the check is in the mail and the other two not suitable for a G rated forum....
your costs. You accept in advance that what you want out of this is different, less, and you have day jobs so Lutherie is a hobby and not how you must make your living.
