Lessons from buying a karaoke

Yes I have succumbed to the siren song of the Karaoke machine.

I finally went out and bought a relatively expensive Karaoke system last Wednesday and to my amazement and exhaustion, what many people think of as a walk through the mall, can actually eat up an entire afternoon of roughly four hours. Aside from that, I discovered that buying a Karaoke can be a very difficult learning experience on choosing between quality and cost, choosing between cash and credit card, as well as a laborious task requiring one to drive to 3 different malls.

But first let me tell you “why” I finally went out and bought a Karaoke system like there was no tomorrow.

For many years, I have been tormented by my utter fear of singing out of key. Later in life this fear was the one big reason why I coldly stare down people who have the audacity to approach me with a mike to make me sing at Christmas parties and the like. In the last 3 years I have even made an art of my “turn down” technique, by claiming that out of respect to the host or celebrant, I choose to pass off because it would ruin the evening. Sometimes, I even use the excuse that as a columnist, we owe to our paper not to be a public embarrassment.

The truth of the matter is every time I did that, I always felt like a big disappointment and a liar. I’ve always wanted to grab the mic and sing my heart out. Heck, I used to be in a choir for a very short time under a guy named brother Esplico I think. But one day while singing along with a group of guys who imagined they were Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, someone suggested that I just watch because I was getting in the way. The big mistake was I allowed that comment to mark me. I’m only realizing that this late in life, but it was a mistake that I allowed that to define my “singing” abilities.

So next time somebody tries to blow you off or determine your future, just tell them, “thanks but no thanks, you’re not my creator, you’re not my parents, and it’s my life.” If in case you allowed it into your life, well, turn around and “unfriend” and “disallow.”

Last Christmas, I was invited by Maestro Ryan Cayabyab to sing a song on stage, and again I declined and found an appropriate victim to take my place. The next two guys who took my place were not “singers” but they sang and whatever else anyone may say, the crowd loved them for being game and making a go of it. Watching all of that happen, I told myself that this year I will take voice or singing lessons and I will buy myself a Karaoke. One thing I know and will share with you is that any skill that you want to learn and be good at is always better done with a “trained professional” and lots of practice. Don’t laugh, because if the hamburger taipan George Yang can learn to be a classical singer, why can’t a key pounding journalist? So can someone please give me the contact numbers of Ryan Cayabyab and Robert Sena?

In the meantime I attempted to buy my singing equipment over the holidays and from the start I went through several postponement and failed attempts. For the uninitiated, Karaoke machines are not cheap; a decent system can set you back from anywhere from P20,000 to P50,000. To make things more difficult, the price range can be so huge, while merchandisers really can’t or won’t tell you why there’s such a difference. Then the stores have all sorts of promos and gimmicks that you find yourself swamped by choices, information etc.

During the last three weeks of serious buying, there were several times I wished I was working for the DTI or some consumer organization to slap fines and penalties on appliance stores for various anti-consumer conduct. Top of the chart is not having visible price cards or wrongly placed price tags. Then there was always the problem of having no stocks because stores are siguristas or will only order after a purchase has been made. That way their money does not sleep in inventory and customers will simply have to wait 24 to 48 hours.

The biggest joke in town were merchandisers who were either never trained or got very little training. In one big mall a merchandiser admitted the no-inventory policy, told me that they were still selling old models of a Korean brand and then advised me to buy a different brand of speakers because they were better than the brand they were carrying.

While I really appreciated his honesty, that made my selection process more complicated. I know from so many mistakes that when it comes to equipment you are always better off buying for quality over availability, popularity or what the sales people try to push. But on the other hand you have to consider how often and just how important or useful will it be. Paying top dollar for something you’ll only use on occasion will make the decision harder to make. Eventually I bought based on recommendation of users whom I felt represented my requirements. I did not buy high end, but I also did not buy off the shelf, rather I went to specialty shops known for specific brands or items.

In another store, the manager told me that if I use my credit card to buy on installment and zero interest, the issuing bank actually scalps 12% from the total charge. So if the bank gets 12% as their share from a sale it means they earn 2% every month for a six-month term. How then does the store make money and how does the manufacturer make money? I asked. “Oh that’s all computed in, sir, you just think you’re getting a great deal because you spread your payments at 0% for 6 months. You’re still better off paying cash because you get an actual discount, instead of an imagined bargain.”

Because I went to a specialist store, I was able to haggle down prices, which you can’t do in appliance stores of the three malls I shopped at. Because I offered to pay cash, I actually got more discounts and saved a total of P5,500 instead of an imagined bargain or easy payments that cost more in hidden charges. Ultimately, I learned that it was good that I asked people for recommendations, that I made time to chit chat with merchandisers and put in the extra hours and mileage because you don’t make P5,500 that easy, so why spend it mindlessly? Now who has Cayabyab and Sena’s number!!!

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