Buying a used Maschine +

Hey Dear Community,

I have an offer for a barely used Maschine + for 630€, she said she never got to use it so she doesn’t need it anymore.
Almost half the price is kinda suspect for a barely used hardware, so of course I will test it thoroughly before purchasing it.
My question know is what things I should test and check to see if it’s still in said condition, it’s my first Groovebox/Sampler and I never had any experience with such things.

thanks for your help in advance 🙏

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kamikaze1980

fwiw you could purchase a mpc 1 brand new for very little more. The new mpc software has been updated to much more user friendly way of working. I could be considered a NI fan boy as I own nearly everything they have ever released until the last couple years. Don’t get me wrong if the maschine plus’s is in good working condition it’s a great deal and it will do many of things an mpc can. Personally my Maschine plus’s only gets used as a controller as I’ve always had crashing issues and without a battery it’s not all that portable for me. Further more NI says they are in continued development of the plus yet no real updates in 2 years and now mpc have NI play instruments that maschine plus can not use in stand alone. 🤷‍♂️ NI has also broken their own Komplete Kontrol S mk1 models while they could have easily named the new software with a number and I’d be able to have both and keep functionality. I say that as it’s not the first time they promised a product was the future then discontinued it entirely Kore would be another example

Percivale

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/41829/buying-a-used-maschine

Hi there, do check on what are the included transfers (to you) of software, including sound packs and instruments. You would be needing them to use the Maschine+.

DeepThumb

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/41829/buying-a-used-maschine

Hi, current new price for M+ at Thomann is EUR 879,- so I would pay max the half…

LostInFoundation

About your question (what to test):

First thing, install latest firmware (if not already installed), otherwise you will stumble across bugs and things that were present before and have been fixed (not too many, some are still there…)

The first problem some are still encountering is on very first step, that is connecting to their account (it’s done through WiFi on the device itself).

Another issue is with the SD card reading (specially if it’s not the original one provided by NI)

Some also have some freezings happening when turning the device on (once everything is set up)

Must be said that the majority doesn’t encounter this problems anymore, and that these are issues more related to connection to NI and what else, not to the physical device per se.

On that matter, I would check if the knobs feel “right”, or if some of them are loose (it;s one of the few points of failure in a device like this)

I would ask beforehand to the seller to confirm you she never had any of those problems.

Then, once (and if) you manage to instal everything, just USE it and USE it and USE it extensively for the first days/weeks, so that if something is wrong it will happens immediately and not after months.

About the price: with used devices, it all depends on how lucky you are. I bought mine used more than 2 years ago for practically the same price (well…even a little less) and I was in your same situation: the seller told me it was brand new and used less than 5 times. I of course asked for the receipt (to be sure he bought it 3 months before as he said). Once seen he was not lying, I trusted him (with 3 months’ life it was more probable the device had been used very few times) and also asked him to write a note, declaring that in case some major issues he didn’t mention would appear, I could return it.

I’ve been very lucky and everything he said corresponded to reality (yes, some honest people still exist in this world ☺️). But I made my moves anyway to be sure he would, in case, respond of anything going wrong.

Note also what DeepThumb told you: the price for a new M+ is not what is listed on NI site. Every other reseller has lower prices, so 630€ is not half price (it still puzzles me how NI can still list it at 1199 when EVERYBODY ELSE sell it for a lot less…it seems almost like they DON’T want to sell them directly…😶)

MaxZK

Thank you all so much that was very helpful!

ozon

@LostInFoundation 1199 (was 1399) is still the recommended retail price. If dealers can afford to do without profit, they can sell at lower prices.

LostInFoundation

The price of a device is what it gets sold at from majority, imo.

And I frankly doubt dealers sell it without a profit.

In any case, if everyone else sells it for less, keeping higher (much higher) price on your site is like saying “don’t buy it from us

ozon

The manufacturers cannot sell at a lower price than the recommended retail price. AFAIK that would be illegal.

LostInFoundation

But… the recommended retail price is set by the manufacturer himself. It would be enough for them to just… change it (recognizing it is not that one anymore, since everybody else is selling it for a lot less)

I don’t understand what we are even talking about

ozon

We’re talking about pricing regulations and profit margins. If the recommended retail price is at 800, the dealer price has to be around 40% lower coming in at around 450. At which NI would probably have to sell it below production cost.

But I‘m sure you don’t understand that either.

red_nick

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/207532#Comment_207532

That's nonsense. In fact a manufacturer preventing the sale for a lower price can be illegal due to anti-monopoly laws.

ozon

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/207570#Comment_207570

That’s exactly the point: If a manufacturer sells to the enduser at a lower price than the recommended price for dealers, the dealer might not be able to compete with that due to various factors (which might heavily depend on its local situation) thus potentially creating a monopoly for that market.

Also, competing with your product distribution network is counter productive.

LostInFoundation

https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/comment/207563#Comment_207563

You’re right. I don’t ☺️

I mean the part about dealer price HAVING to be around 40% lower. Specially because I see so many (the majority?) of things being sold AT the recommended retail price (sometimes even higher).

Isn’t the recommended retail price a way to say to users “if they try to sell you this thing higher than this, they are trying to make more money on you, but you can find it for less”? And a way for manufacturers to keep the price the same everywhere? Or eventually to make it seem like dealers are discounting a product because they sell it for less?

And also the part about NI having to probably sell it below production cost in case others are selling it for 450. NI is ALREADY selling it much higher than dealers. Why lowering the amounts should force them to sell it cheaper than dealers if now they are doing the opposite?

Yes…I really don’t understand and I’m having big problems in following you. Sorry ☺️

ozon

@LostInFoundation „dealer price“ = the price at which dealers buy the devices from NI. The proper term is „wholesale price“.

Wholesale generally is about 40% below recommended retail price. This is the profit margin dealers, especially small shops, need for a living. And wholesale must be above production cost. Otherwise each sold unit is actually a loss for the manufacturer.

So, if NI lowers recommended retail to 800 (which is probably close to current wholesale), they must lower wholesale to 450 at which they probably are below production cost (and before anyone chimes in: Yes, I know the raw components can be had from electronics distributors at much less cost, but there’s assembly and and logistics and marketing and support and R&D).

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