Let me start by saying that I’m a huge fan of Amazon. My wife and I have been Prime members since the very first year they offered Prime.
Matter of fact, I placed an order with Amazon earlier for Dunlop guitar cleaner and some card games for my kids.
BUT! I do not think you should buy everything on Amazon, and today I’m going to give you 5 reasons NOT to buy an ukulele from Amazon. I will also give you the solutions to these problems as well.
- Amazon is not a ukulele store.
Amazon is great at many things, but ukuleles are not one of them. The Amazon associates who pack your instrument are not trained in ukuleles. They simply go pick your ukulele off the shelf, pack it, and send it off to you. That means no one checks your uke for:
- Buzzing
- Fret Spurs (the rough edges on the end of the frets)
- High String Action (how high the strings are off the fretboard; the higher the action the harder it is to play)
- Defects, cracks, scratches and any other imperfections.
- The price is cheap, but so is the quality.
There is no doubt that there are tons of different ukuleles available for sale on Amazon, with more and more every day. Honestly, it amazes me that companies can sell their ukuleles (most are in China) for $30, and still somehow manage to make any money. Remember Amazon takes a big chunk of money just for having your products on Amazon, and then they also take an additional fee if it is Prime. I sell tons of Uke Like The Pros books on Amazon with Prime shipping, and, believe me, they theirs!
But how nice do you think a $30 ukulele is? Especially when it comes with a gig bag, tuner, picks, extra strings, and capo? It’s not nice at all.
- No options or extras available.
Let’s say you decide to get an ukulele from Amazon: what about adding strap buttons, a custom setup, a pickup, changing to Low or High G, or even changing to lefty? Not going to happen.
Let’s say you get your Amazon uke and you decide you want to get a strap button installed. You will have to make a trip to your local luthier and have them install a strap button which will run you $20-30. Custom setups can run over $50 and a pickup installation can easily be over $300. Don’t worry, I have a solution for you later in this article.
- Free shipping is not as free as you think.
Amazon Prime is a great feature and has definitely changed the way we shop online. Although the shipping to you is free, many times return shipping is not free, especially if your returning an item because you did not like it. I have had this happen many times to me with Amazon. You either have to lie and say the item was defective, which is never a good solution, or you have to pay the Amazon return shipping, which could be as much as the item itself.
- No high-end ukuleles on Amazon
As I mentioned, there are plenty of ukuleles available on Amazon, but there are no high-end brands. You’ll notice that even the more popular brands, such as Kala and Ohana, have a few select models available on Amazon. You will definitely not see any ukes by the top brands such as KoAloha, Kamaka, Kanile’a, Pono, and Romero Creations.
Now, do a test for me. Next time you are on Amazon, search ukuleles and then filter from Highest to Lowest Price.
The first ukulele you see will be for $4999 and is labeled as this.
HIZLJJ Ukelele Satin Mahogany Concert Ukulele with White Binding Musical Instrument 23 Inch Full Veneer Acacia Ukulele Four-String Small Guitar High-End Stringed Instrument Professional
And if you scroll down a bit you will find this gem:
Ukulele for Beginner Professional 23 Inches Concert Ukulele Spruce Wood Uke Hawaii Kids Small Guitar With Gig Bag For Adults Students Beginners Ukulele With Bag
If you notice, besides the price of $4999 being ridiculous for a mahogany ukulele, both of these have titles that are strictly written for the Amazon search engine. They are designed solely for the purpose of popping up when people search ukuleles. Read the second one again:
Ukulele for Beginner Professional 23 Inches Concert Ukulele Spruce Wood Uke Hawaii Kids Small Guitar With Gig Bag For Adults Students Beginners Ukulele With Bag
WHAT?????
But as I promised, I have a solution for you.
You need to buy an ukulele from an ukulele shop, like store.ukelikethepros.com, the #1 and biggest online ukulele site.
- You get the Uke Like The Pros Advantage. Each ukulele is tuned, played and checked before shipping it to you. Our trained technicians, which are musicians and ukulele players, will ensure your ukulele doesn’t have any buzzes or fret spurs, does have good action, and is free from blemishes, cracks and imperfections.
- Store.ukelikethepros.com carries all the top ukulele brands. We carry ukuleles from $30 to $6000 so whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro, we have an ukulele that is right for you. Some of the brands we carry include: Kamaka, KoAloha, Kanilea, Romero Creations, Kala, Ohana, Rebel, Islander, Lanikai, Pono, and Cordoba.
- We have easy Add-On’s and Options. With our top ukulele repair shop, we can offer any extras you need for your uke such as adding strap buttons, a custom setup, pickups, adding low or high G strings, and even change to lefty. Plus, due to the large number of ukuleles we work on, we can offer these additions at much lower prices than you would get if you took it to a luthier. And because we are the biggest ukulele shop, we also carry all the extra accessories such as strings, books, tuners, and stands, from brands such as D’Addario, Hal Leonard, Hercules, Nomad, LR Baggs, MISI, Cordoba, Aquila, Worth, Oasis, and TKL.
- Store.ukelikethepros.com is also able to offer discounts on extras such as a gig bag or a hard-shell case, and we frequently run sales so you can get the ukulele of your dreams even below Amazon prices. We even offer free shipping on most items.
- We have Easy returns. You have 7 days to return your ukulele in the event you are not happy with it.
- We have Free Case Candy and goodies. With every ukulele order, and at no extra cost, you get an Ukulele Pocket Chord Chart, microfiber cloth, Uke Like The Pros Sticker, and of course the Famous Case Candy, which is a little baggie of sweets as a thank you.
Why buy from Amazon when you can buy from a store that specializes in one thing, Ukuleles?
Store.ukelikethepros.com
