ProAudioStar is a popular shop for musical instruments, including production, DJ equipment, keyboards, guitars, bass, and many more. The reason behind the hype about ProAudioStar is their incredibly good pricing. But in many cases, customers aren’t happy about the support ProAudioStar provides.
So, is ProAudioStar legit? We are going to analyze every aspect of ProAudioStar, including its pricing, shipping, return policy, after-sales service, customer reviews, etc. Let’s dig deep into how ProAudioStar is offering musical instruments at such an affordable price and what customers think about this shop.
Is ProAudioStar Legit? A Detailed Analysis
To understand whether ProAudioStar is legit or not, you need to take a look at different factors. We compiled those factors for your convenience. Check them out.
- Pricing
The best thing about ProAudioStar is its pricing. ProAudioStar sells products from brands like Marshall, ODYSSEY, Pearl, Ibanez, Hercules DJ, and more. When you buy something brand new from these brands, they cost a lot more than what ProAudioStar charges. This is the reason why most people are attracted to buying instruments from ProAudioStar.
Now, you get two types of pricing from ProAudioStar depending on the state of your instruments. The brand new products from the factory are classified as new and they have a lower discount rate. But if you choose ‘open box’ items, they have a higher discount rate. These open-box items are actually used products, but ProAudioStar repacks them to look like new.
The sale offers are also more frequent on ProAudioStar than other retailers. For example, if you buy a DEAN MD24 guitar from ProAudioStar right now, it will cost $529.99. But the regular price of this is $899. And this product is classified as open box. So, the discount rate is decent.
You can also buy open-box items like VOX Valvetronix VT20X, which is available at only $219.99. What we understand from this is pricing is a big game here. And ProAudioStar is winning the price game. They have been able to draw the attention of customers for their affordable pricing. This takes us to the next question, Is the quality of ProAudioStar products good?
- Product Quality
The quality of the products ProAudioStar sells is what helps it sustain itself in the market. According to most customers who have bought guitars and other musical instruments from them, ProAudioStar provides satisfactory products. Their products have a decent build quality and durability.
And the performance of these products is also satisfactory. All guitars, keyboards, amps, and DJ equipment seem to work fine. So, it is safe to say that ProAudioStar is legit in terms of product quality.
But we have one observation about the packing process, which we are going to share in a minute.
- Shipping
This is another positive factor for ProAudioStar. They ship your products too fast, which is evident from most customer reviews on various platforms. If you visit their website, you will see a message at the top regarding the shipping time. If the orders are placed before 12 p.m. EST, they will ship the product the same day. That is a great benefit for consumers, which is a reason why ProAudioStar is becoming popular.
But if you place the order after 12 p.m. EST, the products will be shipped the next day. That isn’t too bad, especially when you get the product from quite a distance. But in some areas, you might not get a delivery on Saturdays and Sundays. It doesn’t seem to be a big issue, as long as you get the products correctly on other days.
So, ProAudioStar gets a good mark in shipping. Before we get into customer reviews, let’s check how the packaging is.
- Packaging
To check their packaging ourselves, we ordered a Fender Mustang LT25 from their website. It cost $159.99, which was a very good deal. When the product arrived, we noticed the packaging was excellent. The outer box was very sturdy and the amp was inside an inner box.
Enough bubble wrap was used to protect the product from getting damaged while shipping. But I thought the product would be directly shipped from the manufacturer. In that case, the packaging should have the branding of the manufacturer. In our case, the packaging didn’t have any such branding. So, it wasn’t clear if the product came directly from the manufacturer or not.
Excluding this factor, the overall packaging was nice and satisfactory. There was no physical damage to the product. Just one corner of the inner box was slightly bent, which didn’t seem to be a huge problem. And the shipping was also fast. We received the product within 24 hours of ordering. Getting the desired product at the doorstep within a short period is a great experience.
- Customer Support
This is the most controversial part of the whole ProAudioStar experience. Even though their products are affordable, high-quality, and shipped fast, the customer support is the worst we have ever seen. Most customers think the same. After the first order, we made another order and tried to cancel the order for some reason.
But there was no result after reaching customer support through email. They didn’t even respond to the email and our product got shipped the next day. That was a horrible experience. Even though we could finally reach them over the phone, the customer support team wasn’t paying attention to our needs.
At one point, they became rude and told us that they were swamped with orders at that moment and couldn’t process a cancellation. So, you shouldn’t expect anything from their customer support if you have to buy instruments from ProAudioStar.
- Customer Reviews
Let’s take a look at what customers say about ProAudioStar on their Amazon store, Trustpilot, and other public forums.
According to the reviews on gearspace.com, most customers are happy about their purchases. Some customers even bought from the UK and got their products shipped to their doorsteps without any problems.
Customers are also happy about the price they got from ProAudioStar. Most of them faced no issues with the product quality afterward. But one of the customers had almost a similar experience to ours. He contacted ProAudioStar to purchase a unit and wanted to ship to it a different address. Though ProAudioStar confirmed the shipping, they claimed an additional charge for that later.
But he also added that the product had no problems. Another customer faced a different problem. He saw a product on the website which was marked ‘in stock’. But when he called the support team to be sure, they said the product was out of stock.
Customer experiences on Reddit are quite similar, where most of the customers are happy about the pricing and product quality, but not about the service. The fact of having products as ‘in stock’ while they are actually out of stock is also evident from the reviews on Reddit.
What About the Return Policy of ProAudioStar?
ProAudioStar has a return policy on its website, which explains the terms and conditions for returns. For most products, you need to return the product within 30 days of delivery to claim a refund or replacement. But the catch is, you must return the product with the original packaging. The accessories and documentation coming with the product must also be returned.
If there is shipping damage to your product, you must let them know within 24 hours of delivery. After deducting a restocking fee of 15%, they will refund the balance. There are other conditions regarding what items can’t be returned. So, customers must read the policy before ordering.
Does ProAudioStar Provide a Warranty?
The warranty policy is different for brand-new and used products. If you buy a new product, you are entitled to a full warranty from the manufacturer. But in that case, you can’t violate the terms and conditions of the manufacturer for warranties.
For used or open-box products, you will receive a limited manufacturer warranty. But we like the additional warranty offered by ProAudioStar.
Is ProAudioStar Legit: Our Verdict
Considering all the factors above, ProAudioStar can be called a legitimate retailer as long as you don’t need to contact customer service. If you choose the product correctly, don’t want to modify your order, and the shipping details are correct, a good quality product should be delivered by ProAudioStar. But contacting the support team might give you a headache.
Conclusion
Despite the popularity of ProAudioStar because of its high affordability, customers are concerned about the legitimacy of the retailer because of the same factor. Some find their dazzling offers lucrative, but others are doubtful about many factors. So, we tried to give a concrete answer to the question, is ProAudioStar legit?
Depending on the analysis of customer experiences and our own experience, ProAudioStar is a credible retailer that provides good quality products at an affordable price. Their shipping time is also low, which is a great thing. But the customer service must be improved to eliminate doubts in the market.
