Massdrop - Let's Talk Ep. 1. 

Here's the thing. The wait time is part of the business model of Massdrop, it's also sort of the result of how they manage to get good prices. You can view Massdrop as either an online Costco type (wholesale pricing and members only) or a "safer" version of Kickstarter or Indiegogo. What Massdrop does is they go to a manufacturer (ie Sennheiser) and say "Hey we got a few thousand people who'd love to buy something from you but at a more affordable price". Sennheiser goes "Ok sure give us some time to make a prototype." When they have the prototype, they start the "Drop" and if the minimum number of participants is reached, they begin production. In the case of the 6XX, Massdrop ordered something like 10k pairs for the first 2 drops, and it takes about 6 months to produce all 10k pairs, which is why the wait is so long. Massdrop has since learned and the more recent collaborations like the 4XX are ordered in smaller batches so that they can be shipped sooner and more frequently. If you're wondering why they don't just order a billion things and stash them in the warehouse it's because they don't always know if something is going to sell and for a relatively small company to spend several million dollars stashing merchandise that might not move is a pretty bad investment. We can enjoy great value products because massdrop can guarantee the manufactures a high sales number (fun fact we've collectively purchased about 9.55 million dollars worth of Sennheiser HD6XXs).

Fast, Cheap, & Good - You can have any combination of the two, but not all three. ;-)

I bought some Dekoni earpads for my Teaks from Massdrop and all I got was the box and sticker. I was able to get a refund, but the cool part is that I contacted Dekoni, told them what happened, and they actually gave me the pair for free. And they even threw in an extra pair of different pads as well. What nice people, eh?

Massdrop is a service for people who either want exclusive products or save money, people who go there have to know that there are compromises to make in order to obtain what they want.

For us EU based people there is the problem of custom fees... which most of the time defeat the purpose of the lower prices..

Got my 6xx's from massdrop. I didn't mind the wait. Great deal!

The rant was pretty much spot on to what most users of MD have to say. Granted you know when you order that you'll have to wait x amount of time for a product, but what makes it worse really is that the date of promised delivery very often passes on some hot ticket items and they come up with excuses as to why the item is not yet ready. Your recommendation of using vote systems to prepare a requested amount and have them ready to ship come drop time is one great change I think they can make to help with these types of issues when it comes to the more exclusive items that will require a wait of x amount of time. Great video, appreciate hearing your thoughts and seeing it is on par with many users of MD.

It seems to me and many others that Massdrop has changed a bit. They still have their drops but the prices seem to be higher across the board. Maybe not as good a deal as they were originally passing on to their customers.

Great topic. Good call.

i think massdrop minus the waiting time is perfecto! I love to see their offering. some are pretty good.

6XX got me in the headphone game. I even started using RU-vid and found yours truly researching that purchase, as I knew absolutely nothing about headphones, amps, DACs etc. If you live outside a major market like the USA or Central Europe, not only are luxury items A LOT more expensive, but shipping can be expensive and takes weeks anyway. 6XX delivered cost me NZD$300 and didn’t reach the threshold for extra import duties, taxes etc. Local HD-650 price at the time was $750-799 so a six month wait was okay by me.

Not specifically massdrop, but i think this business model is perfect for durable boutique goods. retailers are going to upcharge a lot for items that are likely to just sit on the shelf for quite a while. you can get these a lot cheaper using the massdrop model since the manufacturer can offload in bulk, like they might with other retailers, but it wont be sitting on a shelf for any time at all. for the buyer, waiting a month or two isnt as big a deal since the goods themselves should last years. it really sucks waiting for your specific item to drop however, so its best suited for hobbyists likely to buy multiple different versions of some particular type of item. if youre hunting for a deal specifically, its really a lot better than doing the usual thing which is to wait for the winter sale season. at least drops occur throughout the year.

I just came across this website so thanks for this video. I was trying to find out what the website was and what the company was about.

I have purchased 2 items from them and just made my third purchase. The first two were items on my Amazon wish list (a gaming desk and flatware set), that showed up on Mass Drop for a discounted price. As I wasn't in a hurry for those items anyway, Mass Drop made sense. Today I finally purchased the Sennheiser 6xx headphones. Those are in stock, so very little wait for a $100 savings.

You didn't mention one other thing Massdrop offers, the discussion page. It's good for those who really do research before jumping into a product. Letting you know if it's a quality product, service after sale is any good, those type of things.

Dope videos. Not sure why I haven’t seen this channel before. How long has Joshua been around?

For non Americans only the HD 58X can be consider as value for money. With fees the price of HD6XX has the same cost with the HD 650. The unimaginable part of this story is that Romania Ireland and all these countries who produce these headphones are EU members (no visa or import-export fees) which means that headphones goes to US and from there Drop ships them back to Europe. Drop does not have a store in Europe or at least somewhere in the Βalkans or Turkey.

I don't mind waiting awhile for that kind of savings, it's a great model. Better stock management and quicker shipping times would be nice but some of the amps and headphones I have received have been awesome.

never heard of massdrop until 3 days ago, when I discovered your channel a few days ago when I needed to replace my headphones after they accidentally broke after 13 years.

When I bought my Senn- 6xx phones (which were nice), Massdrop told me that I had to wait for the headphones to be produced after ordering. What's attractive to producers like Senn- is that when things are preordered, they get a better sense of how much material to use, setting up supply networks, etc. It's a way for them to save money. Most of the time, producers have to guess how many headphones are going to be bought, and then they produce accordingly, risking large losses and wasted materials.

No complaints on MD service. They've been very good in dealings I've had with them

I think the long wait aspect is kinda obvious but they're now trumpeting their 'in-stock drops' : wont get the HD6XX drop reactivated, but its an option nonetheless. Sennheiser know they could sell container loads of HD600/650 if they chose to discount them by 40-50%, but they clearly want to retain the aspirational pricetag for headphones that are head and shoulders above everything they sell in the consumer space. Thanks for the video.

I literally only waited 2 days for my Sennheiser HD 6XX’s. I don’t see or hear any of the things that people are complaining about when it comes to wait time. All my friends have had the same experience as me. Quick delivery shortly after the order is confirmed. Order confirmed within 12 hours for us

This is so true. I got the 6xx in march thinking it said itd ship in april. Later I realized that it said Aug (august) and not Apr (April). After I figured that out it was too late to cancell and pay the extra for a new hd650, which I would have if I knew from the start. Although they did ship "early" and will be at my house in a few days (june 22nd). They should have built up their stock first for this one, this is the best selling item on massdrop, there is no reason to make us wait that long. Sorry for the rant, just letting it out haha

A good advice for buying headphones would to get a neutral model. That way there is little chance your taste in (o_o)phones will change in 9 months and you will suddenly desire models that colour your sound.

Is the viewer that sent those headphones in Massdrop?

If you shop you can find many items that are sold on massdrop for the same price. Sometimes cheaper or slightly higher. But you can get it much faster. Many thing you can get at Amazon for equal of slightly higher. I hate that massdrop has many things at about the same price as others sellers.

I think Massdrop is a cool service for those who don't mind waiting. (i am not one of them.) :D Sometimes you can get "limited edition" or rare things there. The whole website also very professional and detailed. I still remember waiting 4 MONTHS for my RED Monk Earbuds. It was deadly cheap, but probably wouldn't buy a more expensive headset or anything else knowing the actual "drop time".

You've nailed the problems with Massdrop. It's a great concept, but if Amazon were to flex its muscle, they could wipe them off the map.

I don't understand why Sennheiser would be happy about their headphones being sold for half the price.

Their Massdrop x Sennheiser HD58X for $150 is a pretty dope deal rn. Mine is should be getting here about 3-5 days from today which is when I bought it. But, I bet the people who were buying it way earlier probably waited a shit ton..

I like the democratizing of sales, but I am definitely a heavy amazon prime user, 2 day delivery is important to me, but way more important than that to me is defined delivery. Even with prime, its suppose to be 'guaranteed 2 day delivery' where I live, but its 2 days /after/ it ships, and they don't display that properly. In some cases I might tolerate a wait, but only if I know how long that wait is so I can make an informed decision.

I waited 8 months on the 6XX headphones for the second drop and they did have over 57,000 request for this drop, but I too didn’t mind, it was well worth the wait. Usually though at the bottom of the overview there is an estimated shipping date included so you do have the choice if you want a product or not. I always compare the prices, on an item, on different web sites. One of the other things I like is reading reviews and the discussions on a product. For example the DarkVoice 336 SE tube headphone amp, you can read about different tubes people have rolled into the DV. The last thing I like is voting on the polls, it can sometimes be funny what people have in a poll. Thank you Josh for this video, but as you can see I do like Massdrop. Sometimes the wait is half the fun especially reading comments. Try ordering a product from Asia sometimes or Eurasia.

Bro whats u recommend more he4xx or m1060? I already have the m1060 but i had to return it because the wood has crack on it. Now i asked dms fans on his discord and they recommend that he4xx. They also said m1060 has 5k-6k ringing which i dont hear..im only 26 so theres no way its my hearing. Please respond thanks

The 6XX doesn't ship to Asia. I don't understand how some do ship and some don't. They clearly have inventory, I think its Sennheiser that's stopping them from doing it because even the 58x are in the same boat.

I’ve used Massdrop, and picked up the HD-6XX, HD-4XX, AKG 7XX, HD 58X all for around $600! 😜 Massdrop is a no brainer and great service. Although some items may take a while to arrive, you can just enjoy what you have. Massdrop might be an issue if your just starting out, and have to wait for your first pair of headphones. It’s also how you view Massdrop which makes it relative. A video game can be announced and you can pre-order a game that 1-2 years away. That’s how Massdrop should be viewed, and should not be viewed as an amazon competitor (Prime shipping) - you are buying a place on line, for a product that will be going to be manufactured. Although I’m with Joshua on majority of his points, I highly disagree on wait times - criticizing Massdrop for not operating like other companies, just seems unfair and inaccurate: it’s a different business model.

HE4xx review coming soon?

I'm a fan, but I order once every other blue moon. I think the onus is on the consumer to make the wisest of choices...

Too bad (Mass)Drop discontinued their EDC, knives, and watches community in March 2021. I guess that's the end of finding random neat, cool stuff or nice gear at low-cost. Drop migrated their existing EDC and knife collabs to Amazon and will "focus on keeping popular products" in stock. I guess that's the end of innovative and new products from Drop.

massdrop is the best

I just made my first MassDrop purchase. Apparently they're now called just Drop. I'm going to have to wait two months (hopefully no more) for a hiking/camping backpack. This backpack has been considered for years to be one of the best compromises between being lightweight and functional and the Drop version even made some user suggested tweaks to the design that makes it an even better overall backpack. Luckily for me it's not a pack I need immediately and I expect to use it for about a decade hopefully, so receiving it two months after ordering is well worth getting it for half of the retail price of the off-the-shelf version. In any backpack reviews it's featured in it is compared to $250-350 packs so paying $100 total with free shipping is an amazing deal. The current off-the-shelf backpack is rarely found on sale anywhere else. I'm not 100% sure I like that they are able to undercut smaller retailers but due to the savings I'm receiving I really don't care. I am worried that if I have any warranty issues (which I don't expect), that I'll be out of luck approaching the company (Drop or the manufacturer) and getting any free customer service. I'm curious to see where Drop ends up going in terms of business. I imagine Amazon will buy them eventually, once all the kinks are worked out of their system and there is a large user-base. Basically just about the time it gets really good and efficient for the consumer a large, *LARGE* company will buy them to reduce competition and own the rights to the platform and user data. Interesting video. 👍

Great idea but the do need to open european office, delivery costs really eat into the price

3:50 I feel like I heard this before...

amazon kinda has a way to get rid of stock at cheaper prices, lightning deals. I'll add something and get a notification when a lightning deal with it is going on. For me Massdrop saving is not worth the long shipping times except when massdrop is manufacturing the product for cheaper.

When beyerdynamic dt 1990 pro? :D

Massdrop is fine if you are ok with the wait AND are ok with the wait for customer service. When I first jumped in this hobby I bought my first real headphone off of mass drop. Status audio cb1. It arrived with quarter sized holes and tears in the pleather headband. Email mass drop wait four days get a reply they are looking into it... wait four days offer 10 dollars off I decline... wait four days send rma slip... pack headphone and ship... wait two weeks...refund. They were polite but since then I have learned to buy used. You get it cheaper than massdrop. And no I never did repurchase the cb1 and honestly am quite happy about it.

Im copying your bed bro.

Still waiting on mine...

Had my eye on the Aune x1 for quite a while now (at mass drop 33.3% savings ~$100 saving). Just can' t justify the purchase yet. And I may just go all out and get the audio-gd nfb 11.28. Nfb 11.28 is sorta over kill though as far as needed power goes. The reason I'm strongly holding back though is no warranty with that product through massdrop. Sounds like massdrop won't screw you with dead on arrival stuff but still.. shady. thinking about getting the akg 553 through massdrop as well but also don't really need it just like the dac/amp >.>. Purchased K7xx from them and quite happy with it. Looks to be a k712Pro clone made in China-> large savings. Could be wrong about that though as no one has said it despite the measurements on innerfedility's website are like as close as they can get. And yes I'm semi aware of the different background stories of the headphones. Doesn't mean it isn't just marketing. Not keeping inventory equals no risk and low investment. merely the middle man making mad cash. So understandable with new drops to be cautious. Especially with drops like 6xx with literally 1000's and 1000's of people wanting it but unknown who would actually commit to it. The demand/hype may dissipate at any time really. Not knowing when things will drop also works both ways. may not be available when I want it, however, when it's available i may just purchase it anyway because I don't want to miss out on the drop. I bet they get a lot of business from returning customers because of this. While new customers that "would" be interested don't see the deal in time or at all ever. which creates sort of a unique community... loyal fans with few outsiders. what i'd change is trying to be more consistent on reporting info (unit of measurements mostly). Cutting and pasting manufactures numbers is the easiest and won't confuse customers on if you're selling legit tech but it makes comparing 2 or 3 things (from different manufacturers) more difficult. Granted stuff like this still gets posted.. ⅛-¼ inch (6.35-3.5 mm) adapter. You might get exactly what they mean but come on man get ur shit together. Most of all, put the estimated ship date in a easy to spot location at the top - hard for my eyes to locate that at times.

He4xx vs m1060, he560 and lcd2 aaand I can die happily. Oh wait, u don't get audeze because they're shit, ah ok then.

But isnt the wating for a drop part of the fun? 😅

spaghetti

wow the waiting argument and the fact you can't like the same thing for a few months at a time is pretty lame.

I'll stick to Amazon, faster shipping and better returns, Ill pay a premium for that any day.

Love the idea behind massdrop making items with the same performance for cheaper but at the same time I'd rather spend for example $400 on a pair of HD 650 from amazon and get them in 1-3 days rather then waiting 2+ months on a 6xx that cost $200 because by the time they get here I would have made the money back that I spent on the 650 anyways

Every single one of these Massdrop videos (both on this channel and others) seem bought and paid for by Massdrop. They always have the same things in common; the reviewer claims the original product is way more than it really is... The prices are never cut in HALF like Mr.Valour claims and the example given of the HD 650 vs HD 6xx price is a yet another detail that makes me question this review. The Sennheiser HD 650's aren't $380 dollars at all...They're actually 319 on Amazon...

drop is terrible try getting hold of them for tracking , took my money for akg 7xx said was in stock waited 3 months to tell me there not in stock after taking my money lol . never again .

I would not use a company that operated like this at all and no way could I afford to wait especially for a product that genuinely does not look like the real deal. OK the products they sell I have seen nothing but rave reviews for them but at the end of the day the product you are buying looks nothing like the genuine thing it is supposedly supposed to represent. It's a bit like the difference between buying an American Fender Strat and a Fender Squire Strat and the one is a lot cheaper for a reason. You cannot buy a Fender Squire and say it's worth the same price as an American Fender Strat and when it comes to selling your so called Sennheiser 6HX headphones just like the Fender Squire Strat you will get pittance for it. At the the end of the day it's only a copy and looking at it not a very good one either.

🤔🤔🤔didn’t catch , don’t see a great benefit on this...

Their prices aren't any better than any grey market store or Amazon these days. I'm talking about watches though.

Wtf 6-8 months. Time is money and no savings are worth that

So I have to say I really appreciate Massdrops prices since I don't mind the wait. The only downside to me is that when you order from Europe (or somewhere outside of the us), you might not be able to get it sent back to them in case anything breaks or you are simply unhappy with the product. That's because some shipping companies have deals with Massdrops that include return and other don't. Which basically means you have to be lucky to get your product shipped by the right company. Otherwise you have to pay the shipping yourself which can, e.g. for a pair of headphones, cost you something in between 80-180$... Just something to keep in mind... Funny thing: I'm waiting for my 4xx right now. Are you gonna review them? Would love to hear your thoughts about them. Love your videos✌️