You want better equipment?  Expect to hear some of these statements..."What's wrong with the equipment you have?  It's worked for all these years hasn't it?  Do we really need it?  It costs how much?  For that price, I think the church can live without it."  And my favorite..."ok, if you say it will help the church, then get it."

There are three steps in getting better equipment for your church.

First, you need to know exactly what equipment you need that would indeed improve the sound system.  Adding a CD recording component is good but does not enhance the worship / service experience.  Adding a compression unit, that you currently don't have, would be beneficial.  Therefore, before you move to step two, you need to know exactly what you need...and how to use it. 

You might have a church audio professional come in and review your existing sound system.  He might say that you have everything you need but your main speakers aren't adequate for your use and thus you are getting a bad sound quality from them.

You might be at a new church and have experience with a full sound system but you see their system is failing in several areas based on your knowledge and experience.
 
At this stage, you should also do your research into the make and model of the equipment you need so it best solves your problem.  For example, is that Nady lapel mic system the best - or the best for you just because it's the cheapest?  You do not want to finally get that equipment you wanted just to find out it's not the right quality for your use.

Second, you have to be able to justify the purchase to those who control the flow of money at the church.  This can be done in a variety of ways.  It may also includes all of these ways...

Professional Consultation.  If you have a pro come in and review the church audio system, either have them write up a short review on their company's letterhead or right the review yourself and included the pro's name and company.  Also include experience / references they have with other churches.

Standard Equipment List.  There are a few lists of standard components for each type of sound system.  (Basic, standard, and advanced.)  Think of basic as a microphone and a speaker.  The advanced gets into high-end electronics and computer software.  The standard is what most systems would include such as mixer, amp, eq, compressor, and limiter.  By comparing your list against a standard list, you can point out missing components.

Let Them Listen.  If you are constantly dealing with a wide range of sounds emanating from the stage - very quiet prayers to loud worship bands, and you don't have a compressor then you are constantly adjusting output levels and/or your congregation is suffering through sounds that are too loud and struggling to hear sounds like quiet prayers.  Chances are if the congregation as a whole has a problem, the person who holds the money has also experienced it.

Complaints.  If you have complaints on a regular basis that can be resolve with a piece of equipment such as a compressor, then you should document those complaints.You don't need to say "bob, jill, stephanie, and bill are complaining about xyz."  What you can say is that "four people have complaints about xyz" Or "I'm getting 1 or 2 complaints after each service and it's about the same problem and it's from different people."  If the congregation isn't happy, then it's something that most people in leadership want addressed.

Explain.  Explain, in easy to understand words, exactly what the piece of equipment can do that will benefit the church.

The third and final part is price shopping.

Price shopping means finding the best price from the best store...with one exception.  Before getting to the exception, let's look at how we can price shop.

For this example, we are going to price shop for a dbx 266XL Compressor.  We start by going to a few stores we know are safe places to shop...

Musiciansfriend.com has the price at $150 (on sale) regular price $230.
Sweetwater.com has the component priced the same.

Next we go to google.com and type in dbx 266XL Compressor into the search screen. Google is good about bringing up price comparisons if it thinks you are searching for a specific product.

Now we see the following prices at the top of the search results...
$120 - Americanmusical.com
$120 - Zzounds
$130 - Cascio Interstate Music

Finally, scroll down through the google results.  I found guitarcenter.com had it listed at $150.

Let's look at what we have so far...$120 to $150.  Thirty dollars isn't a huge difference but when you are asked by the church board member "how much does this cost?" you can expect the follow-up of "did you shop around for it?"

To get the full price compare, you also need to factor in shipping and handling and tax but for this article, we are just looking at base price.

The best price is $120 from Zzounds or AmericanMusical.  Are you comfortable with purchasing from these companies?  That will affect where you get it and how much you pay for it.

Let's pick Zzounds as the place for purchase. 

Now look for online coupon codes.  Type in "Zzounds coupon codes" into google without the quotes.  Via a link for edealinfo.com, I see a list of theie current sales and one that jumps out "Free Shipping on Most Items."  You can hunt around for codes to compare prices but usually when it comes to equipment, I just see "free shipping" or "includes a free xyz"  But look around for the best coupons if they exist.

Now we have $120 from Zzounds, shipping free.

Now let's get to that exception...ebay.com

Go to ebay and type in dbx 266xl compressor and search for it.  I found 23 matches.  You want to look for several things...price, seller, and condition.  First, it's important to know that depending on the equipment, buying used might negate any product warranter.

In ebay, there is a bid price and there might be a "buy it now" price.  "Buy it now" means you are willing to pay a top price to guarantee you get it. 

I click on the second item in the list and see the starting bid price at $55 with $15 for shipping.  That's $70 for used...about half what you would have paid for new.

Look over the description and the pictures, you want to make sure it's the same product and it includes documentation. 

Check out the seller.  I see they have 100% positive feedback but for how many sales...146.  Click that number and read the feedback they have received.  In this case, the seller's feedback comments are all good as it relates to condition of products and quick shipping.  I think we have something worthy of bidding. 

Without going into too much detail on bidding remember these things..Only bid when you are ready to buy the product (have received the ok from church).  Also set a limit.  You don't want to spend $110 for a used product when you could have got it new for $120.

Summary.

Getting new equipment requires that you know what you need and why you need it.  It requires you are able to provide justification for the need.  Finally, it requires you do your price shopping. 

Note, in no way does this article suggest you need the dbx compressor as it was only used as an example.