Is Pricefixing the right word--Shimano,G.Loomis etc etc

[mystro]

With the Internet being the world largest catalog it's fairly easy to get a
general idea and price range of products. I'd always suspected shimano/g.loomis of price-fixing since no matter where I went on the net or what shopping engine I used the prices were always within a few dollars and this also applied to a few other manufacturers. I would call dealers and ask if there was ever any sales or price deals on certain items and some admitted the manufacturers would pull their products if they wavered on the prices regardless of the huge markups..other dealer wouldn't admit this but insinuated it was a common practice--the prices were locked.

Recently after reading the glowing reviews on the Pflueger Patriarch vs everyone else and seeing/holding it at a few sportsman's shows I decided I wanted one but again I ran into the same problem--the price was fixed. Then I heard that there were a few maverick dealers who broke this tradition, set a much better price and told me they were still making profit. Fishingreelworld.com was one of them and sold me this reel for $30 less then virtually anyone on the net and included free shipping and it's not a refub or discontinued item. After I received the reel (I was still alittle leery of such good of a deal until the package arrived and I saw my reel) so I called the owner and asked him how he could do this without meeting the wrath of the big guys and he said he had several very large sources for different makes and models--no one source--- plus his philosophy was sell allot and make alittle on each one which he does--he called it his Krock Brothers (the original McDonald $.17 burger) principle Ok, I know this sounds like a spam mail but truthfully it isn't--I just thought a good, honest online retailer deserved some recognition for not playing the good'ol boy fatcat game.

Now, I'm also noticing the same type of pricefixing in marine electronics, so I'm on another search for those few those precious few maverick dealers who aren't playing the greed game on a humminbird 7 or 900 series, I read the markups on elect stuff is waaaay up there ....wish me luck, private or public any suggestions are welcome.



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[kaferhaus]

Re: Is Pricefixing the right word--Shimano,G.Loomis etc etc

No, it's not price fixing as it's not the retailers doing it is the manufacturer.

And even so the dealer who told you he cannot sell at a lower price because of the supplier is lying. The court has said that although a wholesaler, manufacturer etc. CAN require an authorized dealer to only PUBLISH a set price they cannot force the dealer to sell at that price as then it's price fixing.

It's also why some sites will say you have to "call" to get the "best price" on a certain item or brand.

Golf equipment is the same way...

The manufacturers do this to try and keep the profit margins high for their dealers.

And due to the internet it's happening more frequently as many "retail storefront" type businesses have much higher overhead than some guy selling out of his garage or rental storage unit.... obviously the guy selling out of his garage can sell the same product cheaper than the guy with all the bills to pay...

And many companies are starting to refuse to sell to any business that doesn't have a physical retail store.

Take Bass Pro, Cabella's etc. Huge overhead that they can partially cover because they buy product a significant discounts over the small guy as their volume is so large. But these companies make a 40% or larger MARGIN on most everything they sell and on small items the margin is often 3-400%

Items like lures, fishing line, hooks, etc. have a huge markup for the big retailers. Same with clothing.

 

[sschefer]

Re: Is Pricefixing the right word--Shimano,G.Loomis etc etc

The reason prices are fixed are to stop unfair business practices. What that means is that no reseller can lowball another reseller. The manufacturer sets a low limit and will pull the product if you go below that.

This levels the playing field for resellers and makes customer service the number one player in the retail game.

If you order off the internet you get very little customer service. Nobody greets you and say's good morning, offers you a cup of coffee, helps you load your purchases, etc. Manufacturers are now understanding this better and are charging companies that do business soley on the internet and without warehousings facilities a higher price. This charge is commonly referred to as a drop ship charge and when it's all said and done, the profit margin is smaller than that of the common retailer with high overhead.

That has helped brick and mortar retailers somewhat. If and when they figure out the tax thing that will bring things even closer but the brick and mortar business will never be the same.