ericn
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Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,083 
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Post by ericn on May 10, 2023 20:12:00 GMT -6
If we are going to bitch about online dealers, let’s talk about those that sell used gear : 1. Little or no discription 2. How about only putting stuff you will ship online? 3. Real dimensions and shipping weight? 4. Hiring people who actually know what they are selling. 5. Useful zoomable pictures! The 3 worst GC, Samash and Musicgoround. GC your the world’s largest MI / pro audio dealer how about actually hiring someone to curate even on a National level your used gear? Musicgoround, all you sell is used gear! God I miss the days when you were HITECH Consignments, your staff knew what they had and that was in the days before the internet! Lol. Remember when I went over to Plano to check out some stuff for you?😂 I do! |
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Post by plinker on May 10, 2023 20:38:50 GMT -6
yes -- and for clarity, MAP refers to general advertisements. They can negotiate down to $1.00 with the customer, if they wish, without breaking the MAP agreement. That is not true, it depends on the vendor, some dealer agreements consider any verbal or written quote an advertisement, you can invoice it below MAP you just can’t tell the buyer a price below MAP. Most dealers will enforce a very strict MAP policy across the board because the complexities of all the different MAP policies is above the intellect of their sales staff and they know it. Consider some of the very strict MAP policies out side of our industry ( most designer clothing) Rolex is infamous for its MAP and it’s tough enforcement.
"Pricing policies come in two broad types. Minimum resale (or retail) price (MRP) policies allow a manufacturer to set the lowest price at which a product can be advertised and sold. Minimum advertised price (MAP) policies constrain advertised offers only. Either type can apply to all resellers (digital and brick-and-mortar retailers, distributors, and dealers) or to digital resellers only.
If adopted and enforced unilaterally, MRP and MAP policies have been lawful in the United States for more than a century. (MRP agreements generally have been lawful for a decade or so, while MAP agreements have had this status since at least 1987.) "
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,083
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Post by ericn on May 11, 2023 13:08:11 GMT -6
That is not true, it depends on the vendor, some dealer agreements consider any verbal or written quote an advertisement, you can invoice it below MAP you just can’t tell the buyer a price below MAP. Most dealers will enforce a very strict MAP policy across the board because the complexities of all the different MAP policies is above the intellect of their sales staff and they know it. Consider some of the very strict MAP policies out side of our industry ( most designer clothing) Rolex is infamous for its MAP and it’s tough enforcement.
"Pricing policies come in two broad types. Minimum resale (or retail) price (MRP) policies allow a manufacturer to set the lowest price at which a product can be advertised and sold. Minimum advertised price (MAP) policies constrain advertised offers only. Either type can apply to all resellers (digital and brick-and-mortar retailers, distributors, and dealers) or to digital resellers only.
If adopted and enforced unilaterally, MRP and MAP policies have been lawful in the United States for more than a century. (MRP agreements generally have been lawful for a decade or so, while MAP agreements have had this status since at least 1987.) "
It’s Legal becaus, it comes down to the definition of Advertised, each dealer agreement has its own definition, Some consider, any signage or tagging, some have weird exemptions, some will have a minimum on Demo’s. Some Fake German/ Chinese get very very very tight. There are even those who will consider anything discounted on an invoice with their items “ an unothorized packaging that is not allowed “ ( so you throw the discounted stuff on a separate invoice). Under the strictest I could sell it for what ever I wanted, I just couldn’t quote you a price below MAP till it was invoiced. “ welcome to Eric’s B-Word roulette, your price will be less than ( quote 1 penny over MAP) I can not tell you or print said items individual price all I can tell you is it will be less than ( 1 penny over MAP). I can not tell you this price will beat the price quoted by any other dealer, you have to trust me. This is not our policy but that of the manufacturer, if you don’t like it by all means complain to them. If you require an exact quote pre purchase quote it will be ( MAP). A crappy long winded way to sell some cheap crap, but I spent lots of time with the lawyer and comptroller and owners developing B-Word Roulette. A couple of other dealers complained that we had violated MAP, but when the rep heard the client complain about the fact he couldn’t get us to quote a price Below MAP and how stupid it was that we couldn’t (even on bids) they would pass on that we had figured out away around MAP and clients loved us while being disgusted by them. The fun part was how many major clients took a no B- word approach because of these policies and how much fun it made warning anyone who wanted to go this far that at retail we knew we could work around it and had clients that enjoyed giving the finger to the man. |
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Post by plinker on May 11, 2023 17:56:19 GMT -6
Based on the Harvard Review article, and other sources, I'm guessing that the MRP concept was instituted about a decade ago to firmly establish the difference between "advertised price" and "invoiced price".
So, in 2023 MAP refers to the advertised price and doesn't dictate the price that may ultimately be negotiated with consumers -- which has been my personal experience as well over the past decade+.
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Post by chessparov on May 11, 2023 18:51:54 GMT -6
yes -- and for clarity, MAP refers to general advertisements. They can negotiate down to $1.00 with the customer, if they wish, without breaking the MAP agreement. That is not true, it depends on the vendor, some dealer agreements consider any verbal or written quote an advertisement, you can invoice it below MAP you just can’t tell the buyer a price below MAP. Most dealers will enforce a very strict MAP policy across the board because the complexities of all the different MAP policies is above the intellect of their sales staff and they know it. Consider some of the very strict MAP policies out side of our industry ( most designer clothing) Rolex is infamous for its MAP and it’s tough enforcement. And it's timely no doubt. Chris |
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ericn
Temp
Balance Engineer
Posts: 16,083
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Post by ericn on May 11, 2023 19:02:54 GMT -6
Based on the Harvard Review article, and other sources, I'm guessing that the MRP concept was instituted about a decade ago to firmly establish the difference between "advertised price" and "invoiced price". So, in 2023 MAP refers to the advertised price and doesn't dictate the price that may ultimately be negotiated with consumers -- which has been my personal experience as well over the past decade+. Again it comes down to what a particular dealer agreement defines as advertisement, and of course how bad as a dealer I want a line. Remember “invoice “ means it’s paid for. The other factor is if your dealer is willing to risk a line and if of course someone will complain and have evidence to back up that claim. I personally kept copies of quotes from other dealers breaking MAP that I kept in a file, it was easy and fun when someone would complain that we were breaking MAP and I could prove they had actually broke it first and I just closed the deal and kept the other dealer out of trouble since their breaking MAP with a date that proceeded my breaking it meant I could demand they be cut off. |
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Post by plinker on May 11, 2023 20:05:21 GMT -6
Based on the Harvard Review article, and other sources, I'm guessing that the MRP concept was instituted about a decade ago to firmly establish the difference between "advertised price" and "invoiced price". So, in 2023 MAP refers to the advertised price and doesn't dictate the price that may ultimately be negotiated with consumers -- which has been my personal experience as well over the past decade+. Again it comes down to what a particular dealer agreement defines as advertisement, and of course how bad as a dealer I want a line. Remember “invoice “ means it’s paid for. The other factor is if your dealer is willing to risk a line and if of course someone will complain and have evidence to back up that claim. I personally kept copies of quotes from other dealers breaking MAP that I kept in a file, it was easy and fun when someone would complain that we were breaking MAP and I could prove they had actually broke it first and I just closed the deal and kept the other dealer out of trouble since their breaking MAP with a date that proceeded my breaking it meant I could demand they be cut off. I'm sorry; Regardless of my abuse of the word "invoice", I think we'll just have to agree to disagree on the definition of MAP at this point in retail history. The legal (as of ~10 years ago) definition of Minimum Retail Price (MRP) now exists for a good reason and the Harvard Review article explains it clearly. While I fully believe your past experience in retail differs, my consumer experience echoes what The Harvard Review explains. All good on this end. |
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