Yakim Peled wrote:
Is Canon the only company that does that?
Happy shooting,
Yakim.
No, Nikon and Sony have done it for years.
One term that many misused it though is that Canon doesn't "raise" or "increase" their prices. We have been spoiled with how retailers sold Canon products way below MSRP.
Going from yesterday on ebay to today from a local shop the real cost of a new 5dIII has gone up $750. The only reason I'm bringing this up is I try to buy local when I can but for camera gear with tax and a higher MAP price it is hard to justify. That's 1-1.5 years of depreciation on the camera...
erikburd wrote:
I think the folks at Canon have completely lost their minds. Talk about counterproductive - sales are down, let's raise prices!
I do not see sales are down. And they did not raise prices. They just use a tool to try to keep "regular" prices "up" to a kind of level of their announced retail prices. Thery do not lose 1 $ if "sales companies" reduce their own margins to sell quick an amount of gear. But their products value feel lower if they are sold much beneath their suggested retail price. If customers stop purchasing their products THEY themself will offer better prices.
But it does not look to me, that people do stop, although many are whining in all fori.
The actual rank of 5D III at amazon germany is 12 (tendency rising). At 3.048 € (3943,50$, including tax). Nikons D600 at 1.849€ ranks on place 18, still falling ($ 2392,24 tax incl.).
Many other companies have similar restrictions. I believe what B&H and others do in this case is to show the regular price on the page and then say "add the item to the cart to get a lower price".
They cannot say that 5DIII is a $2800 camera but they can say that is a $3000 camera but we will offer it to you at $2800. So the list price has to match the MAP but you can still sell it with a discount. At the end of the day it should not be a huge deal.
Hmm. I guess you've missed Canon's last quarterly results.
DSLR sales were down for the quarter as compared to 2011 (with overall company profit down 42.2%).
And Canon feels that now is the time to enforce the MALs.
That would surely stop the bleeding. Right.
3) Make photographs with what you got because all the companies suck.
Cameras these days are so capable and such a bargain compared to a decade ago and to 30 years ago, that if you are even ten times as good as me (you probably are), the camera is almost never the limiting factor. Yes, a faster lens would help now and then. Yes, a higher ISO would help now and then. Yes, some better AF would help now and then. But I struggle against the limitations of my artistic vision much more than the technical limitations of my equipment. My cameras didn't stop working the day the MAP policy went into effect.
But, for many, kvetching is the easy route to making better photos.
Rickuz wrote:
So it would seem that Canon is stomping down on dealers offering lower prices. B&H has already responded with raising the price of the 5D mark III back up to over 3k, including the $200 rebate.
"Canon is starting the enforcement of their MAP (Minimum Advertised Price) pricing rules today. Some camera bodies and lenses will see an immediate increase in their base price."
Thats too bad, I was going to get one from B&H. I guess I will wait. Actually I am very happy with what I am using right now so maybe I will just skip this cycle on new cameras and wait a few years for the next ones.
Cameras these days are so capable and such a bargain compared to a decade ago... the camera is almost never the limiting factor. But, for many, kvetching is the easy route to making better photos.
+10 on these points. The amount of whining about camera gear on this forum is prodigious. No one -- and I do mean no one -- who is a regular user of this forum is limited by the quality of their equipment. If you can't make great photographs with what you've got, it's on you -- not the gear.
Coming up with a manufacturers price, and then cracking down on retailers selling for less, surely breaks a few laws. Price fixing is illegal and immoral in North America.
BluesWest wrote:
+10 on these points. The amount of whining about camera gear on this forum is prodigious. No one -- and I do mean no one -- who is a regular user of this forum is limited by the quality of their equipment. If you can't make great photographs with what you've got, it's on you -- not the gear.
John
Oh good god. So you like paying more because your an awesome photographer? How do you make the connection between people wanting to get the most for their money and the crowd that thinks that skill is all about gear?
If you can pay a couple of hundred less why woudln't you?
Samsung and Panasonic have cracked down on this in 2012 as well with their tv lines. I found as the year went on though prices started getting more flexible. Retailers also started offering 'add-ons' instead of lowering prices.
The purpose of doing this is to help local stores, to take away the advantage of on-line ordering. In tv's, it has helped. best Buy even matches the online prices now.
Shutterbug2006 wrote:
Coming up with a manufacturers price, and then cracking down on retailers selling for less, surely breaks a few laws. Price fixing is illegal and immoral in North America.
Setting a MAP is not price fixing. If it is anything like other MAP schemes, the retailers can still sell it for less than MAP. They just cannot list the price of the item as below MAP. Instead they have to say that the price is MAP, but we are offering you a discount.
MAP is really not as bad as people are making it sound. All it does is that it forces the retailers to distinguish their own discounts from any across the board price reduction that Canon does itself.
This looks like an attempt at resail price maintenance, which is illegal in just about every country. I am guessing Canon has gotten legal advice and is confident it isn't breaking the law but it is one the anti-trust authorities should have a look at because it reduces competition between sellers if they can't advertise what price they actually will sell for.
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