So with MAP pricing do I need to actually call to get the best price rather than order online? When I buy a guitar for example, the dealer advertizes the MAP price but when I call I can get a lower price, sometimes much lower.
henryp wrote:
MAP sets the min advertized price and doesn't affect the selling price, theoretically, so technically it's not price fixing. Unilateral pricing sets the minimum selling price but the retailer is free to charge more if he can get away with it, so that's not price fixing either.
Do you think Nikon's minimum selling price agreements are why there haven't been any ebay D800 specials, like there have been with the 5d3? Thinking all those 5d3 specials will go away with this new policy, probably?
Big Country - they are doing so in reaction to others offering the camera at or below cost. Dealers do not make the margin that most people think on these cameras. Now where this can result in large price swings is when Canon has too much inventory and they cut a deal with someone to move that inventory. The price of moving the inventory is the discounted cost and thus discounted sales price. The bad part is that they may not make this deal with everyone so it appears that one dealer is discounting by a crazy amount and everyone else isnt. The MAP policy is supposed to give general pricing guidelines that give each dealer some wiggle room on the price. What it stops is someone gutting the value and selling for cost or below cost. In Canon's eyes, this destroys the value of their product.
So why is everyone's pricing increasing? Well costs to produce keep increasing and the value of the dollar is weaker than 5 years ago.
