Why do dealers not post prices of merchandise?

I thought one of the arguments against online posting was the cost of gear varying across the world.
 
Myles B. Astor said:
I thought one of the arguments against online posting was the cost of gear varying across the world.
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I think we all know that people who live outside of the U.S. that buy American gear are going to pay more than Americans due to VAT. Americans also pay more for gear imported from other countries than those audiophiles that live in the countries where the gear was manufactured. Just like MSRP, that is no secret either.
 
Mike said:
I think if discounting is a major concern for some manufacturers. E-commerce with strict MAP pricing, will actually, in my opinion, help their goals, not hurt it. But this is ultimately a decision each manufacturer must make.

In an age of buying cars from vending machines, amazon and the like, where someone can buying anything at any time from any where, the industry is going to be forced into the world of e-commerce in my opinion.

The argument against it is that audio components must not be seen as mere "commodities", but rather luxury items requiring personal service. I can't argue with this, but it's definitely a fine line with such few and few B&M dealers.

My comment would be: if we are a manufacturer of hybrid tube/ss amps and we say, "no posting prices, no selling online, no selling outside your territory!", and four of our hybrid tube/ss amp competitors say to their dealers "sell online, sell wherever", are we not fighting with one arm behind our backs? The problem is that I may see myself as superior to my competitors feeling that we have better products and can therefore implement such rules, but I'm not sure in reality, the market really sees it that way.

I have a particular example where a customer called and wanted to move to tubes. I was not allowed to sell him brand A due to territorial restrictions which I honor, so I sold him brand B. Does that make sense if I'm brand A? Brand B was very happy to get the sale I must tell you.

If people don't buy a BMW the way they want, they will just buy an Audi, Mercedes or a Porsche. That's my point. But BMW may feel that they just have such a superior product they can implement such rules. The market, IMO, doesn't see it that way.
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Now we are touching on another can of worms outside of the MSRP discussion. Business ethics or lack thereof is an issue. How many dealers have been burned by other dealers? How many dealers have been burned by factory direct selling in a dealer's backyard? I'm sure you could write a book about the things you have personally witnessed.
 
mep said:
Now we are touching on another can of worms outside of the MSRP discussion. Business ethics or lack thereof is an issue. How many dealers have been burned by other dealers? How many dealers have been burned by factory direct selling in a dealer's backyard? I'm sure you could write a book about the things you have personally witnessed.
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A big book. The ones that bellyache the most are the worst offenders.


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So far this is about Dealers.

Why can't all the MFGs just put the MRSP prices on their websites? It sure would save buyers a lot of time if they knew right away that any given product was within their budget or not. But you have to poke all over the internet to get that simple info.
 
Myles B. Astor said:
I thought one of the arguments against online posting was the cost of gear varying across the world.
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I see it from a service standpoint. Customer satisfaction and dealer choice go hand in hand. I'm guessing manufacturers want quality dealers that care about equipment choice, customer needs, and especially setup. I wouldn't order a four box DCS stack online and expect myself to be able to optimize it. I need a dealer I trust to help guide me where I want to be. The relationship is lacking in e-commerce for audio but if I could save $$$ buying a watch online, I'm smart enough to set the time on my own. Cables on the other hand...

Dave
 
basicly any worldwide selling company will try to get the best out of any country…...prices are made of what is thought people will pay.
here in switzerland everything cxosts more, even swiss produced products!
 
Shadowfax said:
So far this is about Dealers.

Why can't all the MFGs just put the MRSP prices on their websites? It sure would save buyers a lot of time if they knew right away that any given product was within their budget or not. But you have to poke all over the internet to get that simple info.
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You don't have to poke very hard to find pricing information. Mike challenged me to find one dealer who listed ARC prices online. It took me 2 seconds to find one.
 
mep said:
You don't have to poke very hard to find pricing information. Mike challenged me to find one dealer who listed ARC prices online. It took me 2 seconds to find one.
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We should not have to search, the prices should just be right with the product on the MFG web page. If different in countries, list them all like the China Tube Amp Sites do.
 
mep said:
You don't have to poke very hard to find pricing information. Mike challenged me to find one dealer who listed ARC prices online. It took me 2 seconds to find one.
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In my defense, the rules changed in November 2018. Happily they did.

But there still remains, some manufacturers that are against it.

As an example has anyone see the Chord DAVE price advertised on a U.S. dealer website? That is strictly prohibited.
 
Shadowfax said:
We should not have to search, the prices should just be right with the product on the MFG web page. If different in countries, list them all like the China Tube Amp Sites do.
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I really like how MSB does it. They have "Pricing" right there on the website. But then again, it's two really smart young guys who run the company.
 
Mike said:
I really like how MSB does it. They have "Pricing" right there on the website. But then again, it's two really smart young guys who run the company.
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Mike, Are you saying the other companies are run by dumb old guys? :mad::D
 
Shadowfax said:
So far this is about Dealers.

Why can't all the MFGs just put the MRSP prices on their websites? It sure would save buyers a lot of time if they knew right away that any given product was within their budget or not. But you have to poke all over the internet to get that simple info.
Click to expand...

I understand and sympathize with brick-and-mortar dealers, especially of high-end audio products. However, I agree that the manufacturers themselves should post MSRP on their websites. It is irritating having to hunt around for an MSRP to determine if a product is within my budget before spending more time researching the product.
 
Mike said:
I really like how MSB does it. They have "Pricing" right there on the website. But then again, it's two really smart young guys who run the company.
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Exactly. I don't get the sense that MSB's public pricing information is hurting its business.
 
But like I said, some manufacturers feel that putting prices next to products is akin to “e-commerce”, something they do not care for.


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You can go through a long list of brands and pricing is indeed difficult to find online.


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