Price Fixing Hall of Shame
In case some of you weren't aware of it, a number of aftermarket motorcycle parts manufacturers and distributors use the tactic of threatening online retailers with either legal action or withholding product from them if they don't sell their products at retail prices. The big losers here are you, the consumer, who is being forced to pay a fixed price.
The driving force behind this are local dealers who claim Internet retailers are killing their business, and the big online retailers who sell only at retail. As far as the local dealers are concerned, I can see their point, but I do have several major problems with it. First, at a local store or shop, you can actually look at the product in person, you don't have any shipping charges, and you can take it home with you immediately, which are huge advantages. Second, the prices we sell online are the same prices we offer in our retail location, so if we can do it, so should they. That's just competetion, and the way business works.
So from time to time, I'm going to list the worst offenders. Here's the latest additions:
Sampson Exhaust
Vance and Hines Exhaust
T-bags Motorcycle Luggage
The driving force behind this are local dealers who claim Internet retailers are killing their business, and the big online retailers who sell only at retail. As far as the local dealers are concerned, I can see their point, but I do have several major problems with it. First, at a local store or shop, you can actually look at the product in person, you don't have any shipping charges, and you can take it home with you immediately, which are huge advantages. Second, the prices we sell online are the same prices we offer in our retail location, so if we can do it, so should they. That's just competetion, and the way business works.
So from time to time, I'm going to list the worst offenders. Here's the latest additions:
Sampson Exhaust
Vance and Hines Exhaust
T-bags Motorcycle Luggage
posted by Vincent Vega at 10/21/2005 08:10:00 AM
2 Comments:
As a shop owner, I have no problem with someone such as yourself who has a real world store and is selling online. As you say, that is just business.
My problem is with these fly by night outfits that only run on the internet, and are selling at barely above wholesale costs. Jireh and others come to mind. Where will it all end? How can anyone - yourself included - compete with someone working out of their basement willing to sell at the price we pay?
I would respond this way: the responsibility for this lies with some of the wholesale distributors. Some dealerships are very hard to get, and you must prove that you have a shop/store to get them, while others will give a dealership to anyone with a pulse. Until this changes, there will be a lot of fly by night operations.
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