[Boatanchors] OT Fair Trade Prices

[D C _Mac_ Macdonald]

Currently, I believe Icom is doing this, at least for their HF rigs.
Selling prices are at MSRP and no bonus combos either.

For ham gear, I believe this all got started with Hoss Trader
Ed Moory (DeWitt, Arkansas?) around 1965 or so selling gear
at "discount" prices from maybe his garage.  At that time, I
was a regular customer at Ed Juge Electronics in Fort Worth.
Some locals considered me to be a sucker for dealing locally.
I would always tell them that it was worth having to pay the
sales tax to have a local source to see the merchandise first
and to have that local dealer if things went haywire early.

The fact that we have no "local" dealers is likely the result!

Recently, Icom (maybe other builders?) added this to their dealers.
If the dealer does not comply, I guess they might find themselves
permanently shut off from any resupply from the manufacturer.

73 - Mac, K2GKK/5
Since 30 Nov 1953
Oklahoma City, OK
USAF (Retired) 61-81
FAA (Retired) 94-10


________________________________
From: boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net <boatanchors-bounces at mailman.qth.net> on behalf of Rodger Singley <wq9nsc at live.com>
Sent: Sunday, November 21, 2021 13:25
To: Richard Knoppow <1oldlens1 at ix.netcom.com>; David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>; boatanchors at mailman.qth.net <boatanchors at mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] OT Fair Trade Prices

My doctoral dissertation was on free riding which is a related area.  Part of the rationale for fair trade was it protected full service retailers, who bore the cost of providing service (stock and displays, salespeople, other before and after sale support functions) from the discounters who simply sold the product and somewhat depended upon “free riding” consumers who determined what they wanted/needed from the full service retailer and then bought the product from the discounter.

In the dawn of the PC era, VARs (value added resellers) became another part of the issue.  A VAR typically sold a computer system with additional hardware and peripherals for specialized markets and bought the PC itself from the manufacturer at a discount.  Because of the discount schedule, VARs were motivated to buy more PCs than needed and sell the excess into the gray market channel.  Gray markets are non-counterfeit, legitimate goods that are being sold through a distribution channel not intended by the manufacturer.  Many camera products are readily available through the gray market and the not so careful consumer won’t even be aware their purchase was through a non-authorized channel until they find they have no manufacturer’s warranty.

Rodger WQ9E