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It is a dirty little secret, and it goes on in all industries that involve retail sales. I have worked in all aspects of consumer goods, from manufacturing to retail. If the mainstream only knew all the dirty secrets......
because nothing says "COMMUNISM!" like good old capitalist eye gouging practices
We've been discussing this for a couple of days on the fasttech thread that spawned a few days ago.
I speculated with the news from innokin and my good experiences with fasttech, that what ........ says was what was happening, it's good to see a well respected member of the community like him shed some light on the issue.
I speculated with the news from innokin and my good experiences with fasttech, that what ........ says was what was happening, it's good to see a well respected member of the community like him shed some light on the issue.
I am not saying it is right but I do understand WHY this happens and why the manufacturers want the retail prices held up. Without minimum MSRP any company could sell the products at any price. This is good for the consumer but ONLY in the short term. What inevitably happens when this is allowed to continue is that the financially stronger resellers will severely undercut the competition. Prices will fall to or in some cases BELOW Wholesale costs until only a few, or even one of the resellers is left in business. At that point the survivor can jack the prices up to anywhere they want and the price gouging would be bad for the consumer and the manufacturer. As soon as a new reseller opens shop the original survivor can drop prices again to a point that the new competitor cannot sustain and they too are out of business. This is also bad for the manufacturer because they end up with less direct customers and their financial future then becomes directly linked to them. Minimum pricing from the manufacturer helps prevent this from happening.
MAP (minimized advertised pricing) is common in most industries, even down to gasoline and gallons of milk. it tries to level the playing fields between the big stores and local shops...although it does not mean that local stores cant sell cheaper, just means they cannot advertise it in marketing.
The markup on pv and such is rediculous.... I've been in the retail industry for 12 years or so and that kind of markup for the retail end is unheard of. If fasttech is making money off reselling the other retailers are making a killing. I can see justifying it on the retail end but saying they have no choice in the pricing but that doesn't explain the prices for the other products with no forced pricing. Even with the markups the prices seem reasonable compared to smoking for the most part which is why they are able to get away with it I imagine.
I will retract the unheard of statement, but it does seem a little over the top with the amount of product most of the retailers are selling. Markups like that are more normal for things that don't sell in big volume so the need for big markups is there. With fasttech growing bigger the days of way overpriced may soon come to an end.
Shatner.. I can see why you would have such a markup on the beautiful things you have created. I wasn't very specific during my rant, I was refering to mass produced products having a crazy markup. As for whoever had the communist comment... I understand what they are getting at but taken literally wouldn't make perfect sense. Its just one of those things that people over the years have given a new meaning to and I just got used to it I guess.
Well, if the puck e cig can be created from 8.00usd to anywhere around 25.00 for basic cheap parts....
and if someone took the time to actually create something eye catching and beautiful..
It is all in the eye of the seller and buyer..
What makes someone happy at 20.00 or at 500.00 is what keeps emptying bank accounts.
How much is something "actually" worth, in the end, is up to the buyer.
Sometimes things happen for reasons unknown, but what it hurts is the person that came up with the idea. Why bother to think up something fantastic, when Joe Blow can do it cheaper.
Just thoughts..
and if someone took the time to actually create something eye catching and beautiful..
It is all in the eye of the seller and buyer..
What makes someone happy at 20.00 or at 500.00 is what keeps emptying bank accounts.
How much is something "actually" worth, in the end, is up to the buyer.
Sometimes things happen for reasons unknown, but what it hurts is the person that came up with the idea. Why bother to think up something fantastic, when Joe Blow can do it cheaper.
Just thoughts..
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