Authorized dealers...

[Hi Ho]

I do not get the reasoning behind authorized dealers and pricing. Unless I am mistaken, a retailer must buy the product from the manufacturer before they can sell it. If the retailer decides to sell at a price lower than the MSRP why should the manufacturer care? They still got their money, it's the retailer's loss.

The reason I am asking this is that I am considering a Yamaha HTR-5860 and the lowest price I can find is from Etronics, an unauthorized dealer. I would not get a warranty. Why should Yamaha care whether I paid $350 or $3,500? Doesn't Yamaha get the same amount either way?

 

[MDS]

Alot of manufacturers enforce what they call 'Minimum Advertised Price' (MAP). They don't allow dealers/stores to advertise prices lower than than MAP. That is why at alot of online stores you have to put the item in your shopping cart before you can see the real price. They can sell it for whatever price they want, they just can't advertise the lower price in some instances.

I think the reason they do it is because alot of people equate price with quallity and they don't want to be perceived as low quality if the advertised price is much lower than their msrp. MSRP is usually higher than MAP.

 

[Francious70]

That, and the manufacturer wants fair play between dealers.

 

[pikers]

That, and the manufacturer wants fair play between dealers.

That, and buying a B-stock refurb touted as new potentially hurts the reputation of the manufacturer.

Money isn't everything. Brand reputation often means more long-term. Although, it hasn't seemed to affect Sony...