You do not seem to understand. Vendors are free to sell items at whatever price they see fit even below cost. They are just not free to advertise those prices since some guys like to make a few bucks. It is all about keeping everyone happy. Call your vendor and drop him a note to get the price
Mike

 

You must NOT be an AFR vendor. A recent AFR GP was cancelled (there was no posted price ) because the prices that we got via PM were too low.

 

i think it benefits both the vender and the consumer.
vender sells a lot of items for a little lower price, and still makes profit.
consumer gets a deal from the GP.

A small profit sale, is better than no sale at all. it keeps the business going too. Plus, this site advertises to the whole world, pratically, and many people wanting car parts would probably never hear about all the venders that exist if it weren't for this tech sites.

just a thought

 

I'm not a sponsor, but I run into the same thing selling Amsoil... I like to give better prices than minimum allowable advertised retail price for fellow board members and my friends, so I have to ask for emails or PMs rather than post actual price quotes...

It is cumbersome, but necessary if I want to keep selling Amsoil. I totally understand where the sponsors are coming from, and to me, a PM, email, or phone call is a small price to pay to get a good deal.

 

hmmmm....
the PM and email thing I understand....

It makes me wonder if a manufacturer that will not ALLOW a vendor to have a GP even one in PM's. should not be the subject of a BOYCOT ???

They are doing us the consumer a disservice. I had not heard this before, I might just be switching my heads out for something else....
I know every last ounce of FREE word of mouth and word online advertising I was doing will stop until I hear differant.

 

I agree, thats a bunch of crap

 

I'm just curious.......what does a vendor care what you sell a product for? You're still buying FROM them for a certain price. If your willing to sell at a loss to say drum up business or get rid of inventory, what does it matter to them....they're not losing money on the deal.

 

because it sometimes works like this
vendor A has more than one pricing level for dealers, so a small shop does a lower level buy in and gets say 5% discount and a bigger shop does a larger buy in and gets say 15% discount. vendor A says to their dealers you must sell for X amount, this levels the playing field for their dealers, keeps the bigger shops from selling at prices so low the smaller shops can't compete and no longer even buys from vendor A

this is one of a number of reasons

 

I understand the PM pricing for prices that "are too low to advertise" - but seriously...how many threads in here actually have prices in them?
For items that don't have the published pricing restriction, it would be nice to just see a price posted.

 

I can't speak for any other manufacturers, but with FAST, for instance, we had an issue a while back where a price being given out on the LSX manifolds was below our allowed pricing.

In addition to what was said above, if, say, Summit, one of our biggest customers, saw that advertised price here when we've told them that they can only sell for $xxx, they would be extremely unhappy. Really, it's protection for the speed shops and retailers who sell our products moreso than it is for us, but it's in our best interest to protect them. They're the ones moving the product out the door for us.

 

How would you like to get in a group purchase that is shown to be below the advertised pricing, send your money in only to find out that because the dealer advertised below the map he can't deliver your product because when he goes to purchase from the manufacturer he is cutoff. We normally agree to not advertise below a certain price with the understanding if we do, our product may be on everlasting backorder. The advertised pricing setup is there to protect all dealers and the dealers that usually cut that price are not going to be in a hurry to help you if you have a problem because they didn't make enough off the deal. If something appears too good to be true, it usually is and may come back to haunt you.

 

that makes sense, protecting the little shops from big shops selling on margin. if a big shop sells it for really cheap but sells alot, then it works out to be the same, but the smaller shop can't afford to sell it that cheap. however some companies like AFR from what i have read have a zero sale policy, and that kinda sux

 

All this really depends on the manufacturer. Some consider, e-mail and PM's "advertised pricing" anything that can be read or forwarded to another is considered advertising by some suppliers. That is often why you will see some vendors say "call for price, no email or PM" I that way they can sell it for what they want.
Mike