[EstimatedEyes]

Add my sig to the petition as well.

As a marketing strategy, however, I have to say its working ... I bought the 100mm macro when it went on sale for Black Friday, and I picked up the 15mm limited four or five months ago when they temporarily suspended the price hike on that lens. Truth be told, I probably would not have bought either lens at the time I did, and did so only so I didn't "lose" the lower price. Adam's forum stats (which don't reflect my purchases) show I'm not the only one in this regard.

The assumption that Pentax will see the increased sales as a reason to go back to the old pricing system is not that obvious to me. To the contrary, they must realize they now have a great lever they can pull when they want to boost sales to meet internal revenue forecasts. If we really want to change their behavior, we should refuse to buy at the lower prices during the temporary lifting of the new pricing controls. Instead, buy your lenses when the artificially inflated prices are in effect ... but do so over the phone by demanding the lower prices from B&H or Adorama

[danboverholt]

One more US user on board. I am a semi-pro (mostly a teacher) and would love for people like my students to be able to buy into the Pentax system without having to buy either manual or non-pentax glass. We love your lenses, Pentax! Allow us to buy them in the US at more reasonable prices!

[mlaird]

The assumption that Pentax will see the increased sales as a reason to go back to the old pricing system is not that obvious to me. To the contrary, they must realize they now have a great lever they can pull when they want to boost sales to meet internal revenue forecasts. If we really want to change their behavior, we should refuse to buy at the lower prices during the temporary lifting of the new pricing controls. Instead, buy your lenses when the artificially inflated prices are in effect ... but do so over the phone by demanding the lower prices from B&H or Adorama

I agree that they will like the bump in sales when they suspend the price controls, but I think they would rather see consistent sales throughout the year. How can they predict demand in their largest market if they are only limited to a few bursts of sales during special "normal pricing" periods? I think that as long as the price controls are in effect, their overall sales will drop. Shoppers will see high prices and be scared away. The price advantage Pentax has had over the more dominant brands is gone for most of the year, so who is going to buy into such a system?

Pentax needs consistent, competitive prices online so that they can attract new users to their system and encourage current users to upgrade. With the current controls, they are snuffing out both categories of sales.

[kacansas03]

I support this position. I have been saving for one of the wide angle primes for some time and just when I thought I could buy they suddenly jumped out of reach again. I had not made up my mind wether to get the 14, 15 or a zoom. When the prices jumped out a sight I bought a used 10-17 and bought the program to defish the images but discovered I like the fish eye look plus I find it very creative! But I know that someday a 14 or 15, maybe a 12-24, will come to my home.

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Last edited by kacansas03; 12-04-2012 at 11:12 AM. Reason: addition

[jtkays]

I support this petition! My current lenses are Pentax, but would seriously consider Sigma for any new ones.

[Bramela]

I am in Australia. I agree, prices MUST be opened up to become more competitive. I must add though, Australian prices are even worse.
Pentax DA18-135 in US sells at a tad over $500US. ($526 at B&H). At just one outlet in Aus $717US (at DCW)
We are being ripped off big time, and now certain political heavies are trying to get rid of the the $1000 threshold on duties and GST paid on goods purchased overseas.

The attitude "We will charge like wounded bulls, and close alternate avenues for you to purchase elsewhere at a reasonable price." "Gangsters!"

[ladiej]

I have been watching Pentax lens prices. Cannot afford Pentax lenses. I have checked local camera stores and pawn shops. Seems no one wants to carry these lenses any more. And when you do find one it's not affordable. I am with you on this. If Pentax wants to compete with other makers they need to bring their prices down. They are shooting themselves in the foot.

[john e]

Count me in also. Have already bought two third party lenses
instead of Pentax. Have been a Pentax user sinc 1965.

[mdodrill]

Lower prices

[zman]

Please count me in. I'd love to buy more new Pentax lenses but unfortunately I'm priced out. I've been satisfying my LBA purchasing 3rd party or used older Pentax versions. Where I live there are no brick & mortar camera stores that sell Pentax equipment of any type.

[imouse]

The prices are SO high on Pentax lenses that I only purchase Tamron clones for my K- 7.

[photoman1]

Pentax, you are not Canon. Stop screwing with me with these inflated prices. They are not even made in Japan. Maybe I'll just switch to Nikon since I like them better and now they cost just as much. I can only wonder what the FF DA* lenses will cost now.

;-(

[katomight]

Agree totally -- I don't even contemplate buying a new Pentax lens. Strictly used, or off-brand.

[mrNewt]

I'm all for ... but I doubt it will happen ...
( Yes, I will gladly put my name in the petition )

[NYNOIR]

It's time to put the online MSRP thing to an end. Back in April, through a "Unilateral Pricing Policy" (UPP), Pentax USA forced online retailers to start selling Pentax lenses at full MSRP rather than the then-lower MAP prices. Refer to the article below for an overview of the price jumps. Some lenses nearly doubled in price!

Brutal Pentax Lens Price Increase: 15-90% - Pentax Camera News & Rumors - PentaxForums.com

Since this change, online sales of Pentax lenses have virtually come to a standstill because of the high, artificially-inflated prices. I'm sure you guys can testify to that, especially if you opted to use the Marketplace or get Sigma lenses rather than new Pentax ones. Just because the DA* 16-50mm has an MSRP of $1500 doesn't mean that anyone in the right mind will buy a used copy at the new high price: in fact, used Pentax lens prices are generally lower than the old MAP prices.

All of a sudden, this Black Friday weekend, the UPP restriction was temporarily lifted, and Pentax lens prices fell sharply for a few days (but some were still higher than the old prices). Here's a little insight into what gear really started moving:

In just one day, well over 100 new Pentax lenses were sold to PF members alone. That's more that the total number sold to PF members after the introduction of the UPP but before Black Friday.

So what good is this UPP thing doing? None at all. When it originally came about, Ned Bunnell, former President of Pentax USA, blogged about the UPP, saying that the main goal of the policy was to protect smaller brick-and-mortar stores so that they don't have to compete with really low online prices. Well, that's great and all, but you can count on your fingers how many such stores there are. And the funny thing is that if you walk into any one of these stores, you'll see the old prices. The same applies if you call B&H or Adorama: you'll generally get the old prices as long as you mention it (and if you walk in to the store, there's no question about it) On top of all this, rumors have it the Pentax USA distributor requires retailers to place large orders, which causes smaller stores to lose interest in carrying the brand, given the tiny demand that there is for Pentax to begin with.

The UPP isn't going to change the fact that the largest audience for Pentax lenses is found online, because of the fact that Pentax users are few and far between. This means that the new policy has done nothing but prevented users otherwise interested in Pentax lenses from buying them.

Above: the Pentax DA* 50-135mm is the star of the UPP, jumping from $749 to $1599

I was on the phone with B&H again today, and after I mentioned the recent Adorama deals, their buyer agreed to drop the price of the 15mm limited to $539 when in cart. B&H said that if this deal ends up getting more copies of the lens sold, they will do their best to post similar deals in the future, even if Pentax doesn't get rid of the UPP. Lowering prices after adding to cart, without advertising them, is a gray area: Pentax can't really say that it's a violation of the UPP, but they certainly won't be happy about it. B&H admitted that it was nice to see some stock get cleared out during Black Friday, so hopefully they'll be giving Pentax stuff a little bit more attention from now on.

While I'm sure B&H will be the first to offer the best online Pentax lens prices, they alone won't be able to change the way things work, because Pentax lenses and cameras are dwarfed by all other DSLR brands.

Almost all other camera brands have unilateral pricing policies. The difference, however, is that in-store prices are the same as online prices, and that no lenses doubled in price from one day to the next. This keeps prices constant across the board and successfully protects the market, unlike the Pentax policy, which one might say was late to the game. So, Pentax, consider this a petition on behalf of our entire community asking you to rethink your online marketing strategy.

If the UPP has prevented or discouraged you from buying a Pentax lens, or even forced you to switch brands, and if you want prices to go back to normal, sign the petition by replying to this thread. Let's make this the biggest thread in the whole lens forum: hopefully it'll send a strong message!

And if you want, I can go on with more reasons for why the UPP is bad:

• Competitors have similarly-priced full-frame glass
• Sigma has cheaper lenses and also offers premium lenses
• People will avoid new lenses in favor of cheap manual lenses

As much as I hate to do it, I'd like to ask that the replies be limited to members based in the US, or who regularly import Pentax lenses from US online retailers.

Agree with this.