Originally posted by falconeye Please, understand that the extra money we're going to pay stays with the dealers, not Pentax.
So, your argument doesn't hold true on closer inspection.
In case of retail stores, it may be a good thing as they may promote the brand better. However, I like the Pentax way here in Germany better: dealers with a better volume earn "points" which entitles them for free advertisement (ads paid by Pentax which then promote Pentax & the dealer).
The problem are online stores or or almost online stores, like Amazon and B&H: the extra money we're going to pay just stays with them making them unbelievably rich (we're talking billionairs here) without doing any good for the brand.
The only way around is to ship to retail stores and reserve the the online business mostly to the vendor itself, assuming they're capable of setting it up properly. Another case where Apple may serve as the lead example: Preserve retail price w/o making box shifters unbelievably rich (because of protected prices).
As predicted, no matter what Pentax does there's a reason to complain about it.
Falk, what makes you so sure that Pentax will let the larger dealers just suck up all that extra money like catfish at the bottom of the dam? We don't know the global/regional/country marketing strategy yet.
We don't know whether:
- Dealer minimum guarantees won't be altered
- We don't know whether online, no-service retailers won't have a different pricing schedule from local B&M
- Co-Op ad revenue will be available to local shops (Pentax co-op advertises with a dealer in ST. LOUIS, right now, this week)
- Co-Op advertsiing won't be available to the online merchants
- The additional profit, should it accrue, won't make the brand more attractive to them.
- Local shiops will be covered by a local rep and Amazon, Adorama, B&H will be covered as National Accounts
- Wholesale prices won't also be managed to allow attractive profit margins to local stores.
- Any of a host of other channel management techniques PRI could use.
This is one element, of many elements, of Ricoh's plan to rebuild the Pentax brand. We don't know all the elements yet. We don't know how Unilateral Pricing fits into the distribution strategy. We don't know what the item prices will be.
We don't know whether Pentax intends to make a fair, level price with fewer rebates, and earn the same money over time. I consider that a better deal than speculative purchase timing.
In fact, we really don't know very much at all.
That doesn't even begin to discuss
who cares if bigger dealers make more money - that's the way capitalism works. Do you think someone should tell Pentax and B&H how to do business so that I get to have things the way I want them? It isn't my company (well, not very much of it anyway). If I don't like it I can always buy something else, or not buy camera things at all. It's a decision, not a right or an obligation.