how is the price on a playstaion (and others) unit not price fixing or illegal?

[iam4u2nv]

This is just about believing you have a choice, right?

BINGO ..... that is it 100 %
they have taken my right to shop... err wait
what am I, a woman?

 

[Aceman]

You still aren't getting the mark up issue on the product, are you? All the companies buy them from Sony for about $195.00. No company has any leeway to put them on a loss leader type sale. Ever notice that certain products NEVER go on sale? That's because there is no markup on the item

 

[iam4u2nv]

Ok here is another question.
Can companies put any price they want to on PS1? Now that PS2 is out, if you had a whole butt load of PS1 laying in stock could you dump them at any price just to make room?
If the answer to this question is yes you could dump them to make room then there is no problem. I will just wait till PS3 comes out...

 

[Jzero]

Originally posted by: iam4u2nv

This is just about believing you have a choice, right?

BINGO ..... that is it 100 %
they have taken my right to shop... err wait
what am I, a woman?

Hahahaha

The truth is that you DO have a choice, though: Don't buy one.
I know, your child wants one. Retailers love selling the must-have item at holiday time, b/c parents will pay extra to see their kids' smiling faces.

you people all over the country do not mind being force fed a paticular price, why doesn't every industry and every company use the same tatic. Hell I would... it seems to work great. I would be set for life at a guaranteed income because no one could pay me less for my items. With no competition I do not have to worry about my customer finding it somewhere else.

The flaw in this argument is that you aren't being force fed the price b/c you don't have to buy. You COULD run your business this way, but remember that the only reason Sony can do this in the first place because there is sufficient demand to allow them to do so. If no one buys your product, you can set the price however high you want and demand that retailers sell at that price--you'll still lose money.

Not that I think it's a bad thing, but I'm really starting to sound a lot like tcsenter

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Price fixing would be if the $169 store and the $199 stores were in communication with eachother, keeping a deal going under the table.

If everyone wants to charge $200 for something that the people keep buying at $200, then so be it. The people are stupid enough to keep paying, why should they lower their price? And, if one store decides to undersell the other stores by $30 in an effort to get more customers to offset their cheaper price and make a bigger profit, what does that matter?

nik

 

[Ornery]

"You have some entitlement issues."

Heh, join the club!

Hell, everybody's entitled!

Personally, it gives me a chuckle that a company with a good product can call the shots like this. It's fair to the retailers, consumers and themselves. But then again, I'm not one who believes these companies exist for the good of humanity, either!

 

[iam4u2nv]

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Price fixing would be if the $169 store and the $199 stores were in communication with eachother, keeping a deal going under the table.

If everyone wants to charge $200 for something that the people keep buying at $200, then so be it. The people are stupid enough to keep paying, why should they lower their price? And, if one store decides to undersell the other stores by $30 in an effort to get more customers to offset their cheaper price and make a bigger profit, what does that matter?

nik

My point is that Sony says the store does not have this option... the store can not say ok I will drop my price 10 dollars so I get some of store A customers. Stores are not deciding the price.. Sony is.. well sony.. microsoft nintendo etc. I am sure this happens more than I realize and this is my first sighting of it.
Again.. I am just crying because I live in a perfect world where all things do as I say and things happen as I decide.. except for Sony.. rotten... &#@*$!

 

[CPA]

I may be wrong here, but didn't buy.com at one time have the PS2 for $189?

 

[AU Tiger]

That may have been a $10 off $200 coupon for the $189 price. Not sure though.

 

[NikPreviousAcct]

Originally posted by: iam4u2nv

Originally posted by: ffmcobalt
Price fixing would be if the $169 store and the $199 stores were in communication with eachother, keeping a deal going under the table.

If everyone wants to charge $200 for something that the people keep buying at $200, then so be it. The people are stupid enough to keep paying, why should they lower their price? And, if one store decides to undersell the other stores by $30 in an effort to get more customers to offset their cheaper price and make a bigger profit, what does that matter?

nik

My point is that Sony says the store does not have this option... the store can not say ok I will drop my price 10 dollars so I get some of store A customers. Stores are not deciding the price.. Sony is.. well sony.. microsoft nintendo etc. I am sure this happens more than I realize and this is my first sighting of it.
Again.. I am just crying because I live in a perfect world where all things do as I say and things happen as I decide.. except for Sony.. rotten... &#@*$!

A company has no right to say "you cannot have a sale" or "you cannot sell it for this much" unless the store is willing to take a strong suggestion from the company in fear of the company forbidding to do business with that store ever again.

nik

 

[diamondgoat53]

i think a major reason for this is being overlooked (i skimmed the posts, if it's already been pointed out, my bad.) i own a retail store. my major competitor in my line of business is a big-box retailer. most of what i sell is "price-protected." and here's why. in August of this year, it was leaked that a major manufacturer had a new product looming. their current product had a price of 299.99 everywhere in the free world. my major competitor reduced the price on their inventory to 199.99. not a problem, except the wholesale price of the product was 224.00. so, i had customers coming to me saying"can you match this price?" well, no. i called the company, told them of the competitor's doings, and watched the fall-out. the company took back all of my existing inventory, credited the full amount, and told the other store they would not be allowed any of the new product until the old was sold, at 299.99. so, now, i have new product, they do not, and if it happens again the company will pull my competitors account. don't for one minute think best buy wouldn't sell it for a loss to pound someone else out of business. that's the sad truth. do i begrudge them? hell no!! but it is nice to have a little backing from the major manufacturers.

 

[Deeko]

I haven't read much of the thread, so I don't know if this has been pointed out...

Profit margin on consoles is often NEGATIVE. I know at Circuit City, back when PS2 was $299, we paid $315 for the unit. Obviously there will be stores selling at MSRP, so no one in their right mind will sell it for higher, but when you are already LOSING money selling it at MSRP, why would you want to drop it more? Think about it slugger. Its not price fixing. its common sense.

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: iam4u2nv
Many many things have MSRP's on them but do to competition the prices fall and you can shop around. Sony among others says sell this unit for 199 and all stores do. Even long after the unit price dropped you can not find a new unit for under 199.

why sell it for less when everyone else sells it for $199

This is what capitalism is based on.. selling it for less so people will buy it from YOU. Hello?
Everything goes this way. Here is an example of how this is different. I go to BestBuy and I say Compusa has this drive for 129 can you beat that price. They say yes or no depending but often I can get a better price.
I ask on Playstation 2 and the man says "I am sorry but we can not sell that unit for less than 199"
Hmmm how strange, We can not sell for less.. why?

Because they don't want to start a price war? They are already making small profits from each unit, why would they want to double their sales and decrease their profit?

 

[iam4u2nv]

Originally posted by: Jellomancer

Originally posted by: iam4u2nv
Many many things have MSRP's on them but do to competition the prices fall and you can shop around. Sony among others says sell this unit for 199 and all stores do. Even long after the unit price dropped you can not find a new unit for under 199.

why sell it for less when everyone else sells it for $199

This is what capitalism is based on.. selling it for less so people will buy it from YOU. Hello?
Everything goes this way. Here is an example of how this is different. I go to BestBuy and I say Compusa has this drive for 129 can you beat that price. They say yes or no depending but often I can get a better price.
I ask on Playstation 2 and the man says "I am sorry but we can not sell that unit for less than 199"
Hmmm how strange, We can not sell for less.. why?

Because they don't want to start a price war? They are already making small profits from each unit, why would they want to double their sales and decrease their profit?

Obviously because I want one but not at 199

 

[Staples]

Only have a minute so I will explain without reading. Every place has the console for the same price because the store does not actually make a profit on them. Most things that cost the store $120 wholesale go for $200 in the store however with consoles, Sony sells the system wholesale to the retailer for $190+ so they can not offer it cheaper than that without loosing money. Because of its MSRP, the retail price will not go above $200.