"Call For Price" nonsense on gear sites, bike ads, et al...

[Black Ice]

The "Lamest Gear Site" thread got me wondering who else feels the way I do.  I personally refuse to deal with anyone who won't give me a price up front, no matter how cool their stuff seems.  Tell me what you want for the damn thing or stop wasting my time!  

How about you guys?

[UFO]

Bail on the site immediately.

I wouldn't be looking for crap on the internet if I wanted to talk some one clueless git on the phone.  I'd call them in the first place.

[veefer800canuck]

I bought my Shoei RF1000 Voltage from a place in Florida called www.tonker.com

I had to "call for their best price" because Shoei prevents their dealers from publically advertising pricing less than Shoei's own MSRP. Why Shoei as a company wants to do that is beyond me, but maybe some marketing types can chime in.

Apparently, if you break the Mfgr's stipulations Re: advertising, they can pull your distributorship and you can no longer sell their products at all.


Anyhow, Tonker was great to deal with and their price was super-low. I had the helmet landed to my door for $500 Cdn (including shipping, exchange rate, GST, etc) and the local dealers here were charging FULL LIST PRICE of $775 Cdn + GST. No deals.


This was when the RF1000 Voltage first came out so it was a couple of years ago.......


Newenough.com has some of the same issues with Mfgr's, however, they deal with it in a different way. You have to enter your email address to get pricing whereupon you are sent a link to a newenough webpage that has /private/ somewhere in the URL and the pricing is listed on THAT page.

I guess it doesn't qualify as "advertising a lower price" because the webpage is not otherwise accesible by surfing their site.

BTW, where's the poll option for "Orange SVS is one sexy beast"?
Posted on: 18-08-2007, 15:36:23OK, I just checked Tonker's site and this is what they have to say:

We offer a coupon code on all Shoei Helmets. You will have to call us at 800.953.0538 to receive the coupon code. We know it's a pain but our distributor will not allow us to advertise below 10 percent off retail. We can promise that you'll be very happy with the savings you receive from the coupon (an additional 10 percent off on select helmets wink wink).

So an RF-1000 Diabolic II is $474.99 $427.49 minus the extra "call for" discount.

So that's $384.74 in the end. Which is 20% off the US MSRP (and for me, almost HALF PRICE!)


Anyhow, I was happy with the service/company/product, I saved around 360 bucks, what's not to like?

But yeah, it would be nicer to have the actual rock bottom prices listed for easy comparison/reference.

[highside]

Blame the manufactures for having minimum advertised price (MAP) rules. The places that have you call will usually be cheaper than the places that advertise a price due to MAP, assuming we are talking about a company that uses it. I am sure that there are some that just want you to call so they can run the hard sell, but it seems that most are just trying to get you a good price.

[maddjack]

Screw calling,they can do it like newenough(and a few others) does it and e-mail the price.

[jschmidt]

Blame the manufactures for having minimum advertised price (MAP) rules. The places that have you call will usually be cheaper than the places that advertise a price due to MAP, assuming we are talking about a company that uses it. I am sure that there are some that just want you to call so they can run the hard sell, but it seems that most are just trying to get you a good price.

This is the knowledgable answer.

[RickC1957]

I'm not wasting my precious time and cell minutes calling for a price and Black Ice is still an asshat  

[squeezer]

Blame the manufactures for having minimum advertised price (MAP) rules. The places that have you call will usually be cheaper than the places that advertise a price due to MAP, assuming we are talking about a company that uses it. I am sure that there are some that just want you to call so they can run the hard sell, but it seems that most are just trying to get you a good price.

+1.  Assuming it's a reputable dealer, go ahead and call (or email) if you want to beat the MAP.  

[jude]

Blame the manufactures for having minimum advertised price (MAP) rules. The places that have you call will usually be cheaper than the places that advertise a price due to MAP, assuming we are talking about a company that uses it. I am sure that there are some that just want you to call so they can run the hard sell, but it seems that most are just trying to get you a good price.

Disagree.  Blame (not sure that's the right word to use, but...) the internet sellers who sell for small profits.  The brick and mortar sellers still have influence with the manufacturers/distributors over the ether sellers, which is why you see MAP.  Of course, exposing the sometimes huge difference between MSRP and a discounted SP can be rather embarrassing, too.  Take for instance Shoei's MultiTec lid:  MSRP $482.99.  parts411.com call for/coded DSP: $347.00 (includes shipping). 

[highside]

Disagree.  Blame (not sure that's the right word to use, but...) the internet sellers who sell for small profits.  The brick and mortar sellers still have influence with the manufacturers/distributors over the ether sellers, which is why you see MAP.  Of course, exposing the sometimes huge difference between MSRP and a discounted SP can be rather embarrassing, too.  Take for instance Shoei's MultiTec lid:  MSRP $482.99.  parts411.com call for/coded DSP: $347.00 (includes shipping). 

I'm not prepared to blame competition for giving us affordable gear prices after so many years of gouging from our "friendly" brick and mortor shops. There was a time when we *had* to go to them for gear and they werent too keen on doing us favors then. Now that there is competition we are supposed to go help them out by paying more? I think not. Those internet sellers operate store fronts too, and they have the same prices there as on the internet. Why should they be punished because they offer such good prices and service that they can sell a thousand miles outside their market?

[Andrew]

I would call because the only thing I have to do during normal business hours is to yack on the phone.
YA right
Well being that my phone service is a set price with unlimited service (talk as much and where ever in the USA=set price) I might actually call if it was something I was seriously interested in.





P.S. BlackIce is still an      Oh Never mind
   

[jude]

I'm not prepared to blame competition for giving us affordable gear prices after so many years of gouging from our "friendly" brick and mortor shops. There was a time when we *had* to go to them for gear and they werent too keen on doing us favors then. Now that there is competition we are supposed to go help them out by paying more? I think not. Those internet sellers operate store fronts too, and they have the same prices there as on the internet. Why should they be punished because they offer such good prices and service that they can sell a thousand miles outside their market?

I think you missed my point.  I agree that the competition is good, but rather it was the B & M outlets complaining about the e-sellers that created MAP.  MAP is the manufacturers reaction to the complaint.  Same has happened in other industries, too.

[Black Ice]

I'm not prepared to blame competition for giving us affordable gear prices after so many years of gouging from our "friendly" brick and mortor shops. There was a time when we *had* to go to them for gear and they werent too keen on doing us favors then. Now that there is competition we are supposed to go help them out by paying more? I think not. Those internet sellers operate store fronts too, and they have the same prices there as on the internet. Why should they be punished because they offer such good prices and service that they can sell a thousand miles outside their market?

Too true.    Competition is the heart and soul of Capitalism, which was the best thing that ever happened to humanity until the government got involved and fucked it all up.

[mxvet57]

hey i can't make 2 choices?

 and you know what my first choice would be.

[chornbe]

I tell 'em to pound it and look elsewhere.

$.02

[lanispet]

Rule of Life #4:
If you have to ask, you can't afford it

[highside]

Rule of Life #4:
If you have to ask, you can't afford it

Rule of Life #5
If you want something you have to ask for it. The world doesnt give things to people who don't seek them.

You don't pay MSRP for your bikes, do you?

[Black Ice]

Rule of Life #5
If you want something you have to ask for it. The world doesnt give things to people who don't seek them.

Hey...they placed the ad.  They want to sell me their product.  The world doesn't drop money in your lap for no reason.

If you want to sell me your product, you have to tell me what you want for it.  

[lanispet]

Rule of Life #5
If you want something you have to ask for it. The world doesnt give things to people who don't seek them.

What business are you in? In my industry, we actually have these guys called salesmen whose job it is to go out to potential customers and try to convince them to buy our products!

i despise them, and would love to move on to a business where i'll never have to deal with them again, and instead have customers will approach me with proper humility and respect in hopes that i may bestow my trade upon them. So motorcycles are the way to go for this?  

[highside]

What business are you in? In my industry, we actually have these guys called salesmen whose job it is to go out to potential customers and try to convince them to buy our products!

i despise them, and would love to move on to a business where i'll never have to deal with them again, and instead have customers will approach me with proper humility and respect in hopes that i may bestow my trade upon them. So motorcycles are the way to go for this?  

Why don't you ask those salesmen that you know so well who ends up getting the best price. The people that just accept their terms or the people who ask for something better.

[hawkeyejohn14]

The "Lamest Gear Site" thread got me wondering who else feels the way I do.  I personally refuse to deal with anyone who won't give me a price up front, no matter how cool their stuff seems.  Tell me what you want for the damn thing or stop wasting my time!  

How about you guys?

+1 Good to see your still out there riding...

[bizarro]

Musical instruments sites do this too and it drives me crazy. 'Price Too Low To Show On The Internets!'

For fuck's sake, just tell me how much you want for the damn bass, or guitar, or what-have-you.

[Black Ice]

So far, the poll is indicating that trying to sell your product with a PRICE TOO LOW TO MENTION!!!!! gimmick is having the exact opposite effect.