EPIRB Pricing

[victorhoisington]

OK, I'm on the hunt for an EPIRB and PLB's. After doing lots of research and looking at every vendor, I'm noticing a disturbing trend. Unlike many things boating related, which I can find on sale or discounted by doing some due diligence, EVERYONE and I mean every single vendor both in store as well as online has the exact same pricing and offers the exact same rebates. This is not an item I bargain shop for, I want the right features but at the right price but you would think someone would be able to offer them at even a slight discount. I thought, at least in the US, price fixing was illegal. I get it when Bose sets a firm price, they only sell through their stores or a very limited set of retailers, the same with Apple but, EPIRBS are available from almost all marine retailers and yet they all have the same price??? How is that possible without someone fixing the price???

I thought a vendor could set the wholesale price but, what the retailer charges is up to them, they decide how much (or little) profit they want to make on each item.

What am I missing here?

 

[Project_Mayhem]

There's something in retail called MAP pricing. It's the lowest price that an AUTHORIZED reseller is allowed to advertise a product for. Authorized resellers are bound by a contract between them and the manufacturer (or possibly a distributor?). In theory it keeps things fair for all authorized resellers. The reseller is of course allowed to sell it at whatever price they'd like so long as that sale price isnt advertised

 

[victorhoisington]

Yes, Defender (and others) do MAP pricing all the time. However, I've never seen it with EPIRBS? Seems everyone has the exact same price for the exact same model? Someone somewhere is fixing this retail price and I don't believe it is each vendor doing it independently????

 

[dlochner]

First, the margins on marine electronics are very small relative to other marine products, so retailers don't have much room to maneuver.

About 5 years ago B&G changed their pricing policy restricting the retailers ability to reduce their selling price. They did so to protect marine installers, too many people were buying at a discount and then taking the electronics to an installer and asking them to install it. That cut into the indepentdent installer technician's income.

There is a difference, as @Project_Mayhem says between MSRP and MAP. MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) is simply a suggested price for the item and the retailer is free to sell for whatever price they want.

On the Defender website you'll often see the MAP price and when you put it the cart, you see the price they will charge you.

As far as price fixing, it would be a problem if Navico, Raymarine and Garmin got together and decided to raise prices and set prices for similar products at the same level. So long as individual retailers have the ability to chose the selling price, it is not an issue.

If you have a large order, call the retailer and work with them for a systems price. Or learn the sale patterns and try to time purchases to coincide with the sales.

 

[dlochner]

Someone somewhere is fixing this retail price and I don't believe it is each vendor doing it independently????

It is what the market will bear and the margins are small. The market for EPIRBs is pretty small.

 

[victorhoisington]

So having been to the following:

- Defender: https://www.defender.com/product.jsp?path=-1|135|2028709|2028728&id=1283816
- West Marine: https://www.westmarine.com/buy/acr-...epirb-with-internal-gps--11034667?recordNum=2
- GPSStore: https://www.thegpsstore.com/ACR-2844-Global-Fix-Pro-Cat-II-EPIRB-P2464.aspx
- Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/GlobalFix-28...Fix+PRO+EPIRB&qid=1563482398&s=gateway&sr=8-3

the ACR GlobalFix PRO EPIRB Model Number: 2844 is listed at $499.99 on each site. Find me any other product on any 2 of those sites that is:

1. Never on sale (yes each retailer has patterns to their sales so, almost everything goes on sale sometime)
2. Priced exactly the same as every other retailers website.

I understand MSRP, MAP and all the other pricing models, I've been at this way too long. And I also understand that in a free market, everyone is free to set their price to whatever the market will bear. It just seems odd to me that these items are price fixed. I realize I'm stuck at getting these items at the prices shown, I guess I'm just complaining

Thanks for allowing me to rant

 

[Tally Ho]

If t

First, the margins on marine electronics are very small relative to other marine products, so retailers don't have much room to maneuver.

About 5 years ago B&G changed their pricing policy restricting the retailers ability to reduce their selling price. They did so to protect marine installers, too many people were buying at a discount and then taking the electronics to an installer and asking them to install it. That cut into the indepentdent installer technician's income.

There is a difference, as @Project_Mayhem says between MSRP and MAP. MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) is simply a suggested price for the item and the retailer is free to sell for whatever price they want.

On the Defender website you'll often see the MAP price and when you put it the cart, you see the price they will charge you.

As far as price fixing, it would be a problem if Navico, Raymarine and Garmin got together and decided to raise prices and set prices for similar products at the same level. So long as individual retailers have the ability to chose the selling price, it is not an issue.

If you have a large order, call the retailer and work with them for a systems price. Or learn the sale patterns and try to time purchases to coincide with the sales.

If the margins were so low, the installer wasn’t making much on the parts...unless he was jacking up the price.

MSRP is like the sticker price on the car....I sure wouldn’t pay it.

I guess “Our Price” is MAP.


Greg

 

[jviss]

Leegin Creative Leather Products, Inc. v. PSKS, Inc., 551 U.S. 877 (2007), manufacturers and distributors can require sellers to maintain a minimum price.

 

[victorhoisington]

But is the MAP the same as minimum price as defined in the case noted above or can the retailer show a MAP price but sell it at a lower price? I guess I'll have to look it up.

Thanks for the reference.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

I don't really understand why this is a problem or why it makes you angry. The price is what it is. If it's the same everywhere, then why don't you just go to your favorite dealer and make the purchase? That way you shouldn't feel like you made any compromises (gee, do I go with the guy that has the lowest price or should I go with the guy I like more?). Problem solved! I guess some people must have a need to feel like they successfully sought the best price and can't stand the thought that there might be a better deal out there that they failed find.

 

[LloydB]

If you approached each of those stores it's likely you could get it for less than their advertised price if you talk to the right guy. Depending on rebate, airline miles or next day delivery that is.

 

[dlochner]

Over the past couple of months I've been working with a new boat owner on his electronics selection. He went to WM and Defender for quotes. The quotes he got were lower than website prices, but not by all that much when compared to the total cost, maybe a hundred bucks or so. And while quoted prices for different components varied between the 2 vendors, the final price was almost the same for both vendors.

The take away message is if you go in with a big order, there is some room to maneuver on price, but in the end the vendors don't lower the prices by much, perhaps 2-3%.

When it comes to a single item, like an EPIRB, the market just isn't large enough or competitive enough for vendors to cut their prices. The competition is between the manufacturers, not the vendors.

 

[Tally Ho]

But is the MAP the same as minimum price as defined in the case noted above or can the retailer show a MAP price but sell it at a lower price? I guess I'll have to look it up.

Thanks for the reference.

Good question.

Let us know what you find.

Greg

 

[nat55]

There are two programs that exist in the marine electronics world, MAP, minimum advertised price which is the lowest price either printed or advertised on a website. This can change when the item is added to the cart on a website or wrung up in a retail store, this allows a little bit of flexibility on lower prices. There is also a MRP, which is a minimum retail price. This dealer based program exists to keep pricing consistent across the retail marketplace. The other benefit for the manufacturers, Garmin, Navico brands, Raymarine, and others is that it allows the wholesale companies, CWR, Wintron, Port Supply to sell direct to the smaller retailers and still make money.
There are positives and negatives to these programs and if a retailer violates the pricing they get penalized by the vendor/manufacturer.

I know it is hard to believe but the margins in electronics are pretty thin. The good thing is that we are getting alot more product for our $$ spent. Technology in other industries has allowed for better performance and added features that didn't exist even 10-15 years ago.

Regarding the EPIRB's, most retailers are making less than $100 on most models. Can't get very price competitive when that is all they have to work with.

More reading here if you are interested
https://www.theantitrustattorney.com/minimum-advertised-price-map-policy-violate-antitrust-laws/
https://www.trackstreet.com/blog/map-pricing-vs-msrp-whats-the-difference/