Do Dealers think it is sinful..........

Notreallybitter98@notme.com & Nostroke@ces,.org: you guys are really lame using those fake email names. besides, you give yourselves away by using your paragraph indents. finally, you have to be nearly as stupid as your posts not to realize you can be "pingged" so we can trace your domain address, etc. if we wish. if i were an audio dealer, i wouldn't let either of you in my shop, let alone offer you discounts. our motto: "no shirt, no shoes, no brains, no service." come outta the closet guys. if you want any respect, don't put on fake beards and glasses. i, for one, know who you are. happy holidaze, JERKS!

What about the MFG price protection? It always seems like when ever I ask for a discount, the dealers would give a MFG price proctection lecture....and how they can't give any discounts because the MFG would pull the plugs on them? Isn't this against the law? ...a.k.a price fixing? Then again..isn't true that some MFG price the products for branding status? Non-audiophilers may simply associate a more expensive piece of equipment to a better performer and vice versa. This is a normal practice in the automotive industry. I can even recall a case study about Marantz I read back in a marketing class during my college days. I can't remember exactly when, but there was a time when Marantz tried to lower its price hoping to capture market shares, but ended up lossing sales because consumers started associating the brand as a cheap product. It took Marantz many years, if not more, to get the brand back to "hi end" level in public's mind.

3chihuahuas: please see my post of 12/17/00. FWIW, i prosecuted civil antitrust cases for the federal gov't for >13 years.

I don't unferstand a lot of these messages. My dealer gives me a minimum of 25% off retail. I pay shipping. Thought this was pretty common. I guess not.

I just took a course in antitrust law. Like cornfedboy says, it's not illegal per se to use MSRP's.