Aaron Reynolds wrote: > > I would much rather the store reduced the price > > Thing is, if Pentax reduced the cost to the retailer by $100, > the retailer would say "hrm, is anyone else going to reduce > the price? Why don't I just offer $20 off?" That, or > they'll buy triple what they normally would and sit on the > stock for a few months until the sale is over and put them > out at normal price. > > Margins are brutal in the photo industry. You have to make > every penny that you can. > > I myself offered a big 10% off sale every year when Fuji did > their wedding season film price reductions. Of course, Fuji > gave us 20-30% off (dependant on volume), and I would buy as > much as I could afford (or if it was a good time and I had > lots of money, I'd buy as much as I thought I could sell > before it expired) and sell it at normal price throughout the > year. That's not dirty, it's just survival.
Fair comment, but who is this rebate going to hurt most? In a leisure market, which people cut back buying where times are hard, want an honest straight forward deal. Rebates that end up biting the customer, tend to lose repeat business. In such a tough environment, I'd not be too happy that the customer is likely to not return to my shop, due to a manufacturers offer that he/she found too difficult to redeem and felt conned. Even if they get them, customers don't forget how long it took to come through and what was involved in doing it. Malcolm
