Question for any retailers here

[mikeandronda]

I sell paintball guns and supplies online. I bought a bunch of last yr models of a particular gun from a wholesaler at a pretty low price and have them up on ebay at a lower then anybody elses price. The Manufacturer has contacted me and said the they have a M.A.P. of quite a bit more then Im selling them for. Since Im not a Factory Autherized dealer of their merchandise is there any legal ramifications for ignoring them? I mean they dont know who my dealer is and its not like their guns are flying off my shelves even though Im $25 less then the M.A.P. I want to stay legal but this company is rude and known in the industry as being dirty and a pain to deal with............What say you my iboats friends?

 

[BoatBuoy]

Re: Question for any retailers here

If they require you to sell at a certain price, isn't that price fixing? And also illegal?

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Question for any retailers here

Well in order to be an authorized dealer you have to agree to their terms.(Im not an authorized dealer for Smart Parts so I dont have to agree toanything).....I dont think its price fixing its just one product. They cant tell me what to sell other guns for even if Im an autherized dealer. I was told there is nothing they can do and if there is I would be contacted by a lawyer to cease and disist. I susoect this email may be from another paintball supply dealer just trying to stop me from selling under what he is. By law I can sell the guns for whatever I want but his email says by law I can not advertise for under what they set the price at??????

 

[POINTER94]

Re: Question for any retailers here

I don't believe this is price fixing. The price they want you to sell at is the price they contract to their distributors to sell at. Their recourse is to not sell to them anymore. As you are not a contracted reseller, file this away. Once you buy a prize you can sell it at whatever you want.

 

[QC]

Re: Question for any retailers here

By law I can sell the guns for whatever I want

Yes.

his email says by law I can not advertise for under what they set the price at??????

Total Bovine Excrement!

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Question for any retailers here

OK can they force me to tell them who my dealer is. ( I dont want them calling and stirring up trouble).....I know they are an authorized SP dealer? I mean I just looked at my buyed agreement with them and it says nothing about M.A.P.s in there for me.

 

[QC]

Re: Question for any retailers here

OK can they force me to tell them who my dealer is.

Only with a gun . . .

Edit: I can see how this answer could be confusing as it is in fact guns that we are dealing with . . . What I meant was, I guess they could force you to tell them by sticking a loaded, bullet shooting, implement in your face and saying "tell me or I pull the trigger". Other than that and some other torture methods, I am not sure how they can force you to tell them anything.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Question for any retailers here

@ QC

Well I thought as much. But I figured I better check with all the experts here

 

[RubberFrog]

Re: Question for any retailers here

QC did stay at a Holiday Inn last night....

 

[QC]

Re: Question for any retailers here

QC did stay at a Holiday Inn last night....

You know what's really weird? I did . . .

 

[ZmOz]

Re: Question for any retailers here

Yeah, I've had companies try to do that to me before. My only answer was **** you. Funny thing, I was selling so low, nobody else could compete and the MSRP was lowered for everyone.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Question for any retailers here

Yes after a bit of thought and research Im pretty sure its another dealer POed that Im selling so cheap. Bottom line is if Im willing to make $10-$15 per sale and he wants more its not my problem. I sell my stuff online so I get flak from brick and morter stores......errrr I should say the only B and M store in out fairly large city. I can sell cheaper because my over head is much less. But the way I see it is I Have kids and a family to support and I didnt invent the internet and e-sales..............for that I guess he needs to talk to Al Bore errrr Gore. I would be willing to bet 98% or more of my sales are out of state so Im not hurting that bad. The world is changing and though I wish noone any hardship those not willing to change will get lost in the past.

 

[Haut Medoc]

Re: Question for any retailers here

I wish you guys would go into the oil biz........​

 

[Vlad D Impeller]

Re: Question for any retailers here

You can sell your product at whatever price you wish to sell for, its always the buyers decision whether to buy from you or not.
If the manufacturer have a problem with your pricing policy, perhaps they should offer to buy your entire inventory, their beef should not be with you, it should be with the person or company that sold you the merchandise.
Twelve years ago, i encountered the indentical problem with a sunglass manufacturer, they offered to buy my inventory of their product which was quite substantial, anyhow it was all amicably finalised with me agreeing to sell their product at the msrp, in return for an authorised dealership account and a ten mile radius non compete clause in our agreement.
There are times when one must not be too hasty, but play the hand they have.

 

[mikeandronda]

Re: Question for any retailers here

Ah but this is what they are saying " I can sell them at whatever price I want but I can advertise under the M.A.P." So when you see an ad online or in a catalog it will say.....Too low to print, call for price........I dont have a problem with that except you cant do it on Ebay........

 

[roscoe]

Re: Question for any retailers here

One way to deal with this, is to sell at the m.a.p., but include another item that retails for $5, or $10, or $15. Which of course only cost you the wholesale price.

So you actually sell the gun at the m.a.p. or $99, but include a cheap case or some paintballs to sweeten the deal and attract buyers.

Thats what all the Apple computer resellers do. They sell for the Apple price, but include a printer, or monitor.

 

[Chief101]

Re: Question for any retailers here

Ah but this is what they are saying " I can sell them at whatever price I want but I can advertise under the M.A.P." So when you see an ad online or in a catalog it will say.....Too low to print, call for price........I dont have a problem with that except you cant do it on Ebay........

I don't think you are bound by any contract (in that you havn't signed a contraced with the party that contacted you) with the manufacturer or distributor to sell at any particular price so I don't see where you would have a problem.
I sell my own products so I don't deal with this aspect of retail sales, I just think they are using some scare tactic on you. I would write them back and make a request for whatever legal grounds they have, and what recourse they have towards you. Based on what they reply with you will have the info to do the research. I could go on but I really think that they simply wants to bully you. Chief Chief

 

[Boomyal]

Re: Question for any retailers here

It's called restraint of trade, M&R. They are bluffing. They cannot touch you and there is no way they can compel you to divulge your source. If they make any more noise, tell them to bring it on then you will counter sue under Federal Restraint of Trade Laws. I guarantee it will be the last you hear from them. If they tried to drag you into court, they would come off the fool. No lawyer would take the case anyway.

Now if your source is an authorized dealer, I would give them a heads up that the Mfg'r is on a witch hunt. The Mfg'r cannot even demand to see any sales records of their dealers, so all they need to do is play dumb if they are contacted.

Manufacturers cannot even legally tell their dealers what to advertise or sell at. They can and often do try to bully their dealers and threaten them with loss of dealership. They cannot legally do that over pricing issues but they do and know that no one will spend the money to fight it if they yank their dealership or just, conveniently be out of stock every time that dealer tries to order stuff.

 

[deejaycee_2000]

Re: Question for any retailers here

They can't do anything to you or force you to do anything .... just tell them to F-off .....

 

[stan_deezy]

Re: Question for any retailers here

Okay, before I start can I just say that I know zilch about US trading laws.

But I can see a problem here, potentially............

Do these paintball guns have serial numbers or unique identifying codes on the packaging?

The reason I ask is simple, if I was the manufacturer and getting P.O'd at someone selling below my MRP, I'd buy one gun from you in the hope that I could then look at the numbers and do a paper search to discover where you bought them from. It could just spell trouble for the authorised dealer you bought them from.

It's just a thought......