http://www.wig-wag-trains.com/Newspages/NewsPage.htm
M.A.P. Comes to N-Scale:
We have been advised that M.A.P. (Minimum Advertised Pricing) is coming to N-Scale. One of the Oriental companies is upset by what they percieve to be a degradation in the value of their product by it being discounted by dealers. They will begin forcing dealers to post false advertised price structures. They will force distributors to enforce this upon the dealers by withholding product from the dealer if they advertise a lower price than that allowed. Dealers can sell at any price they want but can't publicly advertise a price below the established M.A.P. We also understand that they have been trying for several years to find some way to provide some sort of support to local shops that don't want to work and compete in the marketplace.
This is America and competition is part of the process. If one dealer can operate or is willing to work on a lower margin than others it is their choice. This program is silly and will not result in increased pricing only the appearance of higher prices. If prices do rise then market share will fall. Our pricing will remain the same and as always our price structure is based on a realistic contribution to overhead so every item bears a reasonable share of all costs.
PCM previously tried to implement this in N-Scale and passed on threats to us thru a distributor. Our posted pricing was less than their allowable pricing. We dropped the line from our website but continue to get the product from a distributor that does not threaten us. It has not affected our sales and we still sell what PCM remains available at the same price structure. Possibly coincidentally PCM has not produced any new product since instituting their MAP plan.