allen@ns.network.com (Allen Middleton) (10/24/90)
Wall St. Journal ads as well as the sales people from the 1-800 HP phone number as of today claim the list price for the Deskjet 500 to be $729. Local MN dealers claim there new retail price is $525. Is there some kind of scam the mail order people going on? (Yes, I'm sure the local dealers are selling the Deskjet 500, Compu Ad's retail price is $489).
Classic_-_Concepts@cup.portal.com (10/25/90)
re: List prices versus mail order prices
> Is there some kind of scam ....
Did you only just NOW notice the price discrepancy? Gosh, the street price
versus list price disparity exists in almost every product category and
between dealer rooms and mail order companies. There's no scam here. It
has to do with competitiveness and overhead.
Companies with lower overhead (some mail order companies are in this category
can charge lower prices.
Just because the price is low one place doesn't mean it's low everywhere. Th
industry often offers 'loss leaders' to get people's attention and to encour-
age them to shop. They take a loss on one item, hoping to get people's
business and make up the profit on other items. No scam here. Just normal
marketing. It is harder for small companies who don't usually have the
latitude to take risks or to offer large discounts.
J. Petersen