Question. On pricing.

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Got Juice?

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Why is it that there is not much disparity in optics pricing in Canada?

I see 9 different prices from Sightron/Leupy/Minox, Hensoldt/US Optics (50-350.00)/ Nightforce (2-300.00)in different stores in the USA, and some of them even have sales on glass...

In Canada, there is almost no difference at all between vendors. Why is this? There seems to be almost no competition even between retailers. Or is the issue on a wholesale level?
 
Most manufacturers set MAP prices, meaning you sell it at that price or they don’t let you carry their products. There’s ways around it but it can’t be advertised or they could get caught with a lower price.
 
Kratos said:
Most manufacturers set MAP prices, meaning you sell it at that price or they don’t let you carry their products. There’s ways around it but it can’t be advertised or they could get caught with a lower price.
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These are advertised prices in the USA so MAP pricing is not the reason. Point being, why are optics here in Canada, the same class, and part number only 10-20 dollars different between retailers? Why do we not see sale pricing? Are the distributors here not passing along the savings?

Same for the EU/Aus, they have sales on optics, and one can do the exchange conversions, and they have differences in costs from retailers. Something is not right here in Canada when shopping for optics.

Even the most cursory search of the internet shows this to be true.
 
Got Juice? said:
These are advertised prices in the USA so MAP pricing is not the reason. Point being, why are optics here in Canada, the same class, and part number only 10-20 dollars different between retailers? Why do we not see sale pricing? Are the distributors here not passing along the savings?

Same for the EU/Aus, they have sales on optics, and one can do the exchange conversions, and they have differences in costs from retailers. Something is not right here in Canada when shopping for optics.

Even the most cursory search of the internet shows this to be true.
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MAP pricing can be country specific. I know for a fact that Nightforce has MAP pricing in Canada. Vortex too. I’m sure if you ask the manufacturers they will tell you. The US sells through volume and if they don’t follow MAP they are less likely to have a product pulled due to the loss in sales. I’m sure each distributor has an agreement with the manufacturer. I apologize for partially answering your question, hopefully someone else has the “right” answer lol.
 
Not unusual for the Cdn market to be charged more for many products. If you try to investigate and determine why, many times it is 'unexplainable' in terms of logic, and many levels of the supply chain will give you all kinds of circle talk to try and justify. The problem is usually not with the independent end vendors, usually they are the victim of manufacturer pricing just as much as the consumer they sell to. Investigations into Canadian pricing tables have never led to any conclusions...just circle talk and it carries on.
 
I've never seen a sale on certain scopes, Sightron being one with which I'm most familiar.

Manufacturers and distributors may "dictate" a price for retailers. At the same time, retailers may hold that cutthroat pricing is punitive to themselves in the long run and so don't rock the pricing boat.
 
Distributors have a lot of influence over dealer pricing. Rock the boat too much and you'll hear about it. By-passing the distributor isn't as easy as you'd think, as import/export rules throw obstacles in the way. Take optics that aren't even controlled and you might just find that that friendly American dealer isn't allowed to sell to you. Colour outside of the lines and bring them in yourselves and you might find yourself in warranty limbo land.

Prices aren't set by a pure supply and demand system, its more a system of what the market will stand and where everyone can make a buck.
 
grauhanen said:
I've never seen a sale on certain scopes, Sightron being one with which I'm most familiar.

Manufacturers and distributors may "dictate" a price for retailers. At the same time, retailers may hold that cutthroat pricing is punitive to themselves in the long run and so don't rock the pricing boat.
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Survival of the fittest. A Penny from many outweighs a pound from a few.

I have no issue with a business making money. But there is very little in the way of pricing differences between any retailers on CGN or a Brick and mortar store. So. who is fixing these prices? Or is it simply a coincidence that everyone retails for the same price? I well understand MAP and MSRP, But how gullible are consumers expected to be and for how long?

In reality a few manufacturer's offer volume discounts and buying events / hot sheets on optics, but none of that is being passed on to the consumer in Canada. Bushnell is one of the few that does.

Looking at it from another perspective, firearm sales and ammo sales, there is a lot of disparity when a retailer has a sale. SIG Smith Beretta Browning, 150-800 difference between sales on products at one time or another.

Yet this never happens with optics. So where I am a little 'thick' is the fact that consumers seem to pay full blown retail, dealers claim to only make 15-20% so where is the rest of the money going to? Certainly not the manufacturer. What gives? Once you eliminate the manufacturer and the retailer from the equation, all you have left to look at is the distributor.

From a retail and wholesale background I know that game too well SC50's Pref Price indexing etc.
 
Most precision stuff comes in from one importer/distributor, he sets the prices in canada with all the retailers who deal with him, if they stray from his prices they simply get cut off. This same outfit has convinced all sorts of companies around the world that it would be simpler for them to make him the canadian distributor and thus even though they can sell to us direct we are told that we will have to buy from the canadian distributor, for those reasons I am trying to round out my collection in such a way that I won't have to buy anything that comes through his hands first
 
yodave said:
Most precision stuff comes in from one importer/distributor, he sets the prices in canada with all the retailers who deal with him, if they stray from his prices they simply get cut off. This same outfit has convinced all sorts of companies around the world that it would be simpler for them to make him the canadian distributor and thus even though they can sell to us direct we are told that we will have to buy from the canadian distributor, for those reasons I am trying to round out my collection in such a way that I won't have to buy anything that comes through his hands first
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Well isn't that convenient.

Like going to purchase a car from a 'Car Store' because they handle everything from GM to Koenigsegg. Handy for someone. I believe the term is MONOPOLY.

This is really disgusting. Shut down competition by controlling the whole marketplace so no free market economy exists. Everyone loses except the distributor since they control all the lines, and the retailers. Guess any volume discount pricing will never be seen by the end user.

Absolutely shameful.

Edit: Question, who holds the Monopoly in Canada? Are they on CGN?
 
Got Juice? said:
Well isn't that convenient.

Like going to purchase a car from a 'Car Store' because they handle everything from GM to Koenigsegg. Handy for someone. I believe the term is MONOPOLY.

This is really disgusting. Shut down competition by controlling the whole marketplace so no free market economy exists. Everyone loses except the distributor since the control all the lines, and the retailers. Guess any volume discount pricing will never be seen by the end user.

Absolutely shameful.
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My last major scope purchase and 2 stocks were imported through Clayton for this exact reason........even after paying the $50 import fee the savings was over a thousand on 3 items
 
Got Juice? said:
Edit: Question, who holds the Monopoly in Canada? Are they on CGN?
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of course they are on CGN, and every other forum as a paid business, mostly to keep an eye on their sheep as they don't post much or engaged in any discussion unless of course it's in a way to protect their interests such as warranty and returns
 
I personally believe that that the profit margin is to low to sell for less .

If profit margin is 50% you can afford to give a discount .
If profit margin is around 10% retailers can't give afford to give a discount .

Most of us don't have a clue how much it costs to import product from U.S.of A.

Buying power 30 million consumers vs 300 million consumers, think about it .
And make sure you add currency exchange .

I'm grateful to all retailers that are make product available to me with out any headaches .
 
Interesting topic. I just went through this issue myself. Small online stores charging retail + shipping. Well I guess it's off to Cabela's.
 
You will often have "mail in rebates" from manufacturers or distributors. Perhaps this is a way having a "sale" that they can control. Of course, the customer is required to make some effort for the "mail in" part.
For example, I see that Bushnell has a 20% mail in rebate until Feb 20
https://promotions.vistaoutdoor.com/EN/US/Home/Brand/17

This 20% off in February is interesting because the last couple of years, Bushnell has had a 30% rebate in the month of March....will we see this again next month in 2019?
 
Got Juice? said:
2 actually. 1 was in the field of contracting industrial/retail (independant owner operator ) , and the other was in heavy industrial supply (large multinational corporation)

Now happily semi retired as a consultant :)
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Cool, what was the respective discount structure like for bulk purchases passed on to your customers? What's your discount structure like now for your best clients?
At one point Wholesale Sports was the largest sporting arms and optics dealer in Canada yet they barely even broke the base volume discount from most US suppliers (there were numerous US individual stores that sold more than all of Wholesale combined) so how do you think our retailers compete with that buying power. Not to mention the punitive tax and regulation structure(s) that exist in this country for any small business that isn't sucking Trudeaus ####.
 
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