Manufacture retail vs store

[KaraG]

Originally Posted by inframan

So what your saying is manufactures can manipulate the market retail if they so choose?

Manufacturers can control who they sell their product to, what price, what discounts, what minimum quantities, what terms, etc. And on the other hand, retailers can decide which products to carry in their stores.

There are some manufacturers that make the minimum/annual purchases so high that they effectively lock out all small & mid-size stores. Some require trade references. Some limit retailers by territories.

[citychik]

I think in some ways it's a good thing, especially with well-known brands. If you know that everybody who has a contract with the maker has to sell the merch at the same price you do, then the only way to compete with other sellers is to provide the best customer service and give extras like free shipping or free delivery. Establish a good reputation. However, what I've seen is that usually the mark-up for MSRP isn't as much as the mark-up you set yourself on products from companies that don't require an MSRP. So, you won't make as much profit on it.

For example, where I work the standard mark-up is 2.5%, but most of the stuff we sell that sets MSRP only has about a 2% or slightly less than 2% mark-up and that is a big difference!

There are also some companies who have a MSRP but don't obligate you sell at that price.