Do Dealers think it is sinful..........

What about the MFG price protection? It always seems like when ever I ask for a discount, the dealers would give a MFG price proctection lecture....and how they can't give any discounts because the MFG would pull the plugs on them? Isn't this against the law? ...a.k.a price fixing? Then again..isn't true that some MFG price the products for branding status? Non-audiophilers may simply associate a more expensive piece of equipment to a better performer and vice versa. This is a normal practice in the automotive industry. I can even recall a case study about Marantz I read back in a marketing class during my college days. I can't remember exactly when, but there was a time when Marantz tried to lower its price hoping to capture market shares, but ended up lossing sales because consumers started associating the brand as a cheap product. It took Marantz many years, if not more, to get the brand back to "hi end" level in public's mind.

3chihuahuas: please see my post of 12/17/00. FWIW, i prosecuted civil antitrust cases for the federal gov't for >13 years.

I don't unferstand a lot of these messages. My dealer gives me a minimum of 25% off retail. I pay shipping. Thought this was pretty common. I guess not.

I just took a course in antitrust law. Like cornfedboy says, it's not illegal per se to use MSRP's.

Kendall43 What makes you believe that you are getting 25% off? Does the dealer show you his invoices, his mark up, and then give you 25% off? ...If so, is this guy a family member and what is his name? I’m sure we’d all like to get 25% off for nuthin!
Please consider that if you really are getting 25% off across the board you are probably seeing this discount off of a higher sticker price than the market standard(s). As stated previously in this thread 25% off on cables or tweaks isn't unrealistic, but 25% discounts across the board would seem very unusual if not unbelievable. There is at least one exception to this, and that's dealer demos. Dealers often get demo units at 25-35% below cost, but this usually only happens once a year, and is limited to one unit per model per product line. These products can definitely be discounted – even below what would normally be “cost” in some cases. Unfortunately there are some folks on this site who believe that once a product sells for a low-ball amount that THIS is the benchmark. Demo & or refurbished product also need to be considered when discounted prices are bandied about.