Online Pricing And Availability Reflects: Motor State Distributing® first coined this phrase and promotional concept in 2003. Please do not confuse Motor State's M.V.P.™ program with any other using "MVP" pricing program introduced in our industry within the past few years! M.V.P.™ and "Market Value Pricing®" are both registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Motor State Distributing® has the full right to use, promote and market this pioneering pricing concept. The M.V.P.™ concept began back in January 1, 2003. We began including our "Suggested Selling Prices" as a part of our printed Wholesale Price Guide, in our web site pricing module at www.motorstate.com, and also in our highly successful B2B product software... Price Guide Pro®. Keep in mind, Suggested Selling Prices are based upon current market conditions and can be quite confusing. In some instances, actual retail prices may even be lower than manufacturers' suggested jobber prices. These are not misprints, but are merely reflections of the true "market-value" of the current business climate, that we do business in every day. Everyone has had a customer walk into the shop, plop a mail-order catalog down on the counter and ask if we’ll match the price. In this situation, even if we can’t match the price, we know what we’re competing against. Now, consider how many times we’ve had someone call for a price, and after we quoted it, have heard them say, "Thanks, I’ll let you know." Chances are they had a mail-order catalog in front of them, too, and they already knew what the deep discounters’ price was for that item. If they never called back, we most likely quoted a price that they felt was too high. If we’d had a solid suggested retail price to work with, we’d at least have control of the situation because we’d know what the caller was expecting to hear. Over the past two decades, some large consumer-focused companies have set the perceived value of high demand items like carburetors, ignition boxes, intake manifolds and other performance products. Early on, these lower prices equaled greater market share for them, but less market share (and profit) for the traditional guy like Charlie Jobber. Now, many of these large companies would like to raise prices to reap more profits, but because they set the tone they sometimes find it tough to do. Some products have been severely discounted for such a long time, even raising the price a couple of bucks can send the sales numbers of that item into a nose dive. Motor State is a warehouse that depends on accounts like Charlie Jobber, so we constantly monitor market pricing to make sure our customers can buy from us at a good price and still be able to sell to their customers at a profit. Sometimes that means minimal profit for us, and yes, sometimes that means minimal profit for Charlie Jobber, too. Some of that profit lost due to price matching can, of course, be made-up on the add-on sales needed to complete the customer’s project, but wouldn’t it be nice to have all the pie once in a while? The good news is that the tide is changing in the marketplace. Over the past few years, many manufacturers have heard the jobbers’ lament about reduced profitability and increased market competition. As a result, more and more manufacturers are taking action to restore the perceived value of their products and the implementation of MAP (Minimum Advertised Pricing) is becoming more common. MAP, in a nutshell, is a policy that states if we distribute the product, we cannot advertise this product for sale below a certain price level. How the manufacturers define, communicate and enforce this type of policy varies from company to company, and their actions are usually based on each company’s interpretation of the United States Fair Trade Laws. Click Here for more information about MAP Pricing. Change is going to take time. Restoring market value to many product lines can be done, but it’s going to take several years. Motor State asks for your patience as we work with the manufacturers to restore the pricing integrity of the performance market. Remember, the Suggested Selling Prices in these Wholesale Price Guides are just that… "Suggested". They are there to guide our customers, help them be competitive, and enable them to sell more parts in an ever-changing marketplace. Have questions or comments, about "Market-Value Pricing™"?Contact the Motor State Pricing Department and ask to speak to Scott O'Toole, our Pricing Manager. |
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