#map pricing

Brands and retailers can keep pricing violations under control if they can accurately detect deviations in advertised pricing across the market. Here's everything you must know about MAP monitoring to protect your pricing & brand image online.

Recently, Dice Tower had a segment which questioned the worth of minimum advertised prices (better known as M.A.P.) concluding that it didnt serve the customer in any positive way. This could not be further from the truth. Candidly, M.A.P. prices are what  allows us to have a game store at all. Especially, in the post-internet pro-globalization era, Its intended to allow every store to enjoy a financial buffer so they stay in business, provide a showroom for new merchandise, and give customers on-demand access. For years, people have lamented the destruction of small towns due to Amazon and Walmart moving in. Destroying business, raising unemployment, and driving down the average worker income. This is what MAP helps prevent.

 I ask you now, rhetorically perhaps, are you in favor of a living wage and local store or are you in favor of an extra toy, a worsening local economy, and dissolving local game community?

There are very real implications to this question. 

Although endless past examples exist, we can even look at the recent news of Amazon buying Whole Foods with an eye towards overnight delivery of food. A Common tactics of "loss leaders” are used which means selling items below cost to attract customers and selling at zero profit to run competition out of business. Its very much a scenario where the rich get richer because no one has the ability to outlast Amazon in a selling point war. Stocks crashed the day the acquisition was announced, food deflation is expected, more "non fair trade" prices are expected where farmers are paid nearly nothing and go out of business worldwide. Locally, several positions for cashiers, stock boys, clerks, janitors, will probably go the way of the dodo bird. Ive seen it happen in my own field of music, where the local guy is forced out by megachains. Chains who have now grown so big that they are dictating to the manufacturers what they will be making! Alas, makers in this position now have no choice but to acquiesce to the wants of these big companies, producing inferior products and now must sell them through the big chains alone.

 I ask you, who do you want designing your games? A guy who looks at profit margins primarily or artist who loves games?   There really is nothing to fear about m.a.p. prices. You will still find sales all the time. MAP is only the advertised price, Its not a suggested retail price, or even the price you’ll pay once in a store.

Mary has a question about Sales Reps

Quite frequently I get questions from inventors about different aspects of this process. Here’s a good question from Mary about inventors using sales reps.

Do I absolutely need to use reps to get my product in the mainstream market place? What about on Amazon?

Hi Mary,

The vast majority of reps an inventor will encounter are the hope peddlers. These are reps who really aren’t very well connected…