PatternReview.com online sewing community
Online Sewing Class: Sewing Basics
Register Today!
Join our community of 579,261 sewists!
SIGNUP Membership is free and includes 1 free lesson
Login |
Join our community of 579,261 sewists!
Signup | Login
To participate in the PatternReview.com forums please Login or Join PatternReview
Member since 11/26/06
Posts: 90
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 7:15 PM ET
Earlier this week I received an email from one of my favorite online quilt shops. The first paragraph stated that one of the manufacturers is instituting a minimum retail pricing (MRP) policy. This would take the fabric that she now has at about $7.75/yard to their new MRP - $9.50. "To preserve the integrity of the brand". I was quite appalled, there is no way I can support that policy. She couldn't either, so she canceled all her outstanding orders. Here is a story on the issue: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97826122 . What are your thoughts on paying a minimum price on fabric? Just think if one manufacturer thinks they can get away with it...they all will. Also, I am stumped why they want to start this now, in this economic climate.
  
Member since 3/11/07
Posts: 2074
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 8:07 PM ET
Looks like trouble, frankly.
------
Needle Needle Straight and Slim, Dust and Sweep the House for Him! --Grimm Fairy Tales
  
Member since 3/22/05
Posts: 115
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 8:19 PM ET
Anything that makes fabric less available is bad for us.

But that said, I'm not sure how much power we'll have over this. It might be illegal to force a retailer to charge more for a product, but if that route fails, what is to prevent the manufacturer from simply making the retailer pay *them* more? i.e., the retailer would have to now pay $9.50 for that fabric, and couldn't afford to sell it for anything less.
  
Member since 2/16/06
Posts: 3174
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 8:57 PM ET
In reply to Juniper76
I can see the logic in it--it's to prevent sellers from undercutting each other. Sometimes, one ruthless, but well heeled seller can put other sellers out of business by charging unreasonably low prices. After the other sellers who can't compete are out of business, the remaining seller(s) will up the price. I saw this happen in collectibles and in the airline business.

No one wants to pay higher prices, but I do understand it the policy behind it. I could be wrong, but I think the manufacturer is probably only responding to complaints received from sellers (probably very small mom and pop operations) who feel they can't compete.

Em


------
From what others have said, the nasty message came from Fitting Woes, NOT Misc Hot Topics or the Civility thread.

  
Member since 7/19/03
Posts: 3916
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 9:15 PM ET
Even before the anti-trust laws were overturned there were plenty of manufacturers who managed to fix their prices by just refusing to ship to anyone who was undercutting their named price. They do it unofficially and under the radar and knowing full well that no small business has the where-with-all to fight them and win in court.

My opinion is that it is best not to do business with such companies. On the other hand, these are often the same companies who have managed to buy out all their competition, so I'm not sure where that leaves us in the long run....
------
blog: goodworks1.wordpress.com
  
Member since 8/12/02
Posts: 2939
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 10:19 PM ET
In reply to Juniper76
Unfortunately, thanks to a US Supreme Court ruling in 2007, manufacturers can now set minimum pricing for their brands. The ruling has discount stores and consumer groups up in arms. The original case, IIRC was Brighton Bags suing a small retailer in Texas, Kay's Kloset, for discounting the prices on their bags. According to Women's Wear Daily,

The decision struck down a 96-year-old ban on minimum pricing agreements, giving brands the potential to enforce the lowest price at which their products can be sold. The court said setting a base price was no longer automatically against the law, and gave lower courts the leeway to determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether minimum pricing agreements were anticompetitive. In effect, the ruling allowed manufacturers to restrict how much a retailer can discount a product, creating challenges for off-pricers, Internet retailers and other discounters.

"The interests of manufacturers…have been deemed more important than the interests of consumers and that is not right," said Pamela Jones Harbour, a member of the Federal Trade Commission. "Consumers deserve the benefits of competition at every level of distribution, not just at the level of competition among manufacturers."


I wouldn't be surprised to see more of this going on.
  
Member since 9/12/05
Posts: 2403
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 10:37 PM ET
In reply to GorgeousFabrics
Hmmm, I USED to be a Brighton fan. I have a *few* things from them, I even have a pair of shoes that I got on clearance (at a Brighton store) for more than half off.

Retailers really can't have that attitude in todays economy.

That whole exclusive pricing thing is so last year.
------
http://beccabeckstuff.blogspot.com/

Damn the muslin, full speed ahead!
  
Member since 11/3/07
Posts: 169
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 10:51 PM ET
This is exactly what Bose does for all of their products for the "quality image". Same for Tempurpedic beds. The good part about this is that you don't have to shop around for the best deal - you know it won't change. However, for the beds you can at least negotiate for "extras" in lieu of decreasing the price of the bed. But fabric? That isn't even close to equivalent of a bed or speaker system. As a retailer how would you ever get rid of product that wasn't selling?
  
Member since 4/27/02
Posts: 469
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 11:02 PM ET
NPR did a story on the handbags the other day. It will be interesting to see how this permeates other areas of retail...
  
Member since 9/12/05
Posts: 2403
Body Type:
Send Message
Posted on: 12/11/08 11:34 PM ET
In reply to QuiltersFan
Quote: QuiltersFan
As a retailer how would you ever get rid of product that wasn't selling?

I did a 2 week stint as a book keeper for a pretty high end clothing store here in Houston (Tootsies) that sold designer stuff like Mark Jacobs and Valentino. They had a deal with the distributor where if it didn't sell in a pretty short amount of time they sent it back. I dont' know if that is typical or not, but I don't remember them ever having much of a sale
and NO, I don't know where the clothes went, but it was a pretty quick truck that I lost in traffic...
------
http://beccabeckstuff.blogspot.com/

Damn the muslin, full speed ahead!
  
* Advertising and soliciting is strictly prohibited on PatternReview.com. If you find a post which is not in agreement with our Terms and Conditions, please click on the Report Post button to report it.
Selected Reviews, Classes & Patterns
Discovery Fabrics
High Performance Fabrics
Specials!
Fancy Frocks Fabrics
Fine Designer Fabrics
Elliott Berman Textiles
High-end Fashion Fabrics
Specials!