Ant1972 Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 US guitar firm Fender illegally restricted discounts, says CMA https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/oct/08/us-guitar-firm-fender-discounts-cma-uk-sale-price-deals The UK’s competition watchdog has accused the US guitar maker Fender of fixing prices illegally by restricting online discounts on its guitars. From 2013 to 2018, Fender Musical Instruments Europe impeded competitive online pricing by imposing a minimum sale price on vendors, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said in a provisional ruling. The practice, known as resale price maintenance, is illegal and makes it difficult for customers to find good deals. Fender is the world’s biggest maker of guitars and its famous models include the Stratocaster, Telecaster and Precision bass. The California-based company’s models are played by stars such as Eric Clapton, U2’s The Edge and Taylor Swift, and its basic Squier range is popular with beginners. The CMA has been investigating Fender since April 2018 and has already fined the company £25,000 for concealing notebooks at its European headquarters in East Grinstead. The watchdog fined Casio £3.7m in August for restricting online discounts for its digital pianos and keyboards. Ann Pope, the CMA’s senior antitrust director, said: “Shopping online can make it much easier to compare prices and hunt down bargains – this can be especially important for potentially big purchases like a guitar. “We take allegations of resale price maintenance very seriously because it removes one of the benefits of the internet of making it easier to quickly find a better price by shopping around.” The CMA said guitars make up a big part of the UK market for musical instruments, which is worth £400m in sales. Online sales of instruments have grown to about 40% of the market, making it important that internet vendors can offer the price they want, according to the CMA. It said it had not made a final decision that Fender broke the law and would listen to the company’s version of events before coming to a verdict by the end of the year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steve-bbb Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 So they tried to do an Apple Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldslapper Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Retailers have been complaining about this for yonks. Lol Taylor Swift, is well known for her use of Fender guitars. Her signature Taylor acoustic is testament to this. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngelDeVille Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Are the fines imposed going to be used to discount the guitars? or go into lawmakers pockets? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus Lukin Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 (edited) - Edited March 4, 2022 by Jus Lukin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicko Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 45 minutes ago, AngelDeVille said: Are the fines imposed going to be used to discount the guitars? or go into lawmakers pockets? Well, the one thing you can guarantee is that any fine won't go to refund people who bought overpriced gear. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo-London Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Nor will it compare to the fines that foreign companies receive! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hooky_lowdown Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 Looks like Fender prices will be going up (again)! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoonBassAlpha Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 23 hours ago, oldslapper said: Retailers have been complaining about this for yonks. Lol Taylor Swift, is well known for her use of Fender guitars. Her signature Taylor acoustic is testament to this. Is it called the "Swift"? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 If MAP is removed, I reckon you'll see fewer and fewer Fender dealers, all racing to the bottom. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RossHetherington Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Plenty of premium companies do the same price fix trick, not sure it's any different. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 In some ways (not the consumer's obviously) I'm with Fender here, trying to maintain a level playing field for their bricks and mortar sellers. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I wouldn’t say that. A friend of mine wanted to get a Bass VI and priced it from Ishibashi, including shipping and added around 25% import duty. He went to the local Fender retailer and asked them to price match. They said it they wouldn’t even be able to get it from the distributor for the same price. Perhaps they should look their distribution model, also, and try not to screw their bricks and mortar sellers as well as their customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Steve Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 36 minutes ago, Doctor J said: I wouldn’t say that. A friend of mine wanted to get a Bass VI and priced it from Ishibashi, including shipping and added around 25% import duty. He went to the local Fender retailer and asked them to price match. They said it they wouldn’t even be able to get it from the distributor for the same price. Perhaps they should look their distribution model, also, and try not to screw their bricks and mortar sellers as well as their customers. hang on, that's a stretch isn't it? Expecting them to compete with what somebody sells it for in a different country? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yorks5stringer Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 The watchdog fined Casio £3.7m in August for restricting online discounts for its digital pianos and keyboards. I knew they'd catch up with Casio , after all the clock was ticking. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Browning Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 The Casio clock I presume. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I've spoken to a few dealers. Most have got out of Gibson because of the MOQ requirements and Fender are almost as bad. One said he and most of the other dealers he knows buy in modest quantities from Thomann, Normans, Gear4Music etc. who are willing to discount enough for the dealers to have prices not too far from online ones. But the likes of Ibanez somehow manage to make quality guitars that dealers can sell price-matching the net... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjones Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I always assumed it was a cartel agreement, between the large retailers, that kept prices so similar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 lesson of the day, don't buy new! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bassfinger Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Or don't buy a Fender. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Or buy in a shop. They can only monitor online prices or display prices when a rep calls in the shop Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skankdelvar Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 How It Works: #23 - Market Regulation CMA insists Fender cease resale price maintenance Online retailers discount the t1ts off everything Fender. Small local music shops go out of business Online retailers put their prices back up higher than they were Consumers pay more than they did before CMA pats itself on the back for a job well done CMA spod gets peerage and a consultancy gig with online retailer 4 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidder652003 Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 1 hour ago, Stub Mandrel said: Or buy in a shop. They can only monitor online prices or display prices when a rep calls in the shop so a bit like banana republic double portraits of the most recent last 2 presidentees they have 2 different prices on the either side of the shop tags? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stub Mandrel Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 8 minutes ago, skidder652003 said: so a bit like banana republic double portraits of the most recent last 2 presidentees they have 2 different prices on the either side of the shop tags? No, if you are a serious customer they come up to you and say I can do that for you at £XXX; I got 10% off a Squier without asking and offered 30% off an Ashdown acoustic (I had observed that the strings on it sounded fairly bright but were heavily tarnished = it had been on display a long time but rarely tried out, if ever!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doctor J Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 7 hours ago, Monkey Steve said: hang on, that's a stretch isn't it? Expecting them to compete with what somebody sells it for in a different country? Yes. At the very least, you would hope that an authorised retailer can get it from their authorised supplier for less than someone paying the foreign retail price plus 100 quid shipping plus almost 200 quid tax. If not, then they are shafting their dealers, retailers and, as a result, their end customers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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