@jeffersondavis,
As a dealer, your comment is quite offensive. A dealer should quote you retail price and if they do anything more, they will not and should not be in business long. I don't take the comment personally but it does add fuel to the conception that dealers are the 'bad guys' trying to steal your money.
I've always listed prices of my product lines on my website, including those products that I distribute. Some distributors don't do this and instead let the dealer have the choice as it can create a dealer-client relationship via inquiry. Really there isn't a right way, but I do get the frustration when you can't simply find pricing.
I would NEVER expect ANY manufacturer to list their prices on their website however. In these cases, they do have MSRP but many factors can play into regional pricing when you start talking about global representation. Different taxes, tariffs, shipping costs, buying power... there are many variables that make this scenario a bad choice.
Comparing it to the headphone market isn't really fair either given that the headphone market is highly portable and easily and cheaply shipped. Territories are not important because in these instances it really isn't required. When talking about speakers and amplifiers and most things we consider, there is a great cost and risk when shipping gear is concerned, so having a dealer network makes sense. Very rarely will you actually see a brand gain ground in the market without one. A few that come to mind are Tekton and Schiit. In Schiit's case, their gear is still lower risk and cheaper to ship. In Tekton's case, they simply buck the trend.
As a dealer, your comment is quite offensive. A dealer should quote you retail price and if they do anything more, they will not and should not be in business long. I don't take the comment personally but it does add fuel to the conception that dealers are the 'bad guys' trying to steal your money.
I've always listed prices of my product lines on my website, including those products that I distribute. Some distributors don't do this and instead let the dealer have the choice as it can create a dealer-client relationship via inquiry. Really there isn't a right way, but I do get the frustration when you can't simply find pricing.
I would NEVER expect ANY manufacturer to list their prices on their website however. In these cases, they do have MSRP but many factors can play into regional pricing when you start talking about global representation. Different taxes, tariffs, shipping costs, buying power... there are many variables that make this scenario a bad choice.
Comparing it to the headphone market isn't really fair either given that the headphone market is highly portable and easily and cheaply shipped. Territories are not important because in these instances it really isn't required. When talking about speakers and amplifiers and most things we consider, there is a great cost and risk when shipping gear is concerned, so having a dealer network makes sense. Very rarely will you actually see a brand gain ground in the market without one. A few that come to mind are Tekton and Schiit. In Schiit's case, their gear is still lower risk and cheaper to ship. In Tekton's case, they simply buck the trend.