It seems that Shoei are instructing their dealers to sell only at their price. Anybody who know of competion undercutting their MRP are told they have to report this up the chain, back to Shoei. This hardly promotes a healthy competitive price, surely?
They are just protecting their brand. Surely if you don't like the prices you can buy something else.
Protecting their brand? Surely they sell them to dealers at x pounds. The amount of mark up / profit the dealer wants and needs is entirely their decision. Obviously not. Oh well. I dare say many of the other helmet brands do similar.
BMW are the same, it's good business sense. Da japs flood the market with new bikes, and at the end of the season dealers are offering big discounts to shift 'em before next year's colours come in. BMW rarely if ever offer discounts (notwithstanding the effects of the recession of course), drip-feeding bikes to the dealers so as not to have any discountable stock at the end of the year. That means prices stay high and are reflected in secondhand values, and the product is seen as a quality product by the great unwashed - happy factory, happy dealers, happy punters.
technically you'll probably find that its actually only advertised pricing that's monitored, not the actual price you'll pay if you contact the sellers. If a particular dealer has said that then it would suggest to me they themselves don't want to discount it. Id just ring a few more. Get the size you want and make some calls. Ive only ever purchased Shoeis and I can safely say Ive never, ever once paid retail value.
As in lots of different market sectors big brands control the retail prices. If the dealer/shop doesn't sign up to playing to the manufacturers rules then they won't get the products.
I was after a spare pinlock inner visor - retail £30. I asked if they would price match - as you do! - as an UK dealer were selling them on't web a fiver cheaper. They wanted to know who and where - not, as I first thought to check and then reduce their price, but just to tell Shoei of the dealer who had the cheek to try and drum more custom.
Thats just the dealer then, and I guess its up to them to protect margins as I'd suspect they're pretty low on the accessories. helmets have a fair amount in them though, I think the visors are extremely over priced but I guess helmets have such a long shelf life they need revenue from other lines.
This has been going on for years. Rolex and Breitling are renowned for it. I bought a watch recently and the salesman told me not to tell anybody that he gave me a discount. Slightly differently, Rolls Royce control manufacturing output to remain slightly below demand, OPEC control oil output to control prices. The way of the world I'm afraid.
Same as any premium product, Apple are the same, doesn't mean you can't buy cheaper with a bit of effort. I bought my brand new multitec earlier this year for £220 including 2 pinlocks and a spare visor
Caburg tried that 5 years ago, European sales dropped by 20% & Asian sales by over 50%. Needless to say the strategy was binned. Last I heard, they still haven't recovered.
But anybody that is after a new lid should research the alternatives. Most of the the Caburg range consistantly score higher than most of the big names. The downside with them is the amount of wind noise. But since I rarely use a visor & rely on hearing while riding, that isn't a problem for me.
Every Caberg lid I've owned has had a very annoying rattle through the air vents, a common problem on lower price lids. They have a bit of a cheap feel to them as well (or they used to, not had one for a few years). I prefer HJC lids to be honest.
IMHO it's absolutely acceptable, they are a premium brand and they want there pricing to be fixed, this also stops desperate dealers cutting their margin (as in the dealers margin) so it helps. U can always buy end of season colours miles cheaper so this only applies to brand new in season designs and colours. If Kawasaki and Suzuki did this for example they would have better resale values, unlike letting dealers shift them at 2k under retail to move some units.
Officially price fixing is illegal, but so is giving a discount for cash. Though you're allowed to add a surcharge for non cash payment methods, it's just a matter of how you word stuff. Never had a problem with the vents and I've got 3 of 'em.
