As a dealer, I have no standard selling price on a MFDB. The only standards are:
*The MSRP
*Our dealer cost
What I do with those figures is up to me and the negotiation between me and my client. My objective is to provide a price that my customer is comfortable with that will satisfy the resource requirements of our service. End of story.
As such, I really don't care if one of my customers tells anyone what price they paid me, because I can assure you, it is not the lowest price you can get. At times, I am confronted by pricing from dealers that have priced a product lower than I have and am asked to match or beat the price. Depending on what the competing price is, I am open to taking part in that. But if the price is too low (and this is usually a price from a dealer that does not offer anywhere near the level of service that we do), the customer has the choice of saving some bucks, or receiving premium service on a premium product that (as all can attest to) will likely have some hiccups throughout the years.
I don't concern myself with what other dealers sell their MFDB's at. If they are selling significantly below my comfort zone, they either don't offer premium service, or MFDB's are not a core part of their business. In other words, they could drop that part of their business and not bat an eye.
The only negative for me in regard to publicizing selling prices of MFDB's, is the perpetuation that the lowest price doesn't have a negative affect on the photographer's ability to utilize the product to efficiently get the work done.
Steve Hendrix
Profesional Photo Resources
www.ppratlanta.com
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Bravo Steve,
I should have replied long before this as well
As a dealer I am constantly facing questions such as " XYZ offered me the same thing at $ABC less than you"
Like you, I never claim to have the lowest price, but I do promise, and deliver, exceptional service and support. That costs money, but to date I have not seen a posting on any forum from any of my clients asking about how a certain feature works or how to do something. That's because they're busy out making photographs instead of struggling with tech questions because they have recieved no training, no support and have no one they can ask those questions of.
To all you potential clients and users out there.....
If you're going to spend $30K is the + or - $500 a deal breaker? do you not think that getting caught in a situation where you are not getting what you should be out of your premium equipment not worth that cost? Is being able to pick up the phone and getting really realy fast and accurate answers not worth anything?
The reality is that you're going to need support at some point and if you can't find the guy that sold you your digital back at that bargain price you'll probably end up finding either me or someone like Steve to ask the questions. How fair is that?
End of rant
Joe
