No Epson purchases to Canada from US

[Mark D Segal]

Epson has rules for resellers and one of them is that US resellers will not ship (and compete) with Canada's resellers. Though Epson may not have direct distribution in Canada they have a dealer network that would have difficulty competing with higher volume US resellers. US resellers would be the ones who would have to challenge the Distribution 'rules' and, apparently, there is no motivation to do so. I suppose end-users in Canada could challenge the 'rule' but they will need to have deep pockets. If a US authorized reseller decides to challenge the rules that they have agreed to in the original contract, Epson could pull their products from the dealer until the case is settled, during which time the reseller would not be able to continue to offer Epson products and would, no doubt, sour the relationship with Epson. Risky business decision.

The complaint would have to come from Canadian consumers through the US legal system. Megabucks. And anyone who wants to start should vet US competition law first to see whether it would be worthwhile even trying.

[Alan Goldhammer]

The complaint would have to come from Canadian consumers through the US legal system. Megabucks. And anyone who wants to start should vet US competition law first to see whether it would be worthwhile even trying.

At the risk of trying to pretend to be a lawyer, it's not clear whether there is an issue here.  As I thought about it, it's different from issues related to the North American Free Trade Act which has to do with goods and services manufactured and/or assembled in the US, Canada and Mexico.  In this case we are dealing with goods manufactured in Japan (and other places in the far East) and imported into the US and/or Canada.  In this case these are not goods subject to NAFTA.  Someone mentioned B&H's selling of both US Nikon and "foreign" Nikon lenses.  The price differential is not that great and the key issue here is one of disclosure; the foreign sourced lens warranty is only guaranteed by B&H (they have an extensive disclaimer).  A lens is not a dispensable product in the same way as an ink is and perhaps that is one reason Epson is taking the stance they are.  I don't know what the mark up for the retailer (and I'm not even going to ask Randy ) but I suspect that it is decent and coupled with the volume, retailers in the US are going to abide by Epson's letter of agreement.  I suspect that a legal complaint could be launched as Mark notes but it would be lengthy without an assured outcome.

[mikev1]

Alright, I guess I'll have to start up an illegal ink smuggling operation!

Now does anyone know any clandestine routes through the mountains?

I shouldn't even joke, last time I brought my printer across the border I made an honest mistake filling out a forum and got a lit of grief from the customs agent who threatened a fine and said he made a note in my file.

I'm sure the black helicopters will be showing up above my house any moment now.

Oh that's right Canada's four helicopters are probably in for repairs right now.

Sorry, long day spraying prints, probably affecting my brain!

[Mark D Segal]

At the risk of trying to pretend to be a lawyer, it's not clear whether there is an issue here.  As I thought about it, it's different from issues related to the North American Free Trade Act which has to do with goods and services manufactured and/or assembled in the US, Canada and Mexico.  In this case we are dealing with goods manufactured in Japan (and other places in the far East) and imported into the US and/or Canada.  In this case these are not goods subject to NAFTA.  Someone mentioned B&H's selling of both US Nikon and "foreign" Nikon lenses.  The price differential is not that great and the key issue here is one of disclosure; the foreign sourced lens warranty is only guaranteed by B&H (they have an extensive disclaimer).  A lens is not a dispensable product in the same way as an ink is and perhaps that is one reason Epson is taking the stance they are.  I don't know what the mark up for the retailer (and I'm not even going to ask Randy ) but I suspect that it is decent and coupled with the volume, retailers in the US are going to abide by Epson's letter of agreement.  I suspect that a legal complaint could be launched as Mark notes but it would be lengthy without an assured outcome.

You are correct that this is not a NAFTA issue because the goods aren't covered. The only thing it could be is a case of restrictive trade practices within the USA. An injured party (retailer who can't ship, customer who can't buy) would need to understand whether there are legal grounds within US domestic commerce law to mount a restrictive trade practices case. I simply don't know the answer to that.