The AM Forum

Looking through the latest issue of QST,  I noticed that the none of the big three ricebox ads carry suggested retail prices for any of the products.  Then I looked at the ads for some of the major appliance distributors. Ham Radio Outlet: No prices on any of their products. Just "call now for your low price."  Amateur Electronic Supply does give prices for the rigs they advertise.  Ten-Tec listed a price for the one rig (OrionII) that they advertised.

What's the deal?  Are these outfits ashamed to publish what they are asking for their overpriced junk?

I recall they used to bark their prices loud and clear, with fonts 3 times larger than that of the text describing what the equipment was supposed to do.

If someone were looking to purchase some of this crap (not I), how could they look at the ads and even have a vague idea of how much they would be expected to spend?

Surprised to hear that you are "shopping" for one, Don.

I'm sure the lack of prices is a strategy against the nickel-and-dime customers who see a $25 difference as the determiner.

It is too easy to use the internet to check a price published months ago when the magazine deadline hit, so they just don't include a price.

In Maryland there was a ham radio store whose proprietor realized people would come in and test drive the radios, then go to to the phones, work a deal and have the unit shipped at less cost than sales tax.

He's selling real estate now.

   Was that EEB in Sterling?

No, it was the CommCenter in Laurel, Maryland.

I used to work at a radio station in that town, and our sales department worked a trade with them for advertising time in exchange for an R-1000 Kenwood for the WLMD shortwave monitoring post.

The CommCenter never advertised ham radio with their barter,  but rather had some of the first local radio advertising for home computers, about 25 years go.

Another trivia note -- I lived in a high rise across the street from the shopping center where the store was located, and convinced the landlord to let me put up a Ringo Ranger on 2M 15 stories up. Once I heard the bench tech at the CommCenter testing a rig into a dummy load, and I gave him a call on simplex.

After he picked himself up off the floor I told him I was about 20 miles away and hearing him just fine,
'
huh-HA !

A friend on mine (N3HIA) used to live 2 blocks from me. He used to hear me testing and tuning stuff into a dummy load all of the time. We had many "dummy load qsos" until he moved a couple of years ago. ;D

                                                 The Slab bacon

                                         

Ha... you could hear the guy at the test bench, huh.  A lot of test guys are overheard by customers out in the office with portables, waiting for some unit to get fixed.

And of course, there was the time I was yodeling into a mobile on a dummy load, but (unbeknownst to me) I was right under the police repeater.  Or the time I was doing likewise with a remote, but my clip-lead wasn't shorting out the DC control.  Must have made their days.

Since the big three don't sell at "street level", there's really no reason for them to post list prices (or manufacturer suggested retail prices). Ten-Tec doesn't sell through dealers so they're not part of the picture. In my opinion, there are Dealer A and Dealer B types. Dealer A types are large organizations with several outlets and probably negotiate a "better" dealer cost because of their ability to move larger volumes of material. Dealer B types are smaller (1 store types), generally don't have that negotiating luxury, and have to work within the typical dealer cost given to them. Dealer A types generally drive the the retail price market. When Dealer A and Dealer B types show up at the same hamfest, Dealer B types generally get screwed trying to move the big three products with their typical pricing structure.

And, as Paul said, "I'm sure the lack of prices is a strategy against the nickel-and-dime customers who see a $25 difference as the determiner. It is too easy to use the internet to check a price published months ago when the magazine deadline hit, so they just don't include a price". This also plays a big part why pricing is generally not included in a magazine ad. In my opinion, some dealers may also relish the ability to rub salt into the wounds of smaller dealers.

I worked part-time for an hi end audio store several years ago.  This was about the time the web was coming to life.  I convinced the owner that we should put the store on the web and advertise.  He agreed to it and I created his website listing all the brands and models he carried at the time along with the selling price. 

The website flew for a while without any problems until other dealers who sold the same products started complaining to the vendors.  The complaint was those dealers selling below a certain selling price and advertising outside of a market (via the net, newspaper, etc.) were in violation of the dealer/vendor franchise agreement. At the time however, the agreement contracts didn't include a clause pertaining to the web.  Soon after, any dealer that wanted to continue carrying a particular line of product had to sign a new agreement that included the web as an advertising medium.

The vendors allowed advertising in the mediums but forbid the advertising of prices on their products outside the dealers market. So we were forced to remove prices from the website.

Maybe the same thing is happening with the big three and their dealers.