Why the different prices for ink at B&H?

So I was ordering 110 ML cartridges in several colors for my Epson 4800 printer. B&H lists a specific price, which is the same for all ink colors. But when you add the ink to your shopping cart they show a further discounted price. When looking at my completed shopping cart, I noticed that each color of ink had a slightly different price, with the cheapest ink (yellow) being more than $5.00 cheaper than the most expensive ink (Light Cyan).

It isn't a big deal, but I'm curious why different colors would have different discounted prices, when the list price for each color is the same. Perhaps it is based on supply/demand when B&H buys from Epson? I would not have guessed that, but I can;t think of a better reason...

They may be sourcing their product from different wholesalers. They most likely have a markup formula and when their costs vary, so do their prices.

Under a Supreme Court ruling back in '08 (give or take a year), manufacturers are now allowed to set minimum advertised prices for their products. Most internet vendors get around this by promoting a "put this in your shopping cart to see OUR low price".

Manufacturers had fought for this issue when internet retailers began to seriously affect their brick and mortar competitors - and then still the largest customers for factories such as Rolex, Nikon, and obviously Epson!

This has nothing to do with sourcing or quality!

I think the question was why different colors had different prices, not why the the posted price was different than the cart/sale price.

Missed that one obviously!

I have not been in a cartridge manufacturing facility in some years and am not familiar with the new inks. In the past there were significant cost differences in the raw materials used in each color. I remember red being the most expensive to produce!

It could be that inks are sold to the retailer at cost plus a markup, or it could simply be that light cyan is used in such a large % of total area printed and therefore can command a higher price from the vendor to the retailer and in this case B&H still wanting to get their margin on the product.

Bottom line is who knows what the marketing people at Epson were thinking when they priced their inks!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by msk2193

Under a Supreme Court ruling back in '08 (give or take a year), manufacturers are now allowed to set minimum advertised prices for their products. Most internet vendors get around this by promoting a "put this in your shopping cart to see OUR low price".

Manufacturers had fought for this issue when internet retailers began to seriously affect their brick and mortar competitors - and then still the largest customers for factories such as Rolex, Nikon, and obviously Epson!

This has nothing to do with sourcing or quality!

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Is that for real? what about MAP? our company is setting MAP for all Internet dealers..is that legal?