Why the different prices for ink at B&H?

[Greg Miller]

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...

[Harley Goldman]

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.

[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!

[Harley Goldman]

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

[msk2193]

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!

[SKimber]

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!


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