Most (at least some and no I don't have the exact language in front of me) dealer agreements require that you do not knowngly sell to someone who is buying for the purpose of resale. I never said anything about discounts. The manufacturers require a dealer to be a dive shop for a reason. That and other restrictions are there specificly to prevent outfits like LP from representing these products.
I have several of them right in front of me Mike.
None that I have contain the language you claim exists.
Not one.
All do require a retail establishment, "fair dealing" (e.g. no bait and switch games, no illegal conduct, etc.), "attractive display", knowledge of the line and sport diving in general, etc. Virtually all require "in-person" sales - no internet sales. With the exception of the "no internet sales" clause in some agreements, these are all completely standard commercial agreements, with nothing remarkable and nothing particularly different due to the industry involved. The only really "bizarre" term I have is from a particularly drysuit manufacturer who demands the right to repurchase any stock you have from you, at any time, with or without cause (e.g. if they decide to revoke your dealership they can also buy back all your existing stock to prevent you from disposing of it.) I'm not sure that one would pass legal muster if they had to defend it in court - but its in there.
If LP wants to buy $500,000 worth of product from someone, and does the transaction "in person" (showing up with a check at your store would certainly count), that is legitimate.
All of these agreements
also say that dealers independantly determine their own prices, but they then go on (typically in an addendum, not in their dealer agreement itself) to make the threat and if you discount beyond X% (usually 10%, sometimes 20%) from MSRP they "reserve the right not to sell to you."
I see no agreement that can be broken. I see intentional looking the other way with regards to the threats, but that's a dealer's right - and I would even go so far as to argue that it might be their RESPONSIBILITY, faced with what SHOULD BE illegal conduct by the manufacturers and distributors with those "addendum threats".
LPs model is here to stay Mike, and all the wishing in the world will not make it disappear.
What will eventually happen, just as it has in other industries, such as audio and photography, is that the retail stores will refuse to honor the "price fixing" agreements as a group. It doesn't take very many shops, you know. If one region's shops decided to ignore these clauses as a group, then the manufacturers would have to fold their price fixing statements or they would sell ZERO product into that region. Since without market share you cannot be a market leader, this is a lose-lose situation for the manufacturers. SP, for example, simply could not sit by and deal with not selling ANY regulators in the Florida Peninsula or even a sub-state region, say, the state south of Orlando. Why? Because Atomic Aquatics could clean their clock - and would leap at the chance to do it, using the effective boycott of their product by the retail dealers to their great advantage.
Sooner or later some major retail chain will pick up on the idea that they can bury ALL the local competition and bring their considerable buying and "big-box" marketing clout to bear. They will do so.
Once this starts to happen the price-fixing will collapse, there will be real competition in the consumer marketplace, and LP's advantage will slip to a significant degree. It won't disappear, simply due to their volume, but it will diminish.
Many local shops will fold, unable to provide value when they can't hide behind "the nasty manufacturer won't let me discount that regulator" excuse any more, and lacking any cogent business plan in the first place - having grown from some diver's desire to get his fills and hardware "for free"
rather than to be in a business and make a profit.
Some others will decide to do only training and fills, eschewing the sale of hardware entirely, correctly deducing that there is a market for such a thing in an
honest environment. Others will decide to get out of the fill and training business and sell only hardware, getting rid of the insurance problems and attempting to become the boutique store, probably for higher-end products and those where superior customer service really does have some value (e.g. drysuits) - where, for example, being able to go in and get seals replaced in an hour is
worth something.
The result will be a far more balanced business environment and a much cleaner, and more honest, environment for the diver at large. You will pay a fair - not cross-subsidized via a hidden mechanism - price for your training. You will pay a fair price for your fills. If you dive frequently, owning a compressor may make sense, especially if you have a few friends who want to go in on one. If you want hardware, but don't want (more) training, you will not be subsidizing some dealer's training program for SOMEONE ELSE with your equipment purchases. I will no longer be expected to subsidize my LDS's OW classes - which have no benefit to me - the "puppy mill" mentality will go away.
Finally, the lies in the LDS will cease - there will no longer be any purpose to them.
