Bob A

I am in the market for a Penn 30 & 50. Is there any place I can ge them discounted?

chainsaw42

as a general rule, no.

penn, shimano, and others, follow a mandated price point policy that all dealers must follow. some people think it is a good idea, others don't.

now, with that said, some dealers are willing to sweeten the pot with things like free spooling, free reel cover, free shipping, etc. so you could shop around for the best freebees. also, some local small shops might be willing to give you a disount 'off the record' once you get to know them.

finally, there are always exceptions to the rules. for instance, sometimes one of the big box stores will have a '10% off everything' type sale, and while you will usually see penn and shimano products excluded, sometimes they seemingly overlook this. for instance, basspro is having a 'trade-in' sale in the next short period of time where you bring in any old reel and trade it in for a discount on a new reel. the discount on reels over $500 is $100, so that is obviously a big big discount, and while they are excluding shimano reels, penn reels are included. i believe bass pro will spool the reel w/mono, too, but not 100% sure about that.

parapapam

There are two other methods to get discounts....

The first is to wait for "Manufacture Discontinued" type discounts. I picked up a few reels when Avet changed the model and wanted to dump the old style...

The second method of course is always Ebay....

Mike

74Formula233

Google a place called Goose Hummocks on the cape. He sells on eBay as well. Try looking him up there.

I picked up a couple 50 VSW's from him for ~$100 less per reel than the "normal price". Added a little for shipping and I was in like flynn.

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Scup

Chainsaw, why is that not price fixing? Bose in electronics does the same thing. If a dealer gets caught selling at anything other than what the manufacturer wants, shipments to his store can get curtailed. It seems that it is OK for a single manufacture to set any price he wishes, but if they work a deal behind close doors with other manufacturers to set prices then maybe they cross over some legal threshold. I wish there was a legal type in this form that could explain it to us.

chainsaw42

i don't remember saying it was or was not price fixing. i was just explaining to him the way it is, not whether or not it is right. i can't say i know the legal definition of price fixing anyway. the way i look at is that the manfacturer is setting the price you need to pay for it and then deciding how much of that sale to give to the dealer. a dealer can decide if that is sufficient and choose to carry the line or not. i don't see how this is dishonest or illegal. all penn or shimano seem to be getting out of the deal is the ability to keep the little guys in the game by preventing walmart from selling them at 1% profit or something. maybe there are more devious reasons???

as far as penn and shimano being in collusion to set the price, that is a different story. but, it isn't like the phone industry where there is so much infrastructure that it prevents new players from joining in...if penn & shimano are totally screwing us and making too much money, then a small guy is welcome to join in and undersell them to take market share...see avet. i think it is interesting that avet chose to follow suit and buy into the set point pricing strategy. seems to me that they could have sold more reels if they allowed dealers to discount, but it's not my company so more power to them.

i have heard the rants about it in the past, and, unusally, i don't have a strong opinion either way. if you want to buy the reel for $x, buy it, if not, don't.

On The Edge

Personaly i would patronize your local tackle shop for new top end gear. When you do you purchase more then a product you get service after the sale, and you build a relationship with that shop that will help you put fish in the boat.
I just purchased a new 50VSW and International tunastick from stew at the hookup. I paid a fair price for a great product.

Now i may have been able to shop around and maybe even saved a buck or 2 but i would not have gotton the service and piece of mind i have knowing my local shop will stand behind the products he sold me.. Not to mention i know i can call or stop into the shop with a question or issue and he will do his best to resolve my issue or answer my question..

you are not going to get that at a "bargin basement"

That being said, Ebay is a good place to look if used or discontinued gear is what you may be looking for, to help save a buck or two.

Just my 2 cents

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Catch um up

1999 proline 2202 wa
1999 200 merc

gman

Price fixing is when a group of competing companies get together meet and agree to set a market price on a specific product.

Example: Several tackle stores meet and agree to all keep an advertised retail of $900 on accurate ATD 50W's

Now previous to 2007, a single manufacturer could stipulate that a re-seller should follow a MSRP and some where in their contract is a little notation that if the reseller doesn't follow marketing initiatives and or promo price the resellers price can fluctuate or contract can be voided.

However the supreme court stopped manufacturers in 2007 from this tactic however the scare tactic works. Most tackle shops would be stupid to reduce the retails as all its does is reduce profits and create a issue between them and the manufacturer

***THE KEY is advertised pricing, if you work with the tackle shop in the store most will discount

chainsaw42

gman, that doesn't add up...the minimum advertised price thing is how most electronics companies work it, but it is widely known that nearly all retailers discount from this price heavily. this isn't the case with reels from penn and especially shimano. now, i'm not saying some retailers aren't going to give you a discount with a wink, but it is my understanding that the manufacturer is not only setting the minimum advertised price but also the minimum selling price. if this was all due to the whole MAP thing, then there would definitely be retailers on the internet that would show a highly discounted price once the item was added to the virtual shopping cart.

gman

What i wrote about price fixing is absolutely true. That is the definition. What Im saying is shimano tells their dealers this is what you should retail our shimano Tiagra for and they abide by that especially on the websites. Now if you know that person there, discounts can be made. I get gear from my supplier that is discounted from retail price.