"Dave Butler" wrote in message
...
Gerry Caron wrote:
List is $349. MAP is $299. I paid $269 at Avionics West.

OK, my memory is probably incorrect. ...but isn't Garmin notorious for
controlling the price of its products? How do you get a discount? I
thought I
shopped around, but obviously I missed something. All the places I shopped
had
virtually the same price (but obviously I don't remember what price I
paid).

Garmin does an excellent job of maintaining margins on its products. It's
about charging what the market will bear and keeping costs in line. That's
good business.

Garmin can set the price it charges it's dealers and the minimum advertised
price (MAP) is enforced as a requirement of being a dealer. But beyond
that, fair trade laws say the dealers can charge anything they want for it.
When browsing, you'll only see the MAP price -- but ASK for the price and
they can quote their real price.

Checked at Avionics West's web site. Price is listed at $299. Click buy to
put it in your shopping cart and the price becomes $269.

MAP policies made some sense when ads were placed in magazines and T-A-P 5
months in advance. In today's world of e-commerce it's pretty much
pointless, but it hangs on for some reason.

Gerry