There will be a great many who will be skeptical, thinking it sounds like a ponzi scheme, but if Fun-2-Rent markets an honest image with lots of positive reviews/referrals, then they should do fine. Social marketing will be key….but wait, the US motorcycle market is a bit pathetic in this area. So what do you do? Get everyone at the dealership to participate, now when they are pitching it to the customer, they will have direct experience, which is the best sales tool.

Now, how exactly can you help offset the extra life insurance I will need?

Keep up the good fight – eventually we’ll either get ran over or rewarded.

S. 148:Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act
and
H.R. 3190: Discount Pricing Consumer Protection Act of 2009

Your article is interesting, however I think it is dangerously making some very wrong conclusions.

Your scenario:

“: Helmet I sells for a MAP protected MSRP of $450 and dealer cost of $292 (profit: $158)….”

Sounds great in theory, however business does not operate in a vacuum. You are able to sell the helmet for whatever you want in your retail store, but without protection online you end up with a ‘race to the bottom’.

That internet pure play “pajama dealer” (one guy in his apartment drop shipping helmets) is now going to advertise the same helmet with free shipping at $30 above cost. He has no overhead, so why not take $20 to move an incremental unit?

Your customer will see your price of $380 and think ‘gee thats great, now let’s check Google quick and see if he anyone else has it lower’.

This happens all the time with the non-MAP protected items already. Are the Brick / Mortar retailers doing well with those brands? I guarantee you they are not. Are the BIG internet players doing well with them? For the most part I would say no, they do not even bother with them. The business is all being done by the small-mid internet players that are willing to to make 10-15% on the sale.

If you look at the big players (bikebandit, motosuperstore, even Dennis Kirk) aside from closeouts they are not competing on price. They are competing on selection and service.

I only stock and push brands that are MAP enforced, it simply is a losing proposition to make an investment and stock product that a customer is going to come in, try on and then simply go home and buy it at 10% above cost online. That is exactly what happens with non-MAP enforced brands.

Without MAP you are always going to have the “pajama dealer” issue, which actuallyis just as dangerous to the big internet players as it is to the brick and mortar. And in my opinion the ‘pajama dealers’ pose more of a threat to the brick / mortars then the big internet players even do.

Think about it, in-store you can offer any price you would like. If the big internet guys are offering the product at a MAP controlled price online you have the opportunity to win on price every time, or at least be on par. Without MAP, there will ALWAYS be a pajama dealer offering the product at a price which does not make economical sense to offer (for a business with overhead!)

Oh, and if the doomsday scenario happens and someone like Amazon or Walmart is selling direct? You better hope there is MAP still intact or we can all say good night.