Anyone give blichmann discounts

Ready to pull the trigger on a 20-gallon pot with false bottom. Anyone know of a site that gives discounts. BMW use to but the code no longer woks on the blingman gear. Also buying a March pump if you want to heavily discount it instead of the pot

You can feel free to PM, if you don't want to make it a know fact

Doubting that you will find any discounts on Blichmann products as people are more than willing to shell out the cash for them at full price. I do know that AHB had/has March pumps on sale a short time ago.

Chromados

Blichmann believes in price support and he will quickly shut down anyone who trys to sell his product for less than his "suggested retail price".

In my opinion.... If you think you need a tri-bottom kettle then OneHoppyGuy (vendor on here) is the only way to go. Blichmann (again in my opinion) is overpriced and offers nothing over what others are selling at a much lower price.

I have single layer 1mm thick 20gal kettles for $180 with 2 couplers installed if you're interested.

-Ben

thargrav said:

Blichmann believes in price support and he will quickly shut down anyone who trys to sell his product for less than his "suggested retail price".

Click to expand...

You mean fixing?

It's kind of close but not the same. And even though price support is legal, I don't believe in the practice. A manufacturer of a product has the right to set a retail price for his product and also has the right to not deliver to anyone not selling at these prices.

In their defense Blichmann isn't the only one practicing price support. Several main stream power tool manufacturers and home accessory manufacturers do the same thing. Try to find a deal on a Kitchen Aid stand mixer and you'll find out right away that there is a price floor for all three major models.

But price support only works if your product is not a commodity item and some of the products Blichmann sells are fast becoming commodity items. Look at all of the plate chillers for sale in the home brew market - at one time his Therminator was the only good one around - not so anymore. Also, others are selling high quality stainless steel and aluminum brew pots that were not available a few years ago for half his price.

doesn't seem practical on the manufacturer's end.. if they are getting wholesale to whoever they sell it to, why does it matter what the retailer sells it for? if they're willing to take less of a profit to get people in their store or on their site, doesn't seem like it would negatively impact blichmann at all

krenshaw said:

doesn't seem practical on the manufacturer's end.. if they are getting wholesale to whoever they sell it to, why does it matter what the retailer sells it for? if they're willing to take less of a profit to get people in their store or on their site, doesn't seem like it would negatively impact blichmann at all

Click to expand...

It is practical for them, as it is important to have your product sold through multiple channels. Would you rather have 20 products out of the manufacturer's door at 1 location - or 5 products out the door at 20 locations?

I'm surprised to see a company like them use the practice, but it is completely normal. This is why you see MSRP listed to so many products. Generally if you see that, that is the best price you can get unless you are buying through an unauthorized reseller. Unauthorized resellers are great, they just generally get their product through "grey" markets. (aka, not a black market, but not the way the Manufacturer is trying to sell them) This mostly involves electronics though.

Its a smart practice for Blichman, and not price fixing. That would mean working with their competitors to set the price for like but competing products. Clearly they are not doing that since they are the priciest option.

krenshaw said:

doesn't seem practical on the manufacturer's end.. if they are getting wholesale to whoever they sell it to, why does it matter what the retailer sells it for? if they're willing to take less of a profit to get people in their store or on their site, doesn't seem like it would negatively impact Blichmann at all

Click to expand...

The practice supports resellers profit margin and resellers are more likely to stock & sell expensive equipment when they know that "Joe's Homebrew Shop" across town or on the net isn't going to under cut them. Market pressures still apply because he can't price his product too high or no-one will buy. Everyone who manufactures products does some version of the same thing.

Even though I don't believe in price support, I set the price expectation for our stir plates by listing them for $89.95, $129.95 and $189.98 on our towercooler web site. Look across the net and you'll see that resellers prices vary but the selling prices all float around the prices I set. And based on the prices the stir plates are selling for, homebrew shops know they can buy product from FOXX Equipment and resell at a decent margin.

Price fixing is something entirely different. For Blichmann to be price fixing he would need to have agreements with all of the other brew pot and small fermenter suppliers to set or "FIX" their prices at a certain level, keeping the entire market costs artificially high. The oil cartel attempts to do this all the time but we use our close relationship with Saudi to break price fixing every time it's set up by asking them to "turn on the oil faucet".

JeepDiver said:

Ready to pull the trigger on a 20-gallon pot with false bottom. Anyone know of a site that gives discounts. BMW use to but the code no longer woks on the blingman gear. Also buying a March pump if you want to heavily discount it instead of the pot

You can feel free to PM, if you don't want to make it a know fact

Click to expand...

Rebel Brewer offers free shipping for all Blichmann products over $50. Others may too... but not sure which others.

thargrav said:

It's kind of close but not the same. And even though price support is legal, I don't believe in the practice. A manufacturer of a product has the right to set a retail price for his product and also has the right to not deliver to anyone not selling at these prices.

Click to expand...

Yes I know they aren't identical but it accomplishes the same thing. I don't believe in price support either and think it's an arrogant way to do business, which is why Blichmann products will never enter my brewery or my home.

Price support is a way to create an impression of 'extra' value. High-end companies like Rolex or BMW generally do this. It's a way of distinguishing your products from the competition. You're going after a certain clientele that wants the best. They figure if it costs more, it must be better.

The cheapest I've seen 20gal is at www.highgravitybrew.com for 399.00 and free shipping. There are a few places that have them for that price.