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I have been a very loyal Penn customer for over 40 years. I have not bought a Peen reel at anything near list for many many years. As a 20 year old one of my buddy's dad worked at Penn. I got some really good prices. Today a friend of mine is a big cheese at a major tackle dealer. I get great pricing. I have gotten some great pricing from Mac's and at FishBuzz until Tom went to the great fishing grounds beyond.
I was putting together a parts order at Shark River and came across this.
Open Letter to Customers
Shark River Mail Order:Open Letter to Customers
Why can you no longer buy some Penn equipment
from Shark River Mail Order?
We have been selling Penn Equipment for over 30 years. Recently, all wholesalers that deal with Penn Fishing Tackle were forced to sign an agreement that they would not sell their more popular equipment to any company that was not on Penn's "Gold Label Dealer" list. This list is made up of businesses, especially major chain stores, that sell Penn equipment at or near the suggested retail price.
Because we sell at far below the suggested retail price and try to give our customers the best deal we can,
We are not included on their "Gold Label Dealer" list. Our wholesalers, who would love to sell to us, are banned from doing so.
Some would call this "price fixing".
We let our customers decide.
Yes this price fixing. I will let Penn know this. You decide what to do.
They will quickly find out that they are in a commodity market and watch someone under cut them and eat their lunch and it will be too late by the time they figure it out. Didn't GM just lose huge market and now they are suffering to survive with the same attitude. We live in a global market place now.
The US Supreme Court heard arguments last Monday in a case related to this issue: whether manufacturers can require retailers to adhere to a minimum price policy.
I also was a faithful Penn customer for 35+ years... Hard to beat when you could stop by with a box full of reels, drop them off and pick them up a week later all reconditioned for peanuts... Then little by little Shimano started to fill my rack. Some things just have to end I guess, happy they were there for us for so long.
On the bright side, I do like those American made Avets!....
What you want to do is buy some products from a Penn distributor at really low prices. That Penn distributor has competitors that rely on a reasonable mark up in the products they sell to support their business. A mail order house doesn't have anywhere near the overhead cost of a typical retailer, and therefore can afford to take extremely low margins on the products they sell. Shark River Mail Order doesn't do anything to support the Penn name or promote the brand. All they do is take your order and ship the goods, and take away business from other Penn dealers that can't stay in business on tiny margins. Why don't you try buying the things you need from a retailer near you, who has inventory, and ideas, and service, and a family and overhead, and employees, and pays taxes, and supports your community. Or better yet, take up golf.
I knew Penn was finished when I called last year to get some parts for a 209. They came, (eventually) and the price for 2 small nylon washers was crazy. A few months later I called to get a brass bearing for a 650. When the gal asked for my address I told her I "Was in the system". "We don't keep that information on customers" she told me. Are you kidding me? You don't want to know who I am? You don't want to send me an email once or twice a year telling me (an obvious Pennaholic) about new lines, or specials on repairs, etc? Gee wiz, you'd think someone at the company would have taken marketing 101.
Wagon... That don't surprise me, why should they have on record? You bought $79 fishing reel not a Porsche... I suppose Shimano knows who you are? Bass Pro probably does tho...
Great country. Free market. First amendment right to free speech.
Sounds like your beef is with Shark River Marine, not Penn. Yet your headline is Penn Sucks. Why not Shark River Marine Sucks?
Penn, like every other business of goods and services is setting their price. You may call it price fixing or whatever you want. They are free to set their price at whatever they want. Penn sets their price factoring in things like their cost of materials, labor, production costs, and taking into consideration of what the market will bear. They are free to determine the business and vendors they wish to work with.
Shark River Marine does the same thing. They "fix" their price according to the same things.
When I was in business for myself, I did the same thing. My two favorite days at work I never miss:
Payday!
Day Off!
Penn's made a business decision that will cost them your business. Shark River Marine has made a business decision that will cost them your business. (They are free to become a Gold Medal Dealer)
And you are free to bash Penn on the internet. And others are free to point the specificity of your point of view.
This is a common practice in almost every business these days. I sell high end appliances and they started doing the suggested pricing policy years ago. As margins get squeezed you are going to see more of this. It is really being driven by the dealers and not by the factories. The factories are selling the product at basically the same price to everyone. It is the dealers that are squawking and forcing the manufacturers and distributors to protect retail margins. In years past margins on appliances was around 30-40 percent as the margins have fallen to around 20% or less we have seen more of these policies put in place. I'm not sure what the margin on a Penn reel is but I have to believe it is closer to 20% than 40%. That is why you see such great deals on combo's because the agreements usually allow for more leeway when the items are sold that way. You say that you were buying for way below retail. Maybe that was because retail was artificially inflated. My guess is you were buying items at the same margins that you can get it for now. You just don't think you are getting a deal. There are all kinds of ways to make consumers think they are getting a deal. Look at Sears when they have their 10% off sales they are selling at about the same price we sell for everyday. Yet consumers think that they are getting a great deal. Look at furniture and Jewelry. They are consistently running sales. If the sale price is the right price why don't they sell it for that price to begin with. Competition from the internet and dealers that don't have a clue what they are selling have squeezed my margins. We stay around by offering experience and knowledgeable sales staff and by repeat customers that know we will treat them right. We don't match internet prices and we don't sell below comfortable margins. I would rather lose a sale than not be able to make money on the sale. I don't do free delivery because I don't have employees that work for free. I have a family my staff has families we are active in the community and we offer a distinctive advantage over most of our competition. It is really funny to me that people want me to sell to them at the same price as Lowe's or Home Depot but they don't want to buy from those guys. Well if you want it at that price buy from them our service and knowledge are worth something. Welcome to the New World!!!
__________________
SpongeRob 232 Sea Hunt 225 Johnson
I'm Ready!!!
Get around it the same way you did on your Bertram, which likely was subject to the dealer territory rules which act pretty much the same - buy used.
If the news article on the Supreme Court case is accurate, someone is in court arguing that the rule against resale price maintenance that already exists should be overturned, giving manufacturers even more leeway in setting the prices of their products beyond what they already have. This will erode discount Internet pricing further. Get ready to pay more.
CB, no sympathy here... Give us a break. You're just upset because you can no longer buy stuff below retail.
As far as folks saying Penn charges too much for a small part, maintaining a parts inventory cost money. While the actual cost of producing a washer, screw, spring, ... may be small; someone has to put it on a shelf, inventory it, and then go get it when you order it, put it in a package, and ship it. I guessing you don't work for free and neither do they!
Go to your local Ford dealer and see how much they charge for a fan belt!
The manufacturers have been forced to do this becuase certain retailers will discount the products so much that it takes out any profitability in the product. This discounting destroys the market for these items for the manufacturer and for all the rest of the retailers. You wonder why You often hear about the local tackle shop going out of business. It is simple, if you can't make a profit, you can't pay the bills and you go out of business.
Penn's hand was forced by discount retailers who were happy making $10 profit on a $100 reel. At the end, the discounter made little to no profit, violated all sales agreements, hurt all the other retailers, negatively effected the overall market and pricing for these products, and hurt the consumer's ability to find and buy the products. It is understood that everybody wants to get a deal, but I suspect that everybody also wants a high quality, nearby tackle shop available to them, too. The independent tackle dealer simply must make a certain reasonable profit on its sales to keep the doors open. The manufacturer must profit, too.
Penn is a great American Company and it deserves the support and respect of the American fishing community. With the recent acquisition of Penn by a strong publicly traded company called K2, it is my belief that an already great company will see an infusion of investment, new products, and an overall improvement in all areas.
Because one is unable to get a "deal" on a high end Penn Gold Label product, it does not mean the company "sucks". Sometimes you simply have to pay to play. There are countless other competing products available on the marketplace that you are free to choose from where you can get a deal. No one is forcing you to buy Penn, but it seems you want their products.
Please remember that there are people behind the Penn name. These people are Americans. When you say Penn sucks, you are saying the American people behind the name suck. I can tell you first hand that they are good people with a good products. From Brent Kane, the National Sales Mgr, to Betty the parts department lady, they are good quality people.
If you want one of the elite fishing reel companies, you have to consider Penn.
I have been a very loyal Penn customer for over 40 years. I have not bought a Peen reel at anything near list for many many years. As a 20 year old one of my buddy's dad worked at Penn. I got some really good prices. Today a friend of mine is a big cheese at a major tackle dealer. I get great pricing. I have gotten some great pricing from Mac's and at FishBuzz until Tom went to the great fishing grounds beyond.
I was putting together a parts order at Shark River and came across this.
Open Letter to Customers
Shark River Mail Order:Open Letter to Customers
Why can you no longer buy some Penn equipment
from Shark River Mail Order?
We have been selling Penn Equipment for over 30 years. Recently, all wholesalers that deal with Penn Fishing Tackle were forced to sign an agreement that they would not sell their more popular equipment to any company that was not on Penn's "Gold Label Dealer" list. This list is made up of businesses, especially major chain stores, that sell Penn equipment at or near the suggested retail price.
Because we sell at far below the suggested retail price and try to give our customers the best deal we can,
We are not included on their "Gold Label Dealer" list. Our wholesalers, who would love to sell to us, are banned from doing so.
Some would call this "price fixing".
We let our customers decide.
Yes this price fixing. I will let Penn know this. You decide what to do.
Penn Sucks
No CB you suck, your wife sucks, and your dog sucks . Now stop your whining, you cheap cry baby.
Penn Sucks 
I have been a very loyal Penn customer for over 40 years. I have not bought a Peen reel at anything near list for many many years. As a 20 year old one of my buddy's dad worked at Penn. I got some really good prices. Today a friend of mine is a big cheese at a major tackle dealer. I get great pricing. I have gotten some great pricing from Mac's and at FishBuzz until Tom went to the great fishing grounds beyond. 
Give us a break. You're just upset because you can no longer buy stuff below retail. 
