Nikon Scope Prices...

[Sparky]

Rant time!!!
I just called a dealer to order a Nikon scope. Bought the same model scope I was about to order last year for $377. The new price is $499. I expressed my...uh....dismay at the rather HUGE price increase.That is 32.4% ! The dealer dude said Nikon is dictating the selling prices of their scopes.
IMHO that is PRICE FIXING!!
I told him I was not interested in purchasing Nikon products at the fixed price.
He congratulated me on my decision and suggested Burris or Leupold as alternatives.
I declined to order at the time, being a tad ticked off at what in my view is simple price fixing/gouging by Nikon
What gives? Where is the good old competition?
Nikon stuff is good, but I won't be buying them at "fixed" MSRP!!

 

[esldude]

Well don't know which scope you are referring to, but yes, Nikon prices have gone up in the last couple years. Bushnell Elite 4200's which are maybe as good as Monarch's are more affordable in any given size. Nikons are still a bit cheaper than most Burris which is another scope I like.

As to why who knows? Nikon moved production of Monarch's from Thailand to Japan. Maybe that had something to do with it. Some have said they are now made in Philipines.

 

[Sparky]

The scope I was going to order was a Gold Monarch 1.5x6.
I bought one last year for $377. There's no way that Nikon had a 33% price increase in that time. Nikon is dictating to the dealers the selling price of the scopes.
Check the various dealers online. The prices shown for the nikons is...amazingly...the same from dealer to dealer.
I'm not a businessman, but it would seem to me, short of a franchise scenario, that as long as I pay the manufacturer's price for a product, the price I choose to sell it for is basically up to me.
I realize that is a simplified view, but if I'm satisfied with the profit margin I determine.....then what does Nikon care? They got their price.