Sharpie,
What's wrong with a US perspective?
I understand that the EU, AUS, and UK may deem it to be illegal but let me ask:
- As of when do the laws of a nation equal the laws of the rest of the world?
- This post is about the purpose of MAP and not the validity of the laws of sovereign nations
- Why are people in the EU, AUS, and UK ordering internationally?
- If those same laws deem MAP to be illegal then everybody in the EU, UK, and AUS should be able to purchase the same products at the same prices that we buy internationally.
- Unless of course those product by those companies are not available due to the government interference (which is what the USA was actually founded upon)
- Why is it that more products are available in the US than any other place in the world?
- Free trade allows for all products, except items that affect national security or public health, to be sold if the market (or populace) is willing to pay. VAT is the biggest hindrance to free trade, not MAP
All of the products that we here purchase internationally are available in the US. We choose to forego the immediate satisfaction of receipt in order to achieve a better price. Even so, we and all flashlight forums combined still do not put a dent in total sales of the flashlight market (one reason why we get away with what we do...which also provides benefit to manufacturers and dealers). The stocking dealers need to make money in order to survive, it is as simple as that.
For those that disagree, please open a brick and mortar store that sells/distributes flashlights (and all that goes with it such as rent, insurance, payroll, inventory with buy-ins) and sell for what you think at this moment is a fair price and profit. How long would that store actually stay around? MAP helps that and obviously it does work because those dealers that endure the expense of a business actually do stick around. Even an internet dealer would find it difficult to be profitable.
As stated in the OP...the manufacturers benefit because dealers DO want to sell their product to their own customers that are willing to pay for it. It does not mean BLF members have to be willing to pay for it but we are not a blip in the whole picture. :)