Is it right for dealers to sell product catalog?

[Guest]

Still puzzled, so, i tot it's good to hear some views from SOFTies.

e.g. The guitar maker company produces yearly catalog on all its products, guitars and accessories, and distributes to all its international dealers. Yet, we can find some shops (i know of one) selling these catalogs for $2 each. My assumption (i can be wrong) is that the OEM gives away these catalogs to their distributors/dealers for free. If that is so, why do we have to buy these catalogs from the local dealer?

I also know of one big company that simply left all the catalogs freely available for any customer to take.

 

[atee]

Don't think they should be sold imo. Some give them away for free when you purchase something, but that's the furthest it should go. (And I think I know which shop you're talking about

Maybe they should put the words 'Not For Sale' on it, like some freebies we get at the supermarket.

 

[Guest]

The catalogs did not exactly have that "Not For Sale" official print. However, I do remember seeing some with the:

"With Compliments From"
[ ]
<dealer's name>

Can such be sold?

Or, with/without any printed remarks, is the OEM aware that their product catalogs are actually being sold in the dealer's shop? Can the reason of: preventing catalogs from running out too fast due to the popularity of the brand, be used to justify putting a price tag on the catalog?

If such are for sale, then, why aren't they found in the online databases of all the major online bookstores? And yet they remained to be found exclusively in the offical dealer's shop?

Furthermore, the OEM themselves had been putting up pdf versions of their online catalog: e.g. http://www.espguitars.com/ESP_06_Catalog.pdf These are free for downloading. So, what makes the hardcopy for sale? Printing & shipping costs? For promotional materials?

From my experiences, i was shocked to see some guitar brands' catalog for sale at $2.

Ikea's yearly catalog (more than 40 pages at least) can be found in your mailbox every year.

Sony's nicely printed catalog (more than 20 pages) can be found in your mailbox too.

When I go for IT shows, huge stacks of catalogs were left at a corner as free copies.

Some were printed in better quality than those that are for sale for $2 in certain shop.

Of course, if permission to sell these catalogs were given to the dealer, then, it's a whole different story. But I doubt those brands are calculative with such marketing cost, that they would control the rate of distribution.

Remember, these are promotional materials.

 

[Impromptu]

maybe it only happen in Singapore to counter the kiasu-ism :lol:

When it's free, people here will rush to get it even though they don't need it or even if they don't even know what the product is :lol:

 

[Guest]

Hi impromptu, we met. How are you?

Yeah, you're right. Especially when we're talking about those PRS and ESP catalogs, they'll be snapped up if they're for free.

 

[Impromptu]

I'm good sqoobs. Thanks for the cds. Anymore you are selling?