On Apr 18, 2012, at 11:48 AM, Tom C wrote: > > I've never paid MSRP. MSRP has always been artificially high so that > anything below that looks like a discount. > > In fact if Pentax had demanded MSRP for their products, my association > with Pentax would have been over at the time I was choosing between a > PZ-1p and a Nikon 8008s. > > I specifically DON'T buy expensive items in the local camera store > BECAUSE they attempt to sell it at MSRP or close to it. Yeah, go ahead > and knock $50 or a $100 off MSRP. What are they taking me for, a fool?
Just to point out that there is another side to the story, I have paid MSRP (minus a small "good customer" discount") for all of the camera bodies I bought from the PZ-1p (3) through the MZ-S, (2) and *ist-D (2). After that the local guy could no longer get goods from Pentax. I paid MSRP because I wanted a place to go and touch and feel the merchandise, I wanted a place to take care of my photo processing (and then later my scanning), I wanted Mitch to stay in business, and it was worth a few hundred bucks "extra" on my purchases to help keep him in business. I also don't shop Wal-Mart. I think the drive to the cheapest possible price on everything is a reflection of the unmitigated greed that consumes such a large portion of the population. We want to have all of the "stuff" that we can get, and rather than prioritizing and choosing what luxuries we will have that we can afford at a reasonable price, we go for cheap low-quality stuff just to have it. Pentax has been extraordinary in providing high quality goods at low prices; at some point the only rational options for them are to lower quality or raise prices; I am comfortable with the latter. It probably means I will only buy one K-3 rather than my preferred two, but I can deal with that. stan -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
