2010 is the year for MAP pricing for Teak Patio Furniture. For those of you that don’t know, MAP stands for Minimum Advertised Price. This means retailers are unable to post products online for less than the amount the manufacturer has established. The teak patio furniture business is extremely competitive thus making the prices we set for our teak patio furniture very important.
Both Anderson Teak Furniture and Royal Teak Collection have both implemented MAP this season on their Teak patio Furniture. Is this good or bad? The honest answer is I don’t know. In the case of Andserson Teak’s MAP pricing I thin it is bad. This is due to the increase in their overall cost. With a combination of increased pricing and MAP we are seeing much high prices and as a seller, I can’t simply reduce my margin to pass along some savings.
Royal Teak Collections implementation of MAP this season isn’t nearly as bad for teak patio furniture. There are two reasons for this. 1st, they get great deals on shipping and don’t mark it up like other manufacturers and 2nd they didn’t have an increase in pricing this season. In some cases the MAP price on their Teak Patio Furniture was lower than what I had it priced at. That means I will take a lower margin but its only on a few items and that should help sales.
One thing that is important to remember about MAP pricing and Internet dealers. Its a minimum advertised price which mean, retailers that take orders over the phone, maybe able to make a slight price adjustment to help their customers save some money. Keep in mind though that you are more likely to get a “deal” or discount from MAP if you are ordering a set of multiple pieces. Most are not going to adjust a price for a single teak folding chair where margins are already low.
Questions about Teak Patio Furniture or MAP pricing, email me! troy@outdoorteakandmore.com
