robrainer

The reason that this manufacturer did this is because places like Fasttech, Gearbest, etc... are supposed to be distributors of the product. They are really Chinese trading companies. Their agreements with the manufacturer are all based on selling wholesale to retailers. What has happened though is that these companies have launched websites to sell direct to consumer. They are getting distributor pricing, but selling direct to consumer which is not fair for anybody trying to compete in this ever so crowded marketplace. For a U.S. based retailer the VTbox200 is wholesaling for $110 at the lowest MOQ meaning 1-50 units. By the time you pay for transfer fees, shipping from China, and import duty fees, these are costing retailers $120/per unit. So selling them for $117 is not very fair for U.S. retailers. Unless you do the same; meaning signing a distribution agreement then turn around and sell them retail online, there is really no way to compete. I don't understand why anyone would hold that against the manufacturer. The manufacturer is just making sure everyone has a fair chance to sell these. The manufacturer will allow retailers to discount them, but they will not allow distributors selling direct to consumer to discount them. That just makes sense based on signed distributorship agreements. The only thing the manufacturer can do is to threaten warranty coverage or deny that specific company any units which is what the letter above was about. That letter was specifically sent to a Chinese Trading company (aka Gearbest) that turned around and pre-sold direct to consumer for $7 above wholesale. The manufacturer is just trying to protect it's retailers and customers. For a U.S. retailer, making $40/unit is not overly greedy. Add the cost to advertise, credit card processing fees, shipping to customers, insurance, website maintenance, employees, etc... and you are looking at a profit of ~$10-$15 per unit assuming you get 0 defects or returns or credit card chargebacks (yea retailers pay for stolen credit cards, not the banks). Anyway, just providing a different point of view for everyone. These Chinese trading companies are running rampant and have so many layers of complexity that it's hard to unravel who is who. Manufacturers think they've signed a distribution agreement with a trading company and they end up on Gearbest for wholesale prices which is not the agreement they had with the manufacturer.