I disagree with most of you in believing Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is a waste of time for the consumer. Having worked in a LHS for several years after retiring, I have some experience with hobby product pricing. The MSRP is a guide used by the seller to base his/her final price, and keeps him "honest" when pricing a product. What it means to the consumer is that it's an index to use for determining fair pricing. If the manufacturer recommends a $10 price, then the vendor is probably making at least a 20-40% profit. In other words, the vendor bought it between $6-$8 from the distributor (who bought it at an even deeper "discount" from the manufacturer). What does that mean to you? It means you should NEVER pay more than MSRP, and hopefully less than MSRP. If you don't know what the MSRP is, how can you tell you're getting the best deal and not overpaying? There are distributors out there who overprice beyond MSRP in the hobby market. Indeed, you can take the time to "shop around" for the best deal-- but you really don't know what the "best deal" is unless you have a baseline MSRP. In this world of "supply and demand" there are always vendors who mark up (or mark down) based on what other vendors pricing is, or what they think the demand for an item is. MSRP is a way of "leveling the playing field". And as Patrick mentions, you must figure shipping if you are buying on line. If you know the MSRP, you'll know what a fair shipping price "mark up" is. So I think it's important for consumers to know the MSRP-- and it's important for vendors to know that consumers know MSRP, otherwise the consumer is handing the vendor "carte blanche" to charge "what the traffic will bear". Just my 2 cents worth.
VR, Russ

I disagree with most of you in believing Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is a waste of time for the consumer. Having worked in a LHS for several years after retiring, I have some experience with hobby product pricing. The MSRP is a guide used by the seller to base his/her final price, and keeps him "honest" when pricing a product. What it means to the consumer is that it's an index to use for determining fair pricing. If the manufacturer recommends a $10 price, then the vendor is probably making at least a 20-40% profit. In other words, the vendor bought it between $6-$8 from the distributor (who bought it at an even deeper "discount" from the manufacturer). What does that mean to you? It means you should NEVER pay more than MSRP, and hopefully less than MSRP. If you don't know what the MSRP is, how can you tell you're getting the best deal and not overpaying? There are distributors out there who overprice beyond MSRP in the hobby market. Indeed, you can take the time to "shop around" for the best deal-- but you really don't know what the "best deal" is unless you have a baseline MSRP. In this world of "supply and demand" there are always vendors who mark up (or mark down) based on what other vendors pricing is, or what they think the demand for an item is. MSRP is a way of "leveling the playing field". And as Patrick mentions, you must figure shipping if you are buying on line. If you know the MSRP, you'll know what a fair shipping price "mark up" is. So I think it's important for consumers to know the MSRP-- and it's important for vendors to know that consumers know MSRP, otherwise the consumer is handing the vendor "carte blanche" to charge "what the traffic will bear". Just my 2 cents worth.
VR, Russ

I disagree with most of you in believing Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) is a waste of time for the consumer. Having worked in a LHS for several years after retiring, I have some experience with hobby product pricing. The MSRP is a guide used by the seller to base his/her final price, and keeps him "honest" when pricing a product. What it means to the consumer is that it's an index to use for determining fair pricing. If the manufacturer recommends a $10 price, then the vendor is probably making at least a 20-40% profit. In other words, the vendor bought it between $6-$8 from the distributor (who bought it at an even deeper "discount" from the manufacturer). What does that mean to you? It means you should NEVER pay more than MSRP, and hopefully less than MSRP. If you don't know what the MSRP is, how can you tell you're getting the best deal and not overpaying? There are distributors out there who overprice beyond MSRP in the hobby market. Indeed, you can take the time to "shop around" for the best deal-- but you really don't know what the "best deal" is unless you have a baseline MSRP. In this world of "supply and demand" there are always vendors who mark up (or mark down) based on what other vendors pricing is, or what they think the demand for an item is. MSRP is a way of "leveling the playing field". And as Patrick mentions, you must figure shipping if you are buying on line. If you know the MSRP, you'll know what a fair shipping price "mark up" is. So I think it's important for consumers to know the MSRP-- and it's important for vendors to know that consumers know MSRP, otherwise the consumer is handing the vendor "carte blanche" to charge "what the traffic will bear". Just my 2 cents worth.
VR, Russ

Russ,

I can't agreed with you more. Anyone with a degree Business understands the purpose of the MSRP and how it is used in business.

Mark

Jiminy Christmas!!!

I didn't mean to open this can of worms....

But I will say that it seems like a COP OUT that someone is willing to take the time to review a kit, but won't take the extra 2 minutes to find those price ranges, in USD, EUR, and YEN and put that range WITH THE REVIEW AS AN MSRP????

(Sorry, not yelling)

Actually, finding prices RANGES would take more than two minutes as the reviewer would have to sample quite a number of vendors to see what that range truly is, especially if you're asking for the same in the other denominations. Just the MSRP is all you'll get or even need; the range you'll have to determine for yourself.

Just one last note, and then I'll shut up. Most manufacturers supply the MSRP to major reviewers when they supply the kit as a review sample. The evidence is found in the major modeling pubs like Fine Scale Modeler here in the States, or in Scale Model, Tamiya or Airfix magazines overseas. I suspect they do the same for on-line review sites as well. It usually comes in the sample kit info (I've seen a lot of these packages in my LHS days). If not, it's usually in the manufacturers catalog. So there is no reason not to mention it. But, if it's an independent unsolicited review, the reviewer may not have access to the MSRP without doing some research. By the way, I just bought my Tamiya M3 I mentioned earlier at the MSRP price of $42 as listed by Tamiya and sold by my LHS. When I did the research, I found the MSRP price was cheaper than ordering the kit and paying for shipping. But, I'm sure if I'd waited for a few months, I probably could have bought the kit cheaper at a place like Hobby Lobby with a daily 40% off coupon-- or on a special sale my LHS often runs. Or from some overseas vendor, but I would rather have the latitude to decide if I want to wait for the price to fall. That's the value of MSRP-- it gives the consumer a decision point to start with. Ok-- I'll shut up now.
VR, Russ

Robin, et.al.,
How do you know if you are getting a "good deal" if you don't know the MSRP? In the old days, all the US domestic manufacturers priced thier kits right on the box with the MSRP. Internet aside, you can "shop around" all you want, but you still won't know what the manufacturer thinks the kit is worth. ...