A judge threw out a lawsuit brought against R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., saying their wholesaler discount program did not violate fair pricing laws. RJR offers discounts not based on the volume of business through a particular wholesaler, but based on … Read More
Blog
Oracle Updates per-CPU Licensing on Sun
As I’ve noted (Hardware Makes Software Pricing Harder and Software Pricing Followup: Fractional CPU Pricing) technical advances are muddying the waters for enterprise software vendors. Until now, Oracle had insisted that customers purchase licenses for every CPU on a Sun … Read More
GM Offers Employee Pricing To All
In a drastic move, the struggling automaker announced that anyone can get employee pricing discounts between June 1 and July 5. The discount applies across the entire model line with exception of the Corvette and certain GMC trucks. This is … Read More
Time to Raise Prices?
Inc. Magazine asks the question this month in an excellent article by Alison Stein Wellner which I recommend to anyone, not just small businesses. She talks about the cost-plus trap, avoiding commoditization, objective and perceived value, and touches on intelligent … Read More
Lessons in Value-Based Pricing
Perhaps the ultimate in value-based pricing comes from hedge funds (where else?). Hedge funds purport to offer a “sure bet” on the market, using hedges to protect against downturns in any particular area. In reality, hedge funds are a largely … Read More
Asda to Abandon EDLP
Wal-Mart owned retailing giant Asda is stepping back from every day low pricing (EDLP) in an effort to compete with Tesco and Sainsbury. Wal-Mart upended the conventional wisdom on retail promotional strategy by avoiding sales and coupons. This eliminated the … Read More
Price of Music Trends Downward
How do you price art? (And is Britney Spears really an artist?) The way the major music companies have answered this question has been a common topic in my newsletter and in earlier posts. Summary: since the consumer had few … Read More
Vendor Sues Retailer Over Withholding Payments
As we noted earlier, clothing makers and retailers are tussling over payments, and now the fight is ending up in court. A clothing maker has sued Dillards over $200,000 in deductions that Dillards claims resulted from discounts (meaning that Dillards … Read More
Pricing Always Comes Back to the Market
Ever wonder how people figure out cost-of-living adjustments? People go and buy a representative “market basket.” Someone sent me this piece, thinking perhaps I could get to Italy to do some kind of pricing survey (it’s only for military personnel … Read More
If Airlines Sold Paint
An Oldie but Goodie– this one is all over the ‘net. I’m not sure who the original author is. Buying paint from a hardware store Customer Hi, how much is your paint? Clerk We have regular quality for $12 a … Read More