*BSD News Article 51351


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From: oneill@cs.uml.edu (Brian 'Doc' O'Neill)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: disgruntled.. not a flame.. to cdrom.com
Date: 14 Sep 1995 19:16:20 GMT
Organization: UMass-Lowell Computer Science
Lines: 24
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <439v24$9ob@ulowell.uml.edu>
References: <439eta$gbq@mark.ucdavis.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: remus.cs.uml.edu

I just wanted to comment on the below section:

In article <439eta$gbq@mark.ucdavis.edu>, ccjason@quadrophenia.ucdavis.edu (Jason Gabler) writes:
|> CDROM, mostly because of the most superb job you all do with FreeBSD.  But
|> usually, when you take the time to buy from the source, you pay less than
|> people who go thru the source, the wholeseller , and then the retailer.

I don't know who you buy your software from, and I'm not defending WC here,
but all the software companies _I_ know who usually sell through distributers
sell software themselves at a HIGHER cost, "Suggested Retail Price". Did you
EVER wonder why you NEVER buy things at "S.R.P." in stores? I believe there
is some sort of anti-competition "rule" that the publisher cannot undersell
the distributors (or why would the distributors bother?). In all cases I know
of, the publisher/producer/whatever that makes it will sell it at "S.R.P."
direct to customers, while distributors get HEAVY discounts (for bulk), which
translates to lower that S.R.P. prices on the shelf. Off the cuff example:
Lightwave 3D from Newtek - $995 S.R.P., but I got it for $820 from a
distributor. Some places even have it for less.

===========================================================================
Brian O'Neill - Director of Computing, Computer Science   oneill@cs.uml.edu
University of Massachusetts at Lowell
(508) 934-3645
"Nothing's the same anymore." - Sinclair, Babylon 5, _Chrysalis_