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[OM] Olympus Price Increases ... the last word?

Subject: [OM] Olympus Price Increases ... the last word?
From: Garth Wood <garth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 09 Apr 1998 13:29:39 -0600
Well, after reading through the somewhat contradictory threads including 
Shelley Stalling's piece, I went and composed the following e-mail missive to 
Vincent Marino at Olympus America.  Here's the e-mail:

*** Start of e-mail to V. Marino ***

>Dear Mr. Marino;
>
>Rumoured price increases for most of the Olympus OM line have been floating 
>around the Olympus Mailing List (and the Olympus user community, no doubt) for 
>the past sixty days.  At the start of these rumours, I took it upon myself to 
>speak with a Mr. Jim de Carlo at Olympus America, who I understand is a 
>somewhat senior sales executive.  I posted the results of my discussion with 
>Mr. de Carlo to the Olympus Mailing List.  A copy of the post's body, posted 
>the same day I spoke to Mr. de Carlo (Friday, March 6th), follows:
>
>*** Re-post commences ***
>
>Never wanting to simply spread rumours, I decided to do the logical thing and 
>actually phone Olympus America to get the info "straight from the horse's 
>mouth."
>
>I talked to Jim de Carlo, Sales Manager for OLY America at 1-800-622-6372 ext. 
>5157 (this number is toll-free anywhere in Continental North America).  Mr. de 
>Carlo was *very* forthcoming, and said that yes, indeed, prices on certain of 
>the Olympus imaging line were going to rise by 20% April 1, 1998, and that 
>larger dealers were already buying up quantities of stock in anticipation of 
>this.
>
>Mr. de Carlo indicated specifically that the OM-4Ti and the OM lens group 
>would rise in wholesale price by 20%, but the wholesale price of the OM-3Ti 
>and the OM Accessories line will remain essentially unchanged ("no scheduled 
>price increases" was the word).
>
>Mr. de Carlo indicated that extremely low demand was causing this price 
>re-vamping.  As one example, he noted that the cost to manufacture the 
>Telescopic Auto Tube was fairly close to $400.00 U.S., because only a small 
>handful were made each year, while the wholesale price on the same item was 
>closer to the $200.00 U.S. mark.  The entire OM line has been causing Olympus 
>to bleed for many years, but they stay in it primarily for the professional 
>photographer and imaging specialist (mostly medical) market to keep the line 
>alive.  Their other lines, such as their digital imaging line, are actually 
>scheduled for (or have already seen) price *decreases* at the wholesale end.
>
>Sorry to give everyone bad news, but it appears that yes, OLY equipment's 
>gonna get even rarer and more expensive.  Get 'em while they're (relatively) 
>cheap.
>
>*** Re-post ends ***
>
>Given this information, and the information you have supplied to several 
>members of the list via e-mail which is somewhat at variance with the above 
>information, would it be possible to receive the guaranteed "party line" on 
>rumoured price increases?  To wit, and more explicitly, is Mr. de Carlo 
>correct, are you correct, or are the facts either somewhere in between these 
>two positions or (more likely) simply poorly-understood by all parties?
>
>Any authoritative information or position you could supply on the question of 
>price increases for the OM line would be greatly appreciated.
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Garth Wood

*** End of e-mail to V. Marino ***

And here, in a nutshell ('cause that's all there was) is Mr. Marino's reply to 
the above e-mail:

*** Reply begins ***

>X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise 4.1
>Date:  Thu, 09 Apr 1998 14:19:26 -0500
>From:  Vincent Marino <MARINOV@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>To:    Garth Wood <garth@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: 
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Content-Type: text/plain
>Content-Disposition: inline
>Return-Path: <MARINOV@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>X-UIDL: b868b8a7762035beacd7c50b190de08d
>
>
>After checking further with our sales department, it was confirmed that
>there was a price increase on selected items in our line. This took place
>on April 1, 1998. Check with your local dealers  for specific pricing.
>

*** Reply ends ***

So, there you have it, for what it's worth.  Note that, in the final analysis, 
Oly America appears to be leaving it up to dealers to either absorb some of the 
price increase or pass it all along (the "Check with your local dealers for 
specific pricing" quote at the end).  They also no longer talk about a specific 
percentage price increase.

Interesting!

Garth Wood

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