CliffordK

Ok, we have SRAM that has previously prohibited European resellers from selling SRAM products. And, it is a US company (using foreign manufacturing).

I don't have a lot of SRAM components. And, I suppose it is OK if they don't wish to sell cassettes to me. I have thought about them some, but their policy hasn't driven me to US Mom & Pop stores.



I decided to try some Surly ExtraTerrestrial tires. About the time I decided to pull the trigger, I was surprised that every online store was selling them for exactly the same price (which was up at least $10 from a couple weeks earlier



There was something in the news about 30 years ago about STIHL and a small chainsaw store in Creswell, OR that sold a LOT of them for its size. Unfortunately I don't remember the outcome, but there was talk about the manufacture price fixing (which I think was trying to enforce a minimum advertised price).



The conversation waundered to cameras... and no doubt small stores feeling the pinch of changing technology. Likely electronic superstores like Best Buy also took their bite. It sounds like it was a losing battle to me.



Governments actually enforce grey market restrictions on new cars, although they seem to be more amiable to letting parts leak through, including letting the USA snap up many of Japan's junk engines.



We discussed the video industry that embeds regional codes into their videos. And, many internet content suppliers restrict access to content based on regions and IP addresses. They also encrypt their videos so that they can only be viewed with certain brands of computer operating systems, and not other brands (which no decryption algorithm is provided for).

In many cases, it is easier and more stable to acquire pirated versions of the media than the "legit" versions.



The Big 3 Auto companies reportedly have an interesting way of rolling delivery costs into their cars. So, the exact delivery cost is charged to customers in Detroit, as in Oregon or California, and perhaps even Hawaii.

There is no undercutting one's local dealer by flying out to Michigan and driving one's own car back home.

And, as mentioned, in most cases it is difficult to import a vehicle < 25 years old, even if it is not available here in the USA.



I just don't have any other hobbies that lead to a lot of repeat expensive consumable and sub-component purchases.



China, of course, has issues with direct marketing to the USA, and brutal price competition, often saving only pennies between vendors.

In some cases, it might be difficult for a company to import a product for resale, and not get undercut by direct sales.



A few years ago I tried to do direct import of computers for a small business. The manufacturer I chose would not allow me to purchase direct from China, and I was stuck buying from a US importer with prices nearly identical to what they were reselling themselves, and I had limited selection, so several models listed on the company website were unavailable to me. Presumably if I could have floated orders of 100 or so, I could have gotten a wider selection (still buying at retail prices), but I couldn't even get demo versions of the computers I wanted to work with.

And, or course, there now are issues with getting stuff like Microsoft software packaged with computers (at a cost) when it is completely unwanted.