What is “MAP Pricing?”
Has this ever happened to you before?
- You’re searching for a specific product or products on our website.
- You find the items you’re interested in purchasing and are ready to buy.
- But when trying to find the price of the product, all you see is a slashed out retail price and a message directly below it that reads, “Please LOGIN for Pricing”
In the past, I thought the companies were just trying to get my information somehow so they could call me back and try to sell me something. However, I quickly came to realize in my time here at A Plus ID that my previous hypothesis couldn’t have been further from the truth!
This process is known as MAP protection or MAP pricing. MAP is a short for “Minimum Advertised Pricing.” Numerous manufacturers across many industries require that their products be advertised at a minimum price and MAP rules can vary by manufacturer. Now you might be thinking to yourself, “That sounds nice, but what’s the point?”
MAP has many benefits, and it’s geared toward helping you, the customer. MAP allows the manufacturer to maintain supplier/distributor integrity. It helps safeguard their products from companies who only care about making a quick buck or companies that won’t offer comprehensive support on what they sell.
Reputable resellers like A Plus ID strive to abide by MAP rules and offer the support levels that are expected from a manufacturer. Companies that violate MAP risk forfeiting their right to distribute that product and could lose the assurance of a manufacturer.
Be careful of the companies that are willing to break MAP policy in order to just get a sale. MAP is a great tool the manufacturers use to determine which companies are truly able to support their products to the highest levels that they require.
If you have any additional questions about MAP pricing, please reach out to one of our dedicated ID Professionals at (866) 433-9737.