My wife is a RV parts and accessories dealer/retailer. She was very upset to find that several listings on violate manufacturers pricing guides.

Now, I can’t blame anyone for getting a great deal. I do it all the time. But here is a story that happened to me.

I bought a nice Dell computer on about 1 year ago. New, in box, full warranty. It is a nice laptop, and I saved over $800.00 buying it here. Now for the but… I had a warranty issue, called Dell. The great deal isn’t so great now. There is no warranty. The laptop was stolen.

They didn’t want it back, and did help me set it up under my name. They also let me buy the parts I needed. But, no warranty.

Many electronic manufacturers give a set price you can not sell under. Also, many do not allow you to advertise a product for less than a set amount.

What does this mean to you as a buyer?

Lets take a Garmin GPS unit for example. You are looking for a model that retails for $265 but find it on for $105. This is a great deal, and they guy has an store, has great feedback and all is good.

The problem is that Garmin tells all its “authorized” dealers, retailers and distributors that it can not sell under $185. Now I will tell you that I can not buy any quanity from Garmin for less than $155 per unit.

The person you bought your good deal from is not an authorized dealer or distributor. Further more, Garmin will not honor the warranty on the unit if you send in the original sales receipt. In fact, Garmin may even track the person who sold the unit, and take him to court and you will now be a witness! Why? Because it did not go thru the proper chain, or it was stolen.

This is just an example of one company who does this. Many do the same.

So, be careful when buying a “good deal” on some items. You might get burned 2-3 months from now.