Off Topic: The Thread

[Burn-E]

To clarify, you're asking about a situation where Sony sells two separate SKUs for what appears to be the identical DVD Blu-ray player with the same name. SKU 123 is sold in Sony Stores and has a full feature list. SKU 123-W is sold at Walmart and 3 key features are eliminated (let's imagine they're firmware based) allowing it to be sold more cheaply?

Though if you're Costco, it's the other way around as this article explains:

http://www.brandculture.com/the-one-brand-breaks-all-rules-costco-kirkland-signature/

Can't remember the name for this either. It's not white label nor is it private label.

[matt b]

i used to sell Stanley Bostich air guns, the ones sold through dist. had metal innards, higher quality and more money. the ones sold at the BOX stores looked the same but plastic guts.

i've heard DeWalt does that also.

A bunch of companies do that. Studied some cases in an MBA class a few years ago, it's common practice.

I see it as 2 different products sharing the same name.

[Fudge_Brownie]

It's got SONY Guts!

I'm asking if there's a name for two situations. The one you described, with a slight variation in the SKU, but otherwise appears similar. The other scenario is the same, except the SKU is constant. I think scenario where the SKU changed is legal, but I'm not sure about keeping them the same.

I'm asking because I'm wondering if there's a site which tracks this. So I don't have to go to both stores (or websites) and write down the SKU. I'd rather just browse a list. Bumble bee making the Tuna for Kirkland, to be sold against their own brand, is pretty funny and interesting.

[Burn-E]

It's part of the Costco cachet. That's what allows them to get away with it because their target customer is the $100k+ demographic and that's a group who will pay for quality.

I don't think the second scenario you describe exists to be honest. No reputable national brand would allow it because it severely dilutes their brand equity. SKU changing is entirely legal. They're two separate products just fairly similar in description and functionality. Consider it as brand tiers like how Samsung does with all of their LED TVs.

[Fudge_Brownie]

No reputable national brand would allow it because it severely dilutes their brand equity.

And selling two visually identical products with similar SKU's doesn't hurt their brand? Something I think we both believe is common practice?

[Burn-E]

No, because they sell in two different venues frequented by fairly different shoppers. There's nothing hidden here. The feature sets are different if you examine them carefully. And the pricing is different also. So anyone who thinks about it realizes that there's a reason why 123 is more expensive than 123-W and it's not just because you're buying it in a different store that has a higher mark-up. The smart buyer in fact realizes that 123 pricing varies fairly significantly across retailers both brick and mortar and online and shops accordingly if what he wants is truly 123.

Now, there are manufacturers who don't play this game, like Apple and Snap-On for instance, but they are rare and few.

[flyfishing3]

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[flyfishing3]

made a little vid this am. showing off my skillzzz

[mattsk8]

Hello Applicant,.....

Yours Faithfully

Mrs. Betty Williams.

That's really cool that she's going to give you $7,500,000.00. We must both be lucky, yesterday I won a trip to Hawaii, then some poor girl in an Arab nation needed a way to get her money in the states, so she chose me. All I had to do was give my SS and account info.

[Burn-E]

Mike, I'll see your African spam and match it with a plea from a soldier in Afghanistan who apparently has representation in India.

I am in the military unit here in Afghanistan,we have some amount of funds
that we want to move out of the country.My partners and I need a good
partner someone we can trust. It is risk free and legal. Reply to this
email cpt.dorothea@yahoo.cl
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[Fudge_Brownie]

"The artificial sweetener aspartame is safe and poses no threat to health, European food regulators conclude. "

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-25323216

[flyfishing3]

i don't by it, other studies show different results.

"For most products containing aspartame, consumption would need to be exceptionally high and regular over a person's lifetime, in order to exceed the ADI.""

they don't spell out what is a high level of consumption, and most people have more than 1 a day. already talked about how much DT. DEW wife drinks.

FYI. last time we talked about this i quit drinking soda. been a couple weeks now and i've lost noticeable weight. Haven't changed anything else. i changed to a caffein water called AVITAE.

[bdimag]

posted my resume recently -- getting emails for jobs that require I be familiar with the OOD

[Stormtrooper1]

posted my resume recently -- getting emails for jobs that require I be familiar with the OOD

As long as it's not the Red Eyed OOD you should be fine.... But Don't drink any "Tonic" they offer you.

[T5power]

Tila Tequila Is a Nazi Sympathizer Who Calls Herself 'Hitila'

Umm.........???