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Hi sunvalleysue.

                       The 2009 prices do not mean much just yet, Outwell are quite slick at marketing, and to keep within legal they will do what is known as price establishment in the market place, letting retailers put tents out at full retail for a minimun of 28 days, and sell at least one at he full price, usualy bought by the manufacturer via an agency mystery shopper, after this period near to the start of the season, you will start to to see 20% off and other offers, as the season moves on the discounts get bigger but all based on the orinal inflated list price , just like know for 2008 stock that is left, no one ever pays full list price for a tent, unless they are getting extras thrown in like Sun-canopy's, carpets etc, in other sectors this whole marketing thing goes a step further, for egsample a Toshiba microwave in Comet will be exactly the same as the one in Currys, the only difference being the model number say 1111 in Comet and 1110 in Currys, legaly of course there has to be a technical difference, so the Comet version may be rated slighly less efficient than the Currys model, the reason for all this is to prevent price matching, as that can only be done for the exact same model, so as a guide I thing you could deduct 20% from the 2009 tent prices straight away. 

Hi Francais

Im sure what your saying about the Comet/Currys example is true but ill let you in on what happens in the camping trade.

Outwell have nothing to do with the retail price.

There is a trade price to the retailer and if the retailer is a small account to Outwell they will get no discount off the trade price, this would then relate to the price of an 09 Montana 6 being £499.00 working on normal margins etc.

As a retailer spends more with Outwell (and other trade suppliers) the more discount we get. Most retailers have to work to a minimum margin on products so the more discount we get as retailers the more we can pass this on to you the camper. Now the truth is we would like to keep that margin all for ourselves but market forces etc show that we cannot do this.

Now you might think the bigger the retailer the better the retail price, well not always as a smaller retailer may run his business better and have lower costs so they can work on a lower margin making the end retail price the same.

So your right when you say that the Montana 6 will be about £399.00 next season but i can assure you it is nothing to do with Outwell and more to do with each tent retailer needing to be at a good retail price so we can get our share of the trade.

I hope this helps.

Gary Cross

Hi Gary.

           Thanks for explaining how the business works, it is good to get the feedback from someone like yourself,  although my thoughts were based on the national Multiple retailers like GoOutdoors, Yeamons,  Blacks, Millets, Field & Trek and other national retail chains, the model seems to be applied in almost every other Multiple retail sector, of course you are an independent retailer, and forgive me for not pointing out how independant and national Multiple chains are treated quite differently by manufacturers and suppliers, as I am sure you will agree.

World of Tents now have a massive selection of new 2009 tents from all major manufacturers:     http://www.worldoftents.co.uk/tents-for-2009-c-189.html

So the Montana 6 is exactly the same as last year? Well I can't see any difference apart from a bit of flashy wording and a hike in price.  Glad I only spent £199 on mine!!

Quote: Originally posted by FionaW1971 on 25/11/2008

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So the Montana 6 is exactly the same as last year? Well I can't see any difference apart from a bit of flashy wording and a hike in price.  Glad I only spent £199 on mine!!

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