Respironics minimum pricing policy

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:16 pm

Maybe this is old news, but Respironics is implimenting it's minimum pricing policy starting March 1st.

How much this will affect internet prices is anyones guess, but i'm sure it will to some extent.

Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest, just letting you all know so you can order stuff before the prices go up.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:26 pm

Anonymous wrote:Maybe this is old news, but Respironics is implimenting it's minimum pricing policy starting March 1st.

How much this will affect internet prices is anyones guess, but i'm sure it will to some extent.

Not trying to stir up a hornet's nest, just letting you all know so you can order stuff before the prices go up.

Thanks, my friend.

Not really "old" news, but there have been rumors for a long time that it may be coming......nobody (until now) actually knew WHEN.

They all have to jump into the "stupid" end of the pool to see how deep it is, I guess.

Take care,

Den

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Feb 13, 2008 7:39 pm

Hey Den, good to still see you kickin around.

Yeah i searched and didn't see anyone dropping a date, so figured I might throw one out there.

I don't know ALL of the details, but from what I have read prices for Respironics masks will be dramatically affected.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:18 am

Keeping it at the top so everyone is aware.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 6:53 am

Thanks for the info, Guest! And here I was hoping that Respironics would choose to be smart about it and not do that

Mindy

6PtStar · Post by **6PtStar** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:50 am

I agree with Mindy. I sure was hoping they would see the light and not be led down the path of greed. Just wondering, has anyone heard of any changes within the company since being bought by Phillips? Appears at this time to be Same O, Same O.

Jerry

TuckNRoll · Post by **TuckNRoll** » Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:35 pm

Respironics was just recently aquired by Royal Philips Electronics and I think that may have something to do with the pricing policy.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:34 am

Source of information please. How do we know this is not some self serving scam?

TossinNTurnin · Post by **TossinNTurnin** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 9:53 am

Were we aware that Phillips was trying to buy Respironics?

Edit: Never mind... I didn't see TuckNRoll's post.

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:43 am

Anonymous wrote:Source of information please. How do we know this is not some self serving scam?

Yeah, probably the same "scam" that supposedly benefits the brick & mortar DMEs.....HOW?.....I have no idea.
If it's like the ResMed's bone-headed policy, Philips/Respironics won't see any more "profit" from the sales to Internet sellers......theoretically, the minimum pricing would mean more profit for the Internet/online sellers.

We could POSSIBLY see more sales being generated in the online auctions.

Maybe CPAPAuction.com saw this coming.......and made a good move.

Den

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:58 pm

Just seems to me that anyone who posts here with inside knowledge about something as important and as controversial as price fixed cpap internet prices should tell us more.

Some possibilities about the post include:

He is just messing with us for fun. Throwing gas on a fire.
He is telling us the complete truth. Good intent.
He is a Resmed advocate (only price fixer now) messing with Respironics.
He is a DME stirring up trouble.

I am just asking him to say a bit more. He may right on. Do you know for sure?

Wulfman · Post by **Wulfman** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:13 pm

Anonymous wrote:Just seems to me that anyone who posts here with inside knowledge about something as important and as controversial as price fixed cpap internet prices should tell us more.

Some possibilities about the post include:

He is just messing with us for fun. Throwing gas on a fire.
He is telling us the complete truth. Good intent.
He is a Resmed advocate (only price fixer now) messing with Respironics.
He is a DME stirring up trouble.

I am just asking him to say a bit more. He may right on. Do you know for sure?

If you're referring to the person who started this thread......I know him and trust him. He wouldn't tell us something he didn't believe to be true.....in this case, something about to occur.

Den

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:56 pm

lol such uninformed posts..

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 2:52 pm

I don't know him personally, but from having read his past posts, I do believe akcpapguy is providing sound info.

SleepGuy · Post by **SleepGuy** » Fri Feb 15, 2008 3:04 pm

The US Supreme Court recently changed course a bit and found that a manufacturer setting minimum retail pricing was not a per se violation of the Sherman Act. Respironics' decision to follow that case law by implementing minimum retail pricing policies seems to be fairly well known in the industry. This kind of action is not the same as traditional price fixing. It would still be illegal for multiple manufactuers of cpap equipment to get together and fix prices.

Respironics is doing this in order to eliminate price competition among its own distributors. That is no longer a per se violation of the Sherman Act because Respironics still faces competition from other manufacturers. Its sales will obviously be hurt relative to other manufacturers who do not implement strict price competition policies.

Obviously, this is not good news for direct retailers like cpap.com who rely on discounting.

The most important question in my mind is whether other major cpap manufacturers will follow suit or whether they will see this as an opportunity to increase their sales and gain market share over Respironics.

Respironics minimum pricing policy

Respironics minimum pricing policy

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