Resmed Policy Warning and Information

[Fletch]

What they are doing is falling back on a business model that prevailed for most of the last century, the concept of the "Authorised Agent." It's extremely common in any market where the product being purchased is expected to need extensive after sales support.

Your local new car dealership is another example, it wont sell every manufacturer and it won't sell at prices lower than manufacturers "real" minimum price. In effect the manufacturer garentees the agent a degree of exclusivity and a fairly high price in exchange for a commitment from the dealer to provide after sales service.

There was a time when that was common in the computer industry as well. For all the griping people are doing about Apple you can buy the things in Best Buy and CompUSA and you can find discounted sellers on the internet. Twenty years ago Apple and other manufacturers worked through Authorised Agents because the machines were expensive and needed support. Today we can buy computers cheap on the net because they are commodity items with relatively limited support needs. People are likely to replace a machine before it breaks.

It comes down to where you see the CPAP market as being. If you see it as a small volume durable in need of local support then you need local agents and you have to make being an agent for your machine worth while. If you see it as a large volume commodity item then a local agent becomes less nescessary and you can take advantage of the economies of scale that make internet reselling work.

Resmed seems to think we are in a small volume/exclusive agent market while we as consumers want the price advantages of big box internet sales.

There is a test that I think will answer the question as to which market we have. If you woke tommorow and your CPAP was broken, could you replace it out of pocket at CPAP.COM prices? If you can it's a commodity item. If you can't and would rather spend 1/10 of that getting an authorised repair then you need an authorised reseller.

[DreamStalker]

Although I see and understand Fletch's perspective, again, one does not need a PC to stay alive ... the sale of PCs are not controlled by an insurance industry that lobbys for exclusive government PC regulations and price controls. Does the free market "authorised agent" model really apply in such a case?

- r

[Guest]

By definition a market with "Authorised Agents" is not a free market, it's a limited monopoly -- that's what's wrong with it and why markets with those characteristics tend to have limited growth. Now if your market is always going to be small then limited growth is not a problem, especially if you know you can never have the economies of scale of a larger market. That's why niche and boutique markets continue to exist even in a globalised world.

The question is, where will the CPAP market be in 10 years? My guess is that there are hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of folk undiagnosed. If these people started to use machines you could easily see a "box shifting" market like we have in computers.

[Vader]

I don’t agree with the Ipod analogy … people don’t need an Ipod to live.

I think you misunderstood the analogy.
The original purpose of offering my analogy was to illustrate the *Legality* of Resmeds recent action. This is a pretty common business practice, and it is in fact legal.
I mentioned Apple's iPod, off the top of my head, because they've done the same thing with their product. You cannot buy iPod any cheaper at Walmart than you can get it at Radio Shack (or anywhere else). It's the same price everywhere.

I don't think anyone is trying to establish a parallel of *NEED*, because obviously apnea sufferers need their xpap, while music lovers don't *NEED* and Ipod, and again, I don't think such a parallel was ever made by anyone here.

[Guest]

The injustice and inequality of OSA treatment for those unfortunate to not have a PC, the skills or internet access, and/or the knowledge of the existence of this forum is very depressing.

Well said.

[Nasty]

I do not want to triple post.

Call and write your FEDERAL elected officials.

Do not ASSUME.

NEVER give up! NEVER NEVER NEVER

[Guest]

And if you'd like to voice your opinion directly to Resmed:

ResMed Corp
14040 Danielson Street
Poway CA 92064-6857


Email: reception@resmed.com

Website:
http://www.resmed.com

Fax:
+1 (858) 746-2900

Telephone:
+1 (858) 746-2400

Telephone:
1-800-424-0737 (toll free)

[Tejano]

Why write the government?

We live in a country, fortunately, with competitive choices. Just go to another manufacturer.

I own two Resmed products...one for use and one for backup. In the future, I will go to another company. Simple.

CPAPS are rapidly becoming commodity products and no longer need the brick and mortar approach of sales. This, IMHO, was a very poor business decision on their part.

Just let your fingers do the walking and vote for your choice with your dollars.

[sthnreb]

We will be "assimilated", resistance is "futile". So is notifying Resmed. Only (helpful) solution is to get the word out and stop buying Resmed. Some will have to buy Resmed because of insurance/medicare/etc. In most cases, a DME has a machine in ones hand before he knows anything about OSA after a titration study at a sleep lab. (Mine did) Bumper stickers sound great. Emails for people who may be testing for OSA now and in the future, and there will be many. How many people do each of us know that probably has OSA but has not been tested? I know several or even more.
If Resmeds stock goes down, that's the best way to affect them. Only thing is the majority of the people who come to this forum already have a machine, be it Resmed, Respironics or others. Just the masks are left for us. OSA needs to be public more along with Resmed's tactics and high prices. Let people who may need equipment in the near future know about Internet pricing compared to DME's. I really think there should be more support groups set up locally for OSA. Meetings to discuss tactics just as suppliers do. As a national group, maybe a voice could be heard. I would like a group in metro Atlanta for sure.

[Vader]

Emails for people who may be testing for OSA now and in the future, and there will be many. How many people do each of us know that probably has OSA but has not been tested? I know several or even more.

I think you made some good points, and I do understand a lot of the anger, frustration, and revenge that many of ya'lls want. But the one thing I would caution folks about is trying to influence *pre-cpap-ers*, because I know in my case, I had tried quite a few masks that were not working for me, and the day I got my Activa™, I said "if this don't work- that's it. I'm not gonna pursue this any further". Luckily for me, it did work, and NOW I feel confident enough to pick and choose whatever gear I want, and I'm determined to stick with it, because now I know this therapy can really work.

So I guess what I'm saying is, we can all trash Resmed every day, and I'm not saying they don't deserve it, but I'd hate to hurt someone elses success story.

[3isles]

Going back to something RG wrote:

True, resmed's policy isn't being implemented to put the 40%+ internet price hike dollars directly into resmed's coffers. The 40% hike dollars go to the internet stores, if people buy resmed products from them.

If that is true, is there anything to stop the internet stores from either giving a rebate or a coupon towards future purchases to compensate for the 40% price hike????

I mean Resmed can charge whatever they think they can get for their products, but why should they be able to decide what distributors charge for those products unless they (Resmed) own the distributorship?

[sthnreb]

Sounds like a good idea to me. If they will. Free mask with machines..etc...

[Guest]

I don't know much about business, but I do know of a business practice that some online vendors use for other products. When a company sets a minimum retail price and the dealers are willing to sell the product lower, they advertise the product at the proper price and then tell the customer to e-mail them for the real price. You type in your e-mail address and in a few seconds you get an e-mail with the price that they are willing to sell the product, so they really are not breaking the companies rule, but do sell there products at a lower price. Of course for these products I believe that the dealers can sell them at any price they want, but they can't advertise below retail.

[sthnreb]

I don't have any anger or frustration towards Resmed as I don't have or intend to have a Resmed machine. I do have a Resmed mask. I've never intended to influence anyone concerning their healthcare. However, the better the person is informed, the better they are able to deal with it and to make more informed decisions concerning their own personal treatment. I would never advocate giving up treatment because the only product they can use is higher priced than another. Resmed's price increase really doesn't affect me as I am willing to use others masks.
Showing someone that an identical machine as what a DME is offering for more than twice what it can and should be purchased for over the Internet (any machine) is not trying to influence a new cpaper to purchase a different machine because one company went up on their pricing. I wasn't very well informed when I went for a sleep test and had sever OSA. Yes, I started with a DME like others until my insurance ran out (rental). They did too then. (ran out) No mon, no fun I guess they would say. So I believe new people to OSA need to be informed as well as possible of the different options available to them, including the fact Resmed is lots higher for near identical machines and masks. Ya'll all have a good one, ya hear now?

[Vader]

Ya'll all have a good one, ya hear now?

Are you sure you ain't angry, Bubba?