Yakima Racks Hires Third Party to Oversee Online Pricing Policy

Yakima Racks has contracted a third party service to police their retailer pricing policy. Sources have revealed that the car rack manufacturer intends to require Yakima dealers to sell their products at the manufacturer's set retail prices.

Only during certain sale periods will retailers be allowed to sell Yakima racks and accessories at discount prices. Specifically, sources revealed, there will be only three two week sale periods every six months that each retailer will have the opportunity to sell at a discount of a maximum of 20%.

Reactions to the mandate have been mixed. Several retailers have expressed their concern that the policy has not been properly enforced. In an attempt to overcome this problem, Yakima has hired an overseer to act as a watchdog, hoping to ensure all dealers comply with the new policy.

Of the retailers questioned about the policy, the general consensus in the industy is the effort has proven to be ineffective. Of the retailers questioned, most have indicated that the same dealers that were not complying with the Yakima Racks pricing policy are continuing to do business as usual and offering on-going deep discounts without any consequences.

One source suggested, "Either the watchdogs are not doing their job to effectively point out to Yakima who the cheaters are or Yakima just plain isn't interested in making this a policy that all retailers must adhere to, and that, to me, just seems both unfair and possibly illegal."

Another dealer was quoted as saying, "Even if Yakima were to succeed in enforcing the policy, consumers are by now savvy enough to find the Yakima dealers that are currently in their 20% off sale period, thereby allowing consumers to find Yakima car racks at 20% off 365 days of the year. The real culprits are the online websites like eBay and other auction sites. That is where Yakima should be focusing their brand battles, not legitimate dealers that offer great customer service and are currently just struggling to survive."