Product Sourcing News   

What is MAP? Is there a way around it?

By: Tisha Rogers
Director of Operations, WorldwideBrands.com

MAP means Minimum Advertised Price and I have also seen it referred to as Manufacturer’s Advertised Price.

So what is it? MAP is an agreement or policy that retailers enter into with their supplier, usually the manufacturer or factory authorized wholesalers. The agreement/policy basically states that the retailer can sell MAP items for any price they want, but they cannot display in any print or online advertising a price below the MAP.

So what does that mean? It means that in any of your marketing efforts you cannot display a price below the MAP. That includes the description pages for those products in your online store as well, because those pages are meant to sell someone on that product.

Ah ha! Do you see the sweet little loophole?

The key words here are; Marketing efforts, print & online advertising, pages or ads that sell someone on the product...

But does that include your shopping cart? The jury is still out on this one!

Read the description again above. The wording of the policy or agreement may not be referring to your shopping cart. The shopping cart is meant for someone to place the order, not be sold on the product. They should be sold on it before they even get to your shopping cart!

I’m sure you have seen websites where on the advertising page for that product they may state; “Click to Add to Cart to see Final Price”. Yep! There is it! The sweet little loophole. That retailer probably has a MAP agreement in place, but they are going around it by not posting their final price for the product.

If the wholesale distributor or drop ship supplier you are using has a MAP policy, remember to read it carefully, as they may have included something about shopping carts so this tip would not apply. Also, if you have questions about the policy, always remember that the best person to talk to you would be your wholesale supplier sales rep!