[MED]

Got this in an e-mail from D******M*****.com:

Auto Art Forces Price Increase
Auto Art has just forced all dealers to increase their prices to within 10% of their suggest retail. They were holding all shipments of new product until compliance was verified. Below is a summary of our old price and the new compliant price. As you can see it is quite significant. Product released before 2005 is not affected. All preorders are under this new pricing structure effective immediately.

We are extending a special last chance offer to our valued customers on this email list. Any orders placed by members of our email list for Auto Art product between now and the end of this week will receive the old pricing. Now is the time to get all of your wanted cars from Auto Art on preorder.

To order, simply go online and place your order with the new pricing. We will adjust it for you automatically when your order is processed in our office. Your order confirmation from us will show the correct price. To view Auto Art items on preorder go to our New Products page or use this special link Auto Art Preorders
This page may take a minute to load as there are over 300 products that are affected.

1/43 scale was $29.50 now $31.45
1/43 scale was $32 now $35.95
1/43 scale was $39.50 now $49.45

1/18 scale was $47.50 now 58.45
1/18 scale was $49 now 62.95
1/18 scale was $49.50 now 62.95
1/18 scale was $54 now $67.45
1/18 scale was $58 now $76.45
1/18 scale was $64 now $89.95

1/12 scale was $329 now $449.95

 

[Guest]

Still cheaper than our AAs over here! :wink

:cheers

 

[Ford GT]

This is abolutely outrageous!!! :ranting :box

Well, from this point on, I will no longer buy from online stores :giggle

I'll just buy them on Ebay, and grab them for $10-15 less :happy

$50 to over $60! Way to expensive for me. I just can't see paying over $50 for a non-Millenium model. Some AUTOart's are worth the price, such as the MB Evo's, Maybach's, and E30's, but they are Millenium.

So now if I want a new Mustang GT, I've gotta pay almost $80! :lol I really don't think so... I know prices must be raised, but the cost of a Maisto! :lol

AUTOart, please, get a life...

Sorry for the rant :giggle :cheers

 

[Guest]

Is Autoart trying to lower sales? Something is very wrong over there. Is this another reflection of Exoto's price increase due to increased demand for labor?

But, seriously, Maistos, which offer 75% of Autoart detail, are looking far more attractive right now.

 

[JSB 33]

I guess my buying AUTOart from dealers is over.

Hello ebay! :lol

 

[RichardM]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right]

I noticed an increase on the two I bought last week. Oh well, I was planning on scaling back anyway - no pun intended.

Hey Eugene, which Maistos would those be - I gotta get me some. :cool :lol

 

[RichardM]

Something I just thought of...
The email says AUTOart "forced all dealers to increase their prices to within 10% of their suggest retail." It doesn't say AUTOart has increased prices to said dealers. So in essence, they're forcing dealers to make more money. :confused

 

[Guest]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right]

You can bet that the Trade prices available to suppliers will have gone up to

Increases are disgusting , they are making a killing on these models to start with , now its just down to being plain greedy . :ranting

 

[DC4ME]

The AUTOart dealer in my city has told me that he has to sign a document agreeing to certain conditions. (sell no more or less than 10% of suggested retail)

He said they are trying to stop the low prices that there product is being sold for by certain distributers

He also told me that he cannot get more product until he signs this agreement.

This is what he said, guess it is true!

Interesting to say the least!

DC4ME

 

[JSB 33]

Sure sounds like price-fixing to me :WTF
The consumer is not being protected in this at all :ranting

 

[Prelude2Elude]

I buy all of my AUTOart's from Ebay :cheers . i always thought the prices were a little high, espcecially when i can get the same models for cheap.

 

[05fordgt]

Hey guys, don't believe that buying any 2005 AUTOart release on Ebay will save you $10-15 or more. I got the letter too from please support DX Advertisers!, and they will hold to the old price list if you preorder this week. You have to get his letter to get the price discount. I just purchased the new 2005 Mustang off ebay, as I saw all online dealers, not just please support DX Advertisers! increase their prices. I wound up paying $80 for the Mustang, and truthfully, I am not thrilled, but I really did want it, and the quality is their. The buy it now was $79.99, from vs.diecast on Ebay, a good seller. please support DX Advertisers! wants $76.50, with lower shipping. So its not just him raising the prices, he was just kind enough to tell us about it, and offer a discount to good customers if they preorder the new releases. I personally will be preordering about 8-10 cars from please support DX Advertisers!, and this will save me $100's of dollars in the long run. Also with doing this, you don't get charged until the car is shipped to you, so you really do make out by saving about $20-$40 depending on which car you buy, in conjunction with the increase. By preordering the Bugatti at $64, you will save $25, as the new price is $89.99. The increase is for all dealers of AUTOart not just him. He has to do this if he wants all the new releases in the future. I just thank him for offering a discount from AUTOart bad ideas. :cheers

 

[Prelude2Elude]

i did notice the Sierra for i think 69 99 US and thought that was alot. so i guess buying anywhere is a price increase.

 

[Guest]

The cost of AUTOart has gone up. Collectors will end up paying more for future AAs irregardless of where you buy, dealer or eBay.

I noticed that the prices for the new Mustangs and new AAs on eBay are already higher than the old AUTOart releases. Ludicrous! I won't pay it, not when the budget model makers are putting out such great models nowadays, especially in the Classic Car era....

You can have your expensive AAs. I'll take my Ertls, Signatures, Sunstars, Yatmings, etc.

 

[MockingBird]

it's happening...... booooo

 

[Guest]

As a consumer, that just doesn't read right :confused

The email clearly states a 10% price increase...

Now look at the prices of before and then with the 10% price increase.

The 10% markup is more than 10% in all cases, more like a 20% increase if you do the math.

So from that correspondence, I take away that all AUTOart 2005 releases are increasing 10% and that is before dealer mark up...Don't think so as I have seen the wholesale prices AUTOart sale for. So even with a 10% over wholesale as well as suggested retail prices, those price announcements are dangerously high.

Go pull the wool over someone elses eyes...

I have never seen any market that implements a 20% price increase...but then again we are talking about the diecast market where there is no guidelines/associations in place to prevent crap like this from happening to the consumer.

Oh well...do what you have to I guess...

 

[Guest]

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post][/right]

Most of their 2002 stuff, plus the very recent releases are all quite good.

 

[Guest]

My last two purchases have been AUTOart models.

1982 Corvette for $51.99( 10% difference: $46.79)
2003 Corvette C5R for $59.99(10% difference: $53.99)

I would say those prices reflect a 10% difference in comparison to 2004 model prices. I know for a fact that the C5R's run approximately $45-$55 depending where your shopping. So I am satisfied with those prices.

As for the prices in that email correspondence...I'm a smarter consumer than that...I can count.

 

[winstoncds]

I cant imagine spending more than 50$ everytime i set out to buy a model. No ways! The guilt of splurging on a luxury that for the majority of the time will be just sitting pretty on the shelf will kill me. If AUTOart wants any more of my money, they better get reasonable with their pricing. Not having any more of their models is not going to make my life less better.
Anyways, in India, most of AUTOart's stock such as the millenium edition cars go unasked for because of their high sticker price. They are boxes of bmw turbos, 635s and what not collecting dust from the last 4 months that i have seen them there. No dealer offers any discounts on AUTOart's like they do on maistos.

 

[Guest]

The email states not that Autoart is increasing their prices by 10%, just that their dealers are required to increase their prices to within 10% of Autoart's retail price.

Anyway, like I said, this strong-arming tactic does not reflect well on Autoart's concern for its dealers and its consumers. It knows that dealers will keep selling AAs because the models sell very well, but how will diecast collectors deal with price increases approaching (or besting, in the 1:12 models case) 20%. I can safely say that an AUTOart is worth $50, but $70? It's a completely different issue. For $70, I can get a dealer exclusive Kyosho, or a race Minichamps, both of which offer better detail than your typical AUTOart.

Now, if AUTOart was to increase detail as well as price, I would have no problems. But, they're not saying that. The whole email is just trying to hide the fact that Autoart raised prices for dealers. Obviously, they have to cope with the repercussions and if a 20% price hike is what is needed to stay profitable (and continue receiving AUTOart stock), then they better hope that the collector will keep buying.

As for me, yes, I will continue purchasing AAs...but they have done themselves a huge blow because dealers have released the truth about the price increases.

Let's see if the company stays afloat with a consumer base constantly focused on better quality for less $$$.