Winston rods at Costco..whodda thunk

You can buy a Toyota at Costco right now...
 
Not really the same

Costco Auto Program connects you with one of their Approved Dealers nationwide who are trained before they are allowed to assist Costco members.
 
Evan B said:
That isn't the issue - they can absolutely sell it. The controversy is more about whether Winston should be responsible for honoring the warranty on something outside of their dealer network, which is a guideline in their policy.

It'd be the same as buying a rod second hand at that point. Most people realize that buying a second hand rod doesn't come with warranty coverage.
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It's not quite the same as a used rod. It may be like buying a second hand rod in Winston's mind, but not the customer's. The customer bought that rod from the retailer in good faith that it was new and carried the warranty. Winston can stick to their policy and refuse to honor the warranty if they choose, but they will likely lose that customer. It's more a technical fault of the supply chain than the customer.

To Winston's credit, it looks like they took active steps to rectify that situation by buying the remaining stock.
 
Brian Miller said:
Back in the old STP days (out of Reno & Cheyanne) I bought a lot of "last year's hot products" from them, subscribed to their promotional emails and waited until Tuesday or Thursday when they offered coupons and free shipping.....When TJX bought them I saw a big drop in high value deals for consumers.
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Ditto to all that and then buy through AJ for another 14% cash back. Miss those days. Great deals.

Haven't bought anything from STP since the TJX buyout. They just aren't competitive with what I can find elsewhere.
 
jaredoconnor said:
Did you see the 10ft 3wt Aetos?
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Internally I'm struggling with the idea of owning a rod of this type. Whilst I could put it to good use with an OPST head chasing Cutts in the sound, or on an alpine lake, or floating the Yak. I struggle with the idea of owning a 'euro' rod. As a red white and blue blooded Bobber flinging flag waving patriot, I fear the purchase of said rod would question the very core of my patriotism. I'm not sure I can handle that.
 
Salmo_g said:
Hmmm, diversion purchasing is legal. So Costco doesn't violate any law apparently. But diversion purchasing is not ethical. Whoa; wait a second; according to whom? In my real world experience I've learned that not everyone shares the same standard of ethics. Seems like relying on ethics is about as reliable as relying on a handshake for a binding contract, meaning that there is risk involved.

It's pretty clear that a business policy of selling only through "authorized dealers" is about protecting a brand name, generally a name that implies high quality. I think it's equally true that it also implies as well as ensures selling at the highest possible retail price, protecting both the manufacturer and the retail dealer. The logical question is what is being "protected?" The equally logical question is that it is protection from discount sales and essentially protection from free market enterprise. Everyone is free to apply their own value judgement about that. I just find it a bit ironic that at nearly every turn, capitalists employ any measure they can to avoid being adversely affected by free market economics. It's a curious thing that the over-riding principle of the free market business model is to maximize profits even though doing so means reducing one's competition and the amount of freedom of the marketplace in order to achieve those maximum profits.
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“People of the same trade seldom meet together, even for merriment and diversion, but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” -Adam Smith​

 
JayB said:
but the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some contrivance to raise prices.” -Adam Smith
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Who says it's a conspiracy? It's a business model with a maximum profits objective. Among the pathways to that objective are merging with, buying out, and or forcing out the competition. Happens every day.
 
Salmo_g said:
Who says it's a conspiracy? It's a business model with a maximum profits objective. Among the pathways to that objective are merging with, buying out, and or forcing out the competition. Happens every day.
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It's been ~30 years since I read TWON but think Smith was using it in the milder "collaborate in private" sense of the word.

It's a famous quote that I remember from reading the book because it was a pithy and mildly amusing observation that there's a pretty universal human impulse to want a free, maximally competitive market in the things we buy and strict rules limiting entry to or competition in the things that we sell/provide to make a living.

The folks who manufacture and sell high-end fly rods have a legitimate interest in restricting who can sell their rods and at what price, and consumers have a legitimate interest in getting the best deal for their money. Somehow it all seems to work out.
 
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