Giant outlined a new unilateral minimum advertised pricing policy in a letter that went out to dealers this week. The new policy forbids the sale of its parts and accessories through third-party websites such as eBay or Craigslist and also prohibits dealers from advertising product below MAP on their websites or any other media.
The new UMAP policy goes into effect June 1.
The policy doesn’t apply to non-current or older Giant Gear, the letter stated. And retailers are allowed to sell Giant Gear through their own proprietary website, but Giant bikes and framesets are still only allowed to be sold through a dealer’s brick-and-mortar store.
The letter didn’t detail how the company planned to enforce the new policy, but executive sales director for Giant USA John Thompson did say it’s an effort to help dealers “sell more Giant Gear, make more money and protect our brand.”
According to the letter, if retailers conform to the policy, they stand to benefit from higher overall margins on product.
Giant’s Gear line offers more than 1,700 products across several categories including computers, bottles, fenders, grips, tires, tubes, stems, apparel, racks, pedals and trailers.
