Nvidia plays hardball with 3D card pricing

Flexing its muscle at online retailers.

(Credit: Nvidia)

If you've gone video card shopping online lately, you may have noticed that you certain retailers are now asking you to click through to your shopping cart to see a price for Nvidia-based 3D graphics cards. As H Enthusiast reported earlier this week, that newly inconvenient shopping experience is part of a calculated effort by Nvidia to regulate the advertised pricing of its 3D cards.

The gist is that Nvidia is conducting a test run of this pricing scheme, and if online retailers like NewEgg, Buy.com, and others don't comply, they will face a series of penalties, and ultimately they will be cut-off from Nvidia-based 3D cards after a certain number of infractions. This strategy, called Manufacturer Advertised Pricing, is not exactly price-fixing, but it's illegal in other countries, and, as H enthusiast reports, it's only recently legal in the U.S.

Compliance thus far seems spotty. Some cards listed at NewEgg obfuscate the price, others with the same chip do not. The same with TigerDirect. Amazon, Buy.com, and ZipZoomFly all list prices as normal.

Nvidia's reasons for implementing this strategy are unclear. H Enthusiast was not able to get anyone on the record, although the going theory seems to indicate that it's a way to regulate non-US certified board partners from undercutting the Nvidia-approved US competition.

With only some vendors complying with Nvidia's request, and only then partially, it seems that Nvidia's plan is only an occasional annoyance. Whether Nvidia makes the plan permanent, cracks down on stray listings, and forces other retailers to go along all remain to be seen.

[MadLyb]

I've had to put up with MAP in other areas (Musical Equipment, Consumer Electronics) for years and it is extremely offensive to me.

Just another reason to not buy Nvidia.

[tdishman]

Other companies have been doing this for ages. In most other instances, this is a way for the manufacturer to keep their brand from being "cheapened" by extremely low-margin retailers. Many, many other brands do this as well.

[Get_Bent]

Manufacturer Advertised Pricing should have stayed illegal in the U.S. It smacks of price-fixing and restraint of trade. I don't buy products to prop up the seller's bottom line.

[inachu]

If a company hides the price from me then they will not get my business.

[tdishman]

I'm not condoning MAP, but I get the feeling that many people don't understand it. With MAP pricing, I can still sell my widget for whatever I want. I am, however, restricted as to what price I can advertise for the widget. If the mfg says "$20 MAP", then I can't advertise that my price is less than $20, but I can actually sell it for $10 once the buyer chooses to purchase it. Typically you will be given a lower price once you actually purchase the product. Just remember it is not the store's decision, but rather the manufacturer (don't shoot the messenger).

[MrNasty000]

Sounds like an investigation to me. Restriction of trade issues come up when they keep retailers from competitive pricing.

[MrNasty000]

Sounds like an investigation to me. Restriction of trade issues come up when they keep retailers from competitive pricing.

[ElmoKajaky]

I used to be a fan of nVidia, but this is obnoxious. Goodbye, nVidia.

[Mergatroid Mania]

NVIDIA: I have owned ATI video cards for the last six or so generations. You lost my business (and thus, all our business where I work since I am the purchaser) because of your crappy drivers. I can't tell you how many of our customers complained over the years about you're cards not working properly. Now, over the last few years you seem to have corrected this problem, and I was planning on making the next generation of video cards for my home and office machines Nvidia cards. Now however, you have to try and force retailers to advertise the way you want them to. If I owned one of these retail web sites, I would tell your company to get stuffed. But since I don't, I can only keep an eye on the situation and see what happens. I don't do business with companies who think they can force their policies on their own customers. Whether they are end users, retailers or distributors they are still your customers. If they stopped supporting your company, and pushed ATI products over Nvidia how long would your company last? I WAS going to purchase Nvidia products again starting this summer, but now I think I'll wait and see what happens. If your company continues acting like "The Natzi Videocard Company", I will stick with ATI.

[Penguinisto]

No skin off my nose... I can leave shopping cart page (or simply delete the item from it after seeing the price) just as easily as I can click away from it at the product page. Dumb move overall, really.

[gerrygadget]

If you ask me, if I were a retailer getting that kind of demand, and knew that ATI was selling roughly equivalent performing cards, I'd quit selling Nvidia alltogether and wait for them to come back begging to be relisted. If Newegg and at least one other large PC parts retailer did this, Nvidia would have a bad quarter.