Price Gouging

your quote:
I wouldn't call it Price Gouging. It's called supply & demand. How many Spider window regulators do you suppose they sell per year (economy of scale)? What is the supply vs demand like?

I understand your position but I don't fully agree.
A) Your explanation would work for almost any product in any market; in that case nobody should no longer have to publish prices. Just order or buy the item and you’ll find out at the register what the price will be.
B) I think there should be a FAIR price …, doubling the price on an item a couple of weeks after they publish their catalog doesn’t seem right especially if other suppliers still can provide the exact same part for the “old” fair price.
C) Legally a company is bound by their disclaimer (that is why some companies do not advertise their price and put “Please call for pricing” in their advertisement)

Your quote”
And without IAP you might not be able to keep a car last sold 20+ years ago 'on the road'.
True, but before I bought my Alfa I double-checked that supplies were available and parts prices were “kinda sorta affordable”

By the way, do you want to buy my Alfa?
I’ll advertise it for about 7K, but depending on “demand” I might double the price without warning when you come and pick it up. LOL …

Now I feel better ….

Incompatible said:

According to the sales representative, “the less stock we have, the higher the price” “you see it is a question of demand”, “also the Euro went up” …

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That's a pretty interesting quote from a sales representative. In IAP's catalog, the caveat reads:

"International Auto Parts Corporation cannot be responsible for typographical errors in specifications or pricing, or for price changes due to currency exchange rate fluctuations."

That's a pretty standard, and reasonable, caveat. But, to my reading, it does not indicate a sliding price scale based upon customer demand. If that were the case, then it should read something like "Pricing based upon demand. Call for current price." Like an auctioning off a lobster at a restaurant, or like airline ticket pricing.

With regards to using the terms "price gouging," that's probably not appropriate. That term is generally considered with regards to essential services and commodities during or after a disaster in which the a high demand is created for a scare resource.

"Many provide scarce guidance for discerning which prices are “unconscionable” (as laws in Florida, Virginia and Massachusetts define gouging) or represent a “gross disparity” from normal prices (as the laws prohibit in Louisiana, South Carolina and Michigan)."

In this instance, I would describe IAP as "highly uncompetitive." In a relatively small community like IAP conducts business in, reputation is everything. I find it hard to believe that the sales guy would say such a thing to a customer. I could understand if he said . . . "Hey, were really sorry, but our supplier's price went up sharply along with the exchange rate, and that's what's driven the price up so steeply."

I think a letter to Mr. Opiela, the owner would be in order for him to confirm or deny the sales clerk's rather broad statement of IAP's pricing policy. Maybe we have some IAP people on the BB here that can also clear this up.

Incompatible said:

I do not like to complain ....

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Well don't then. They've been satisfactory in everything I've bought from them. I'm just glad I can get the stuff.