Sounds like Ping golf. Ping will instantly pull an account (even if said account does millions of dollars with them) if a company sells a product for less than MAP.

I understand why Ping and Tikka do it. I don't like it, but do understand it.

This pricing strategy is nothing new. Nightforce has been doing it for years, as well as many other scope mfg. It's nothing new.

I'll bet they have a contract saying they can. Just like at the mower shop that sells Stihl chainsaws, contract says they can't repair or sell certain other brands.

MAP = Minimum Advertised Price. Sounds like Beretta is attempting to cut off a dealer making any deals less than MAP. Good luck with that. Watched BUSA (Beretta USA) put MAP on all of their shotguns and still watched dealers sell for less than MAP. But, the switch from direct to dealer sales to putting so much into distribution hurt the total annual sales.
You'd think they'd learn.

To clarify... I am not a dealer. This was posted by Darrick of Whittaker Guns on another forum.

I didn't say they suck. They are great rifles. And for everything in the $550-600 range, I do think the are the best rifle for the money.

When you force retailers to increase their prices 27% overnight for no reason other than a change in marketing strategy, you have to expect some kickback...

I know that some [of you] folks don't understand it, but to a lot of people an extra $200 can put a gun out of reach - guns are wants, not needs...

I'm seriously considering a Howa in 223 for my wife, these are Japanese tho aren't they?

You got me. I do not know for sure. I do not own one. But I have watched some experienced riflemen, here, recommend them.

As far as Tikka goes, there are some models I would still buy at the new price. Being left handed, my choices in actions are limited, and a Tikka action at $200 more still puts me in it for less than many custom actions, that I really wouldn't like as much.

I think this will hurt some of the aftermarket folks providing tikka parts

Lefty rifles are already a couple hundred more than righties, when you can find one in stock. Add another $200 to that, and you're in custom action territory. I'd buy a Bighorn before I paid $900 for a Tikka just for the action.

I was on the fence about a tikka for my last rifle. The plastic bolt shroud was what did them in for me. At $200 more they wouldn't have even been on the shopping list.

I ended up buying a savage with misaligned holes for mounting a scope base lol yay for me. If I could go back and do it again I would have bought the 6.5 creedmore wby vanguard instead.

90° bolt throw.

I'm spoiled to 70°

For an item that can last longer than you, $200 is a drop in the bucket.

It’s pretty easy to spend that or more on 32oz big gulps a year.

My first thought was that Howa probably loves this. The price difference from them to Tikka already made them attractive for entry-level given their performance. Now, they'll be impossible to ignore.

Bad move by Tikka IMHO, but I'll shoot out my CTR barrel and then give Tony, Horizon, or S&S a run at it down the road so I can still use my discounted Tikka action. Over $1k for a stainless CTR is going to put it out of the "value" category IMHO.

The price bump when they went from the T3 Lite to the T3X put it out of the value category for me.
I think that they were losing customers already, and this latest will cost them more.

Sure it might last a lifetime or longer or a few if passed down, but so will its competitors.

Some of the competitors will even fire without pulling the trigger. Can’t beat that!

So at what dollar amount does this rationale end? Your "drop in the bucket" amount may very well be more than most pay for their rifle, scope, rings, etc. - a combo that does exactly what it was intended to do, every time, for more than a lifetime. So, if folks don't max out their expendable money on "quality," should they not be buying?

I'm a value buyer. I want the most for my dollar whether I am spending $1 or $100,000. At the $550-600 range, Tikkas were a GREAT value. Add $200 (27%) to that, and some of the "bargain" has been lost.

Are they worth $750? Probably. But I won't buy them at will like I did when they were $200 less. To each their own...

That’s for you to decide. But $200 more for something that I feel is higher quality is nothing. $200 people...seriously?

MAP is the Minimum Advertised Price. Most manufacturers have them. One of my favorite optics sights was shut down due to a Leupold lawsuit against them for selling below MAP. Cal's Sporting Armory used to have stupid good prices on Leupolds.

Car and truck prices keep rising.

Some people keep buying new ones.

Yes seriously. It is a principle all of economics is based on, people wont pay more for something that doesn't provide more utility. You can say quality till your blue in the face and make cracks at Remington all you want, at the end of the day the majority of people aren't going to do something with it that the majority of Tikkas cometitors wouldn't do for an equivalent amount of time. Not to mention just like on this forum people saw a $200 price hike for absolutely zero gain, it puts a bad taste in your mouth.

Yes but you can buy nice looking cars and trucks, Tikka's are still ugly They're the Glocks of the rifle world. Yes I own one, I'll like it better once I replace the chitty stock but now you gotta pay more for the chitty stock. Just more reason to buy Savage.

I'm a big Tikka fan (or was), because they offer great value in the market. But they're hardly the only manufacturer to make a decent rifle. And given that they were already more expensive and now they're charging even more...well, that is going to be hard to justify for most folks.

Honest question - if you laugh at $200 for higher quality, why aren't you buying a Sako or some other high-end custom rifle? Tikka wasn't great because they're the best. Tikka was great because they're the best bang for the buck. That may be over now.

Because the other dealers where playing by the rules. Tikka already had map put in place. Some of the other dealers complain, and Tikka has to respond or loose dealers. Whittaker is basically being warned and has to play by same rules or no longer be a dealer.

Companies like Whittaker Are destroying most brick and mortar store and eventually will even make them selves go belly up. If Cabelas did the same thing as Whittaker, Whittaker would go under along with all the small brick and mortar stores.