Okay, Jim, Let's throw the hats on the table and call a friggin' spade a spade
I do not believe for one minute that there are two products, even with a "quality" differential
I do believe, and I truly believe it, that some Marketing folks at TV decided they are not selling anywhere near enough MG glass to warrant production costs. They can say what they want and Grumblers can say what they want, but this product represents less than 7% of "dollar" sales by too many "reliable" sources
Now, 7% of dollars might be 1 or 2% of lites; hardly a success story
Now, let' assume (and this is mine and mine alone) that the marketing costs and production costs on this product are greater than any other line they make and they need to cover those costs and they need to Shift their Balance of Sale (Except, no one uses that tool)to generate a greater mass
They have run promo after promo, rebate after rebate and I'll bet that needle barely moved
So, if I'm Director of Sales, I'm going to find a market far greater than the entire market that I have been struggling to penetrate
And, i can do it with one phone call
Except they will not "pay" what I want (they read Warren's post and took my class -they did, BTW)
So, as Director of Sales, I make a deal, but I want to create "plausible deniability",so we will call it something else, tell them it's something else and BTW, you can't have it
Now, Jim, I have absolutely no connection with TV or anyone else. My loyalties are based upon what they do for me and the industry; not what they or anyone else pays me. Now, do not think for a single second that i am suggesting that you are not an honest broker-I know better. i do tout several vendors and PPfA, but when i think them wrong, we disagree. Everyone of them reading this is nodding their heads in collective agreement saying "Oh, yeah, he does"
There are two easy answers to this dilemna
Let's find a lab that can actually "test" these "two" products and see what differences are real; I'll put up the first $200. If i am wrong, i will publically admit it and you will never hear another peep.
And, the second is that while I am nowhere the smartest guy on this forum (heck, i am rarely the smartest guy in my own shower), but, I might be smart enough to comprehend that there is no way in the world that a 400lb gorilla like M's and A Bros can be serviced from "rejects". Does anyone want to tell me that more than 50% of that product is a reject? what did they do with that 50% or greater mountain of glass before this deal
Masterpiece, indeed
Bottom line; Carry, don't carry it. Mark it up; don't mark it up. It matters not
But, do not buy into the Marketing that this is in your best interests as an Industry
I am dead serious about sending a few lites for testing