Currently reading: Increased Prices On Sakura Finetek Products by Jim Darley

Increased Prices On Sakura Finetek Products

Why ProSciTech had to increase prices on Sakura Finetek products.

Why ProSciTech had to increase prices on Sakura Finetek products.

Further to the below information: We have found a source in "Afghanistan" to supply the range of Tissue Tek products. This means that we now sell those products "third hand" - three lots of mark-ups and three lots of transportation.
At the beginning of August 2006 we were selling these items at the following prices - with prices asked by the vertically integrated distributor Bayer in brackets.

H4451 Tissue-Tek® slide staining set, 288 slides AUD538.00 (1,102.00)
IA018 Tissue-Tek® O.C.T. Compound AUD 21.00 (49.00)
Y557 Tissue-Tek® Cryomolds®, 25x20x5mm AUD 41.00 (77.00)

Now our prices reflect costs and mark-up based on a chain of two resellers and two lots of freight. Bayer purchases direct from their daughter company in Japan and has only their own mark-up and one lot of freight cost to consider. Forthwith we have been forced to pay for another lot of freight and another middleman. Our prices must increase, but they will remain considerably lower Bayer's current pricing.

I have contacted the ACCC and they 'think' that they cannot do anything within the framework of current laws. Supposedly the ACCC has wide powers to stop anti-competitive practices - which obviously occurred. The question for the ACCC is: can Bayer (Australia) be allowed to exert pressure on an overseas agent of Sakura, to not sell to overseas buyers. Sure that rule can be part of an agency agreement, but I have never seen that rule for consumable items. Instruments are sold with competition from other brands in mind. If a product has a reasonable agent in a country then nobody should be able to sell that product from overseas and undercut the local agent.
That we can undercut Bayer in Australia after they forced circumstances should be no solace to the ACCC. Consider: Bayer retails a tube of OCT compound for AUD49, but in the USA that material retails for ~AUD12.15 per single tube. Our Health budget pays for most of the difference.
JD 8 August 2006

Some time ago Bayer Corporation purchased Sakura Finetek.

Sakura Finetek will not consider any distributor in Australia other than Bayer's daughter company. We found that we could bring in their products advantageously from one of our overseas suppliers. After a short time, it appeared that all but a handful of Australian laboratories purchased these products, especially the OCT compound, from us.

We then received an odd email - copy below. My reply was: we make it ourselves . . . Two days later we received an email from our supplier informing us that Sakura have threatened them (by letter, but we could not get a copy) that they would take away the agency unless they immediately ceased to export Sakura Finetek products.

Since our costs would have to be higher than Bayer's due to double shipping and two mark-ups, you, the customer ought to now receive these goods at considerably reduced prices. If not, then there is a bit of a problem with our competition laws and the way this vertically integrated company conducts itself.

Jim Darley
27 July 2006

Inquiry from: Kerrie Thomson
Reply_to: [email protected]
Submitted: Tuesday, July 18, 2006 at 10:03:10 AM
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To whom it may concern,
As you may know Bayer have exclusive rights to a lot of the Sakura Tissue Tek products, I was wondering where you sourced your OCT compound from? I am writing this email on behalf of Bayer and Sakura to clarify this issue.
Thanking you in advance for your help,
Kerrie Thomson
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