Fort Lauderdale, FL -- (SBWIRE) -- 03/29/2010 -- A woman who was shopping recently for matching Skagen watches for her and her husband, hoping to encounter good post-holidays prices, was surprised to find, first in a local jewelry store, and then at an authorized watches dealer online, everything being sold at manufacturer's suggested retail prices. Consumers who hear chatter everyday about all the bargains available during these tough economic times are sometimes surprised to find the same old prices and surprisingly few good deals when they visit traditional retail outlets and even online stores.

Retail prices, particularly with name-brand consumer goods such as watches, have come to be governed over the past couple of years by MAP pricing policies. MAP, for minimum advertised price, helps brands to prevent the sort of downward spiral of prices that can eventually devalue their brand, but doesn't do much to help them deal with the problem of excess inventory throughout their distribution channels.

MAP pricing has led to the growth of specialty discounters such as Miami based, online wristwatch dealer WorldofWatches.com. WorldofWatches.com is able buy the watches they sell at discounts, and then pass along discounts that can be as high as 85% off to their customers. Brands such as Skagen Watches and their retail outlets have found it is more effective for them to focus on selling their newest—and highest priced—goods, which are the focus of their marketing efforts, and leave the discounting business to others.

A glance at WorldofWatches.com's website http://www.worldofwatches.com reveals Skagen watches selling at discounted prices between 35 and 57% off MSRP. The discounts on many other brands such as Seiko Watches can go even higher. The thing that makes this possible, according to WorldofWatches.com marketing director Tom Forrest, is the competitiveness of the retail marketplace: "The intense competition in our (the wristwatch) marketplace means brands are constantly introducing new products, putting their marketing muscle behind them, and aggressively pushing older products and excess inventory to the discount watches market. Ultimately, it benefits the consumer."