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knowboddy

Sunlight Supply Threatens Shop Owners

knowboddy
14 years ago

Hey everyone,

I just saw this on a few other forums and thought it was important that everyone hear it.

Apparently Sunlight Supply has been threatening to put a lot of hydroponic stores out of business if they don't go along with Sunlight Supply's "rules". Stuff like not being allowed to sell certain competitor products (like Advanced Nutrients) and so on.

Regardless of whatever other politics and business practices might be going on, that kind of behavior is just totally uncalled for. These hydro shops shouldn't have to play by anyone's rules but the local laws. That's just strong-arm bullying at it's worst.

There's a video on YouTube about this that one of the owners of Advanced Nutrients put out, but if you look around there's a lot more people getting stepped on by Sunlight Supply's attempt to control how the entire hydroponics industry is run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkUIkOjAq70

For my part, I'm not going to buy anything they sell until they grow up and stop terrorizing shop owners. We need to work together, not against each other.

Comments (7)

  • grow-anything
    14 years ago

    I think that is a normal business practice that some wholesalers use. We are free to buy what and where we choose. The retail stores are also free to buy and sell what they choose. If they choose to buy from a wholesaler that sets rules about there products then they should decide if they want to do business with them or not.

  • chinamon
    14 years ago

    i agree with grow-anything.
    if a retailer wishes to sell sunlight supply's products then they have to follow their rules. otherwise, sell other products.

  • wordwiz
    13 years ago

    I don't see anything wrong with this. The stores don't have a gun pointed at their heads forcing them to buy Sunlight Supply's products. It SS' sales reps suddenly lose a bunch of sales (commission) they will pitch a fit and the company may reconsider.

    Mike

  • joe.jr317
    13 years ago

    Yes, there is something wrong with this if what I am told is correct. There is a difference between withholding your product due to exclusivity in a contract and making explicit threats that you will take down their business. Even if it's done legally, it isn't ethical at all. It definitely inhibits free market and limits the choice of you and I, the consumers.
    Now, the fact is that we do not have any evidence showing that sunlight supply is doing this. I couldn't find any in a search, but I didn't put much effort to it. I only see accusations. And the majority are repeats of the same site hydroponics_supplies posted. I spoke with a local shop this morning that carries sunlight supply products. She has received no such threats. Seems to me that this whole thing could most certainly be seen as defamation of character of the CEO of Sunlight Supply.

  • joe.jr317
    13 years ago

    Correction: I said "told" above. Was distracted while at Toyota getting my car fixed and the guy came in as I was replying. I meant "reading". Nobody has actually told me anything negative. I must have been thinking ahead to what I was told by the shop earlier. Anyway. . .

    Okay, so I see that hydroponics_supplies, fulvic_acid, and humic_acid are the same person and has either an affiliation or an almost cultish obsession with Advanced Nutrients. All three names have links to the same site with different sub domains.

  • homehydro
    13 years ago

    Unfortunately this is just another one of Advanced Nutrients propaganda videos that they spread. Trying to drum up controversy (that spreads through forums like this one), in hopes of driving people to there website. People that are unfamiliar with this type of advertising, simply unwilling advertise for the company by spreading it. That's called free (word of mouth) advertising and is very effective when done right. The people that don't recognize what's going on, spread it to everyone they know. Like spam but less people know how to recognize it, making it a very powerful advertising tool that can spread like wildfire.

  • homehydro
    13 years ago

    P.S. Because of these type of videos, I would never buy products from Advanced Nutrients if I can help it. I don't think they have very good ethics in regards to business. I have not seen these type of videos from any other company (even though they have every right). It amounts to nothing more than spreading roomers, and any reputable company will be able to stand alone on their products and/or customer service.

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