What's up with Thermal Arc?

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Was looking to see the price diff between the Arc Master 185 and the new 200.  There are none around all of a sudden.  IOC only has Dragster 85's listed??
Reply:I called IOC today to ask for price quotes on the Arc Master 185, 200 and 300 machines.   The salesman said he could not quote me a price on any Thermal Arc products and they are not selling any more Thermal Arc products presently.  He said Thermal Arc has refused to sell any more of their products to online retailers, including IOC.  He said IOC has been trying to negotiate a resolution to the conflict and they may be selling Thermal Arc products again in the future, but at present the relationship is sour.   I did call and get a quote on the Arc Master 200 from Air Gas, but they said they do not stock these and the salesman there had not even heard of these new machines.  I had to get him the part number off TA's website just so he would know what to ask for when he called them for the pricing.   I had a similar experience with one of the other local shops when I called them for a price too.I guess I'll just hang onto the money and wait and see what develops in the future.
Reply:Welding stores like Airgas could not buy machines as cheap as IOC wasselling them for. That set up the dynamics of what happened. It waslike IOC was selling them only for the year end bonus. Something hadto give and it I guess this is the outcome.
Reply:Glad I bought a TA185 when I didCampbell Hausfeld Fluxcore 80Thermal Arc 185Millermatic 250JD Squared model 32 bender
Reply:Interesting point, Scott.  The IOC sales man did mention they had a contract with Thermal Arc for certain pricing and part of the disagreement was they increased the pricing considerably for the new models.   Air Gas was able to quote a price on the Arc Master 200 that was about $500 less than their competitor accross the street.  In previous discussions with Air Gas the salesman told me they dont make much on the machine sales, just a little over cost, they're mostly after the repeat business for gas, consumables, accessories, safety equipment, parts, etc.The situation of big online retailers undercutting the local shops seems to be common to alot of different industries.  There doesn't seem to be an easy solution that keeps everyone happy either.