Have you ever shopped for a hot tub or sauna and thought, “Why the heck can’t I find any pricing?” Well, here are a few of the reasons why:

Most hot tub & sauna manufacturers make agreements with small businesses to sell their products for them in the marketplace. In order to enable everyone a fair shake at staying in business, part of the agreement stipulates that no pricing will be listed online.

We realize this is a bit frustrating for folks who start the shopping experience, especially in today’s world of constantly turning to the Internet to start the buying process. While it seems unfair that this practice exists, consider the following points:

• If online pricing was allowed, you’d undoubtedly find pricing all over the map. Some of that pricing would make perfect sense, while other prices listed would simply be “on the cheap”. The folks low-balling prices online wouldn’t be interested in taking care of you, the customer. They would be instead interested in selling whatever they can for a low price. This would create a huge disparity in any type of integrity and customer service businesses offer consumers. Service would suffer horrendously.
• The lack of pricing online offers everyone to have a fair chance to earn your business. This is actually a law. The Sherman Anti-Trust Act stipulates that businesses must compete fairly for the consumer dollar. If the focus became placed solely on price—NOT on offering you good quality products and service for the hard-earned money you paid—it would result in shady business dealings that don’t serve the consumer. The law protects all of us from this type of practice.
• It allows small hot tub and sauna companies to exist! With the economic upheaval we all experienced over the past few years, it became incredibly evident how important it is for small business to succeed in America. Without the independent businesses that help create jobs in our communities, the entire fabric of our economy would be turned upside down.

Oregon Hot Tub has been part of the greater Portland business world since 1979. A lot has changed over the years, and a lot of businesses that lacked integrity and kindness toward consumers have come and gone. The ones that have survived have pledged to offer quality products and excellent service. Discerning folks who have been part of the purchasing world realize that getting great products and being taken care of by a company after the purchase is not only important, but also impacts the price of the product.

If a company operates in a metropolitan area instead of a small community, that impacts the price of a product; if a company is open seven days a week and available to customers, that impacts the price of a product; if a company offers its own warranty service and is always there to take care of what it sold to a customer…you got it: that impacts the price of a product.

So, the next time you search for hot tub pricing with a small business selling a specialty product online and can’t find the pricing, take heart! It likely means that business is aware of what it takes to give great service and protect the consumer. And that’s a great thing! And if you CAN find pricing, scroll back up and re-read the points listed. It may give you pause before you decide to purchase that particular hot tub or sauna.