life expectancy of a wiggy sleeping bags and more info

LIFE EXPECTANCY OF A WIGGY BAG

“I recently ordered a baby bunting for my new great nephew. His parents were here for a visit, And I gave them two sleeping bags I had bought in the early 90’s. I ran them in the washer, and they are as good as new. I used them for many years hunting elk in Colorado and mule deer in New Mexico. I’m sure I got at least 30 years of use from them. I’ll be 80 on my next birthday, so my hunting days are behind me, but your sleeping bags will still be in use long after you and I are gone.”

Mike

I have been reluctant to write anything when considering what is going on, so, when a testimonial like this comes to me it is like a spring day.

Whenever I give a baby bunting to a new mother, I tell them it will easily last for 10 babies. They have all told me that it is not going to happen.

An article I read in SGB internet web site online publication I receive is incredible.

“A proposed class action lawsuit charges the Archery Trade Association (ATA) conspired with numerous manufacturers, distributors and retailers, including Bass Pro Shops, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Cabela’s, to artificially inflate the prices of bowhunting and archery equipment by implementing minimum advertised pricing (MAP) policies.

Filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah, the lawsuit also names several manufacturers and distributors, including Bps Direct LLC, Hoyt Archery, Bowtech, Jay’s Sports, Kinsey’s Outdoors, Lancaster Archery Supply, Mathews Archery, NeuIntel, Precision Shooting Equipment, and TrackStreet.

According to the 63-page court filing, the Pennsylvania resident who filed the lawsuit alleges these entities have conspired “to fix the prices of — and eliminate price discounting and competition for — archery products.”

The case argues that price competition among retailers is seen as an “existential threat” to the industry and claims that the ATA facilitated the agreement to restrict price competition through MAP policies, repeatedly pushing its members to jointly enforce the policies industry-wide, including encouraging dealers not to work with vendors who violate MAP policies.

The suit contends that the alleged agreement between the ATA and its members, as well as their coordinated enforcement of MAP policies, violates federal and state antitrust laws.

Court documents state, “First, by eliminating the ability of competing retailers to attract customers by publicly advertising lower retail prices, MAPs reduce retailers’ incentives to compete on price because those lower prices do not entice incremental business to shop at the retailer. Second, whatever limited incentives to offer discounts on retail prices remain after MAPs are adopted, MAPs set an artificially high retail price from which price negotiations are initiated, ensuring that actual transaction prices will be higher than would otherwise be the case.”

The lawsuit estimates there are hundreds of thousands of potential class members who have purchased relevant archery products since 2014. Some bows can cost hundreds of dollars, and arrows run more than $100, according to the lawsuit. The products at issue also include arrowheads and targets.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages and a court order prohibiting the alleged price-fixing conspiracy from continuing.

“The alleged cartel in this case has illegally raised the prices paid by American bowhunters and archers for a decade,” a lawyer for the plaintiffs, Gary Smith, Jr., of law firm Hausfeld, told Reuters. “This lawsuit aims to recover those overcharges for the benefit of the alleged cartel’s victims.”

The suit notes that ATA, which operates the annual ATA Show held in Indianapolis, IN, in January, has over 2,500 members, including manufacturers, distributors and retailers.

The defendants in the case, including the ATA as well as the retailers, vendors and distributors involved, have not responded to the lawsuit.

The case is Joseph Santarlas v. Bowtech et al, U.S. District Court, District of Utah, No. 2:25-cv-00436-DAK.”

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Is it possible that these retailers will do the same thing with other products.

I am glad I do not sell my sleeping bags through retailers.

You see how the retailers consolidate so they reduce competition. This is what consumers have to deal with.

 Where has honesty and integrity gone too?