If it's a battle of deepest pockets, we've lost from the start.
If it costs Ricoh $5,000 to make a machine, they can then sell it to us for $7,000 or sell it to the customer for $7,000 and it makes no difference to them. Most dealers take that $7k and mark it up 10% before giving the rep a "commission cost" so it's $7,700 when it get to us, then we try to add 20% to it.
That means we are trying to sell a product for ~$9,500 that Ricoh could sell for $7,000.
In addition, there's the issue of supplies. The same theory holds true, Ricoh can sell a bottle of toner for $100 to us or the customer, makes no difference to them really. So if our cost to service a machine is .003, That's really the point at which Ricoh is making money already.
The kicker here is... We all know our dealerships have been willing to lose money on the front end to get a deal in hopes of obtaining the service/supply revenue. When you add that to the equation, now Ricoh might be able to sell that $7,000 box for $5,000 or even $4,000 with the right volume commitments.
Heck, I don't even see how we compete (on a pure price basis).