Calculating MAP Pricing: the Gap to Wholesale Is the Real Decision

Compare the advertised floor with the reseller’s acquisition and selling costs. The gap between MAP and wholesale is not realised margin. The actual selling price, fees, returns and other costs affect that result.

So set the two together. Fixing MAP first and wholesale afterwards produces a policy that either nobody can afford to follow or everybody can afford to break.

What each side of the gap does

A wide gap can leave room for discounts, depending on the actual selling price and costs. Check those costs before assuming that an advertised discount remains profitable.

A narrow gap can make stocking less attractive when the expected selling price does not cover the reseller’s costs. Review that trade-off using actual account economics.

Physical stores carry costs an online seller does not

Rent, staff and shelf space all come out of the same margin, and shelf space is the one that bites. A store with a fixed number of shelves gives them to the products that earn the most per shelf. If your MAP leaves an online-only seller comfortable and a showroom short, you lose the showrooms. And with them the place where customers handle the product before buying it somewhere else.

In automotive and powersports this matters more than it looks, because the counter that fits the part is often the reason that part got chosen.

One figure per product, for everyone

Set one MAP figure per SKU and apply it to every reseller. Per-seller figures turn a policy you issue into something that looks like a negotiation with each account. That is the conversation your counsel will want you out of. It also does not survive contact with reality, because your resellers talk to each other.

Customers read the number

The advertised price is the first quality signal a customer gets. Set it low and the product reads as the cheap option whatever it is made of. Set it high with nothing to justify it and the price becomes a reason to keep shopping. That decision belongs with whoever owns the brand, alongside whoever owns the margin spreadsheet.

Where we stop

We do not set your MAP figure and we do not draft your policy. We are not lawyers. Once the figure and the document exist, enforcement is the part we run.

Correction, 23 September 2026: the gap between MAP and wholesale is not the reseller’s realised margin. Selling prices and costs must also be considered.