at the end of the day, i have a problem with the concept of direct to public....
however it does take a lot of knowledge, equipment and money to actually produce anything of significance with these materials. Being able to police the entire concept of selling to sign and wrap companies only would be next to impossible, the only way to even attempt is to require a sales tax id number, which most likely might exclude some members here on this forum
this concept is exactly the same as auto mechanics being up in arms that parts stores are everywhere selling these same parts to the end user.... difference might be that the mechanics usually have better pricing then carquest or your favorite parts store flavor. These mechanics know however, that the real money is in service and skill, not in raw materials....
my rep has been very up front and quick to discuss this, am I ditching fellers, probably not, out of every supplier we use, i have been visited by 3 reps in 10 years... 1 from gemini and 2 were from fellers.....
if you are selling vinyl by the pound, i suppose online pricing is a scary thing when your supplier opens up like that, i know a few others that sell direct to public, under different names, but the prices are about the same from retail to wholesale, and no i don't use them much if at all
basically it looks like a supplier tried a new business model, the industry flexed its muscles back and the supplier might have saw the error in the ways....maybe.....