Whats with these crazy clearance sales ?

[pro reel]

Shimano retailers have been dumping the E model reels like hot potatoes recently. Some retailer are holding out for full price, but we have all seen these crazy clearance sales. This last one I saww was almost obscene with Citicas at 50 bucks and curados at 76 bucks. I remember when shimano brought out the D model reels. There wasn't any clearance sales on the 200 b or bsf reels that I remeber seeing. As a matter of fact, some retailers raised the price on the last few B model reels they had. Ebay sales of B model reels sky rocketed also. I sold my B reels at that time also. Mine were about 6 to 7 years old but in nice shape. I sold them for an average of $180 each. Thats a full 40 to 50 dollar profit over the purchase price and I used them for years. Thats not happening this time around. But do you think Shimano has encouraged retailer to do a fast sell off ? I think so.I think they want all the E reels gone before the G reels hit the shelves. No E reels in the store to compare to the G reels. This crazy discount though is not really fair to shimano customers though. What does this say to the guy that bought several at full price just a few months ago? What about the fact that shimano has always had a fair resale value you could count on? This has effectivly destroyed the resale value of these reels. Maybe you will see values come back up in several years when most folks have forgoten about the clearance prices, but most floks won't pay double for a used reel over what they saw them sell for new. What do you think?