Quote:
Originally Posted by ken0042
I think an analogy that we are all better familiar with is Apple products. Take something like an iPad- everybody sells it for the same price. That is because Apple makes it a condition of being an Apple reseller that there is only one price you can charge. Occasionally you will see that iPad on sale; and you will also see that other stores are running some similar kind of sale. It isn't Best Buy that is fixing the price with Target; it is Apple telling it's resellers what price they can charge.
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Right. My understanding of the law is that apple can set a fixed price for its products, and all of the dealers can either abide by it or choose not to sell the products. If Ford set a fixed price and said everyone has to sell at this price or lose the right to sell the vehicle, that would be legal, I believe.
However, it wouldn't be legal for Best Buy/Visions/Source to get together and say "we're all going to sell the new Samsung 50 inch TV for $X." That's collusion between competitors.
Similarly, I think if the car dealerships all get together to set a price, I believe that's collusion.
Anyway, I'm not a lawyer or anything, but I will ask my buddy who worked at the competition bureau the next time I see him.