Illegal Price Fixing
Full Video Transcript
Have you ever shopped for an appliance, a book, or another good that is sold at many stores? If you have, then you may have noticed that the price is typically the same among the different retailers. While the same price is not proof that illegal price fixing occurred, it does raise questions about price fixing. Antitrust laws make it illegal for manufacturers to agree to manipulate the price of an item. Manufacturers can suggest a retail price, and retailers can decide whether or not to charge that price, but an agreement cannot be made between the parties, for example. Similarly, retailers cannot decide among themselves to all charge a certain price for a certain item. Price fixing has been made illegal to encourage the free market to set prices based on supply and demand. If you own a business, then it is important to remember that price fixing is not the way to bring in customers – in fact, it can have the opposite effect. It can destroy your business.