If they can work it into the terms of sale then they might have a legal leg to stand on. It's a civil matter so you always have the right to sue. I think that this sort of thing happens a lot. If the items are vital to the success of your company and there is only one source and that source has refused to sell to you then your only recourse might be the courts. If I were them, I would be smart enough to give a better reason. "I don't like your industry" wouldn't fly in court.
I'm not certain these guys have similar marketing strategies since I see the price of the Fein Turbo III ranging from $338. to $399. whereas the price of the Festool Rotex 125 FEQ is $350. at any Festool dealer.
That's an easy one. A manufacturer can only sell as much product as they can make. If a reseller decides to purchase 100% of a manufacturer's production capacity, then the manufacturer can cite "availability" as the reason for rejecting purchase orders from other resellers.
Very often this sort of arrangement is by agreement between the manufacturer and the reseller. Consider the situation where a manufacturer wants to work through one exclusive distributor. That distributor is then responsible for supplying all other resellers. The distributor obtains exclusive rights to the whole world as their territory in exchange for agreeing to buy everything that the manufacturer can make. Perfectly legal. The manufacturer can cite "no available territories" as the reason for rejecting purchase orders from other resellers.
Woodcraft might have some financial interest in Akeda and therefore be able to influence the channel strategy. Or, perhaps Akeda has their hands full just trying to keep up with demand created by Woodcraft. Who knows exactly what the situation is.
No, the first price fixing scheme you pointed out is called vertical price fixing. The second one is called horizontal price fixing. They are both anticompetitive.
And vertical price fixing is lawful in the US. If you don't like it then take it up with the Supremes. Whining at us about it will do you no good, we have no power to change the law.
I don't think so. Gibraltorox is right. Manufacturers can "suggest" a retail price to resellers, they can even incent resellers to use that price (with advertising co-op funds, discount rates, kickbacks, or other programs), but they cannot dictate the retail price to the dealers (i.e. make it a term of sale). It would restrict competition between dealers. I don't recall ever hearing about any Supreme Court decision like this, can you cite the case?
Sell for more than your competition it's gouging Sell for less than your compeitition it's dumping Sell for the same as your compeititon, it's price fixing
What's a businessman to do?
The retailer has a contract with the manufacturer. If they don't like the terms, they don't have to sell the product. They are all the same price because it's the minimum, and any retailer knows they won't sell many units if they're priced higher than their competition for exactly the same product.
Some years ago, manufacturers imposed a policy called "fair trade pricing" (an ironic term if ever there was one) in which they dictated the price at which their products could be sold at retail. I'm pretty sure this practice was ruled illegal; I haven't seen in used in probably 10 years or so. Isn't this the same thing you're calling vertical price fixing?
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Setting a maximum price is not the same as setting a fixed price (or a minimum price). I can see how the court would rule that this does not restrict competition!
I'm guessing that you misunderstand the terms of sale. It is illegal to tell a retailer that they must agree to a specific resale price. That is not a valid reason to refuse a purchase order.
Back in the 58-61 time frame, executives from several of the electrical industry manufacturers had some unpaid vacation time at the graybar hotel courtesy of the US government after being convicted of price fixing.
As a seller, you can refuse to sell to a specific industry, but if you offer to sell to one member of that industry, then you must offer to sell to all members of that industry with the same terms and conditions applying.
I know that you must offer the same terms and conditions to everyone you sell to, but I wasn't aware that you could exclude specific industries. A previous poster complained that they couldn't get specific items because the manufacturer didn't want to sell into their industry (military). It seems like it would be pretty difficult to manage such a thing given the overlap in so many industries. What if I sold my product to an industrial supplier that sold product to a particular industry? Would that qualify or could I just tell all buyers in that industry that they must get it from this supplier?
Dude, it wasn't a troll. I'm not saying Fine or Festool isn't worth the price. I don't own one, but I'm sure it's good quality. I'm just saying that part of maintaining brand image is the price. It's not a slam on the tools. Geez. Note I said "PART OF THE APPEAL" is the brand. I know someone who brought a Delta unisaw. He hardly ever uses it, but loves taking people down to his basement to show it off. To him, it's like an antique car he likes to show off. He gets enjoyment and pride out of it, and can afford it, so it's no big deal.
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