Apple price fixing

[joefinan]

Just a thought - how come Apple haven't been done for price fixing?

It's actually very refreshing. Knowing that it doesn't matter where you buy it, it'll be the same price. But a few years ago, the UK banned RRPs and so electronics can be bought for all sorts of different prices.

So how come Apple have never been told off for price fixing? What is stopping a large retailer (Argos, John Lewis etc.) under-cutting other shops??

 

[PlaceofDis]

how are they fixing prices? if you can show that they are, then you'd have a case, but they aren't so there's nothing to talk about.

 

[TheAnswer]

I present:

The definitive "Apple is price fixing - no they aren't - are so - your momma's price fixing - is not - well, she did last night - lair - am not - are to" thread.

 

[joefinan]

Show me a store that is selling an iPod for £30 less and I'll admit they don't price fix!

 

[PlaceofDis]

Show me a store that is selling an iPod for £30 less and I'll admit they don't price fix!

how is that price fixing again?

apple sells their items to their retailers with little room for markup and money to be made for them, which is why their prices are so in line with apple's and aren't ever much lower. how is that price fixing?

 

[Unspeaked]

If Apple is price-fixing, then Bose is price-fixing, doing the hard sell and gift-wrapping the speakers for you (and maybe bringing them out to your car)...

 

[CalBoy]

Show me a store that is selling an iPod for £30 less and I'll admit they don't price fix!

The problem is, you don't understand what price fixing is. Price fixing refers to a situation in which all of the suppliers in an industry, let's say laptop manufacturers, get together, and agree to set a minimum price for all their products, and collectively agree to not sell below that price, hence destroying free market competition. Apple is one company, and they price their products a certain way. Apple hasn't gone to HP, Sony, Dell, etc, and said, "we think laptops should start at $1500 or 750 Quid." That would be a case, if the others agreed, of price fixing.

What Apple does is negotiate who they're going to work with at the retail level, and they insist that retailers don't sell below a certain point. In return, the retailer gets advertising funding from Apple, and also gets other incentives we probably don't know about.

I know, from a consumer stand point, it sucks, but we're not locked in: we can buy from a different company.