4 ms·

Price fixing is legal as long as your are doing it in the open. In the UK it is called "price match" and eg. if supermarket says they keep prices matched to the

Price fixing is legal as long as your are doing it in the open. In the UK it is called "price match" and eg. if supermarket says they keep prices matched to their competitor. No regulator raises an eyebrow. So here Samsung and SK Hynix could say they price match to Micron and they are in the clear.

vablings 4mo ago
That is not what price fixing actually is. In the UK "price matching" is a one-to-many relationship meaning that the price of goods is set to the "lowest available" Price fixing is a many-to-one all the manufactures agree to the highest prices they all agree on and set it there.
- varispeed 4mo ago
  You are arguing semantics. Effect is the same.
  - vablings 4mo ago
    The effect is literally the opposite of what was described. It provides a downward pressure on pricing and it's all open. If you think a private agreement to fix the price at an artificially inflated level is the same as a public offer to lower the price based on competitors, I have little hope for any business venture you may partake/undertake
    - varispeed 4mo ago
      It cuts both ways. Downward pricing can be used to remove competitors who cannot give up that much of margin.
      - vablings 4mo ago
        That's a different argument to what you first stated. Regarding price consumers are not as one dimensional as you are led to believe.
gruez 4mo ago
>Price fixing is legal as long as your are doing it in the open. In the UK it is called "price match" and eg. if supermarket says they keep prices matched to their competitor. No regulator raises an eyebrow. No, the key term is "collusion", which could be done in the open or not. If a competitor told you they were unilaterally raising prices in secret, that would still be legal. Where you get into trouble is if you are cooperating to set prices. And no, this is all determined by a judge so cute workarounds like "I'm telling my competitors that I'm raising prices then gauging his body language" won't work.
- bryanlarsen 4mo ago
  I worked in a small town gas station as a kid. We always phoned our competitor to let them know when we were changing our prices, and they extended us the same courtesy. Usually we followed them, but sometimes we didn't. Gas prices are posted on massive highly visible signs and are public information. This wasn't collusion, it was a sign of intense but friendly competition.
dcrazy 4mo ago
> Price fixing is legal as long as your are doing it in the open. In the U.S., competitors are allowed to act in similar ways in response to economic realities, as long as they each arrive at that decision independently. But publicly anchoring your price to a competitor’s is potentially illegal. > Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, orinferred from conduct) among competitors to raise, lower, maintain, or stabilize prices or price levels. [Emphasis added] https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/dealings-competitors/price-fixing https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui...
- bryanlarsen 4mo ago
  Identical prices are often a sign of intense competition. Every gas station on a corner has the same price because it's a highly competitive market not because of collusion. The prices of the much more lucrative chocolate bars inside the gas stations are less likely to be identical.
  - dcrazy 4mo ago
    Yes, the gas station example is directly cited in the article I linked to. It’s legal for a gas station owner, with knowledge and consideration of a competitor’s price, to reduce their price to the same or just below. What is illegal is for nominally-competing gas station owners in an area to conspire to keep their prices within a range of each other’s, even without explicit agreement.
    - bryanlarsen 4mo ago
      The article you linked seems to indicate that there has to be active communication between the gas station owners for there to be collusion. When I worked at a gas station as a teenager there was definitely an unspoken implicit agreement that the price of gas would be 6 cents/liter above wholesale IIRC. Which was highly competitive and didn't completely cover costs.
  - lightedman 4mo ago
    "Every gas station on a corner has the same price because it's a highly competitive market not because of collusion." Huh? I can go to most any gas station-occupied intersection and you will always find two that match and one (usually a Persian-owned Chevron) which is consistently a dollar or more higher per gallon across all grades of fuel.
jackb4040 4mo ago
Price match creates downward pressure, nobody is gonna sue over lower prices. This is like if you showed a supermarket that their competitor's oranges were more expensive, and they "matched" by raising their prices for everyone.
- varispeed 4mo ago
  That is your assumption without evidence. Once the targeted market knows others are tracking the price, it can up the price without fear competing market will undercut.

vablings 4mo ago

That is not what price fixing actually is. In the UK "price matching" is a one-to-many relationship meaning that the price of goods is set to the "lowest available" Price fixing is a many-to-one all the manufactures agree to the highest prices they all agree on and set it there.

varispeed 4mo ago
You are arguing semantics. Effect is the same.
- vablings 4mo ago
  The effect is literally the opposite of what was described. It provides a downward pressure on pricing and it's all open. If you think a private agreement to fix the price at an artificially inflated level is the same as a public offer to lower the price based on competitors, I have little hope for any business venture you may partake/undertake
  - varispeed 4mo ago
    It cuts both ways. Downward pricing can be used to remove competitors who cannot give up that much of margin.
    - vablings 4mo ago
      That's a different argument to what you first stated. Regarding price consumers are not as one dimensional as you are led to believe.

gruez 4mo ago

>Price fixing is legal as long as your are doing it in the open. In the UK it is called "price match" and eg. if supermarket says they keep prices matched to their competitor. No regulator raises an eyebrow. No, the key term is "collusion", which could be done in the open or not. If a competitor told you they were unilaterally raising prices in secret, that would still be legal. Where you get into trouble is if you are cooperating to set prices. And no, this is all determined by a judge so cute workarounds like "I'm telling my competitors that I'm raising prices then gauging his body language" won't work.

bryanlarsen 4mo ago
I worked in a small town gas station as a kid. We always phoned our competitor to let them know when we were changing our prices, and they extended us the same courtesy. Usually we followed them, but sometimes we didn't. Gas prices are posted on massive highly visible signs and are public information. This wasn't collusion, it was a sign of intense but friendly competition.

dcrazy 4mo ago

> Price fixing is legal as long as your are doing it in the open. In the U.S., competitors are allowed to act in similar ways in response to economic realities, as long as they each arrive at that decision independently. But publicly anchoring your price to a competitor’s is potentially illegal. > Price fixing is an agreement (written, verbal, orinferred from conduct) among competitors to raise, lower, maintain, or stabilize prices or price levels. [Emphasis added] https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/dealings-competitors/price-fixing https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/gui...

bryanlarsen 4mo ago
Identical prices are often a sign of intense competition. Every gas station on a corner has the same price because it's a highly competitive market not because of collusion. The prices of the much more lucrative chocolate bars inside the gas stations are less likely to be identical.
- dcrazy 4mo ago
  Yes, the gas station example is directly cited in the article I linked to. It’s legal for a gas station owner, with knowledge and consideration of a competitor’s price, to reduce their price to the same or just below. What is illegal is for nominally-competing gas station owners in an area to conspire to keep their prices within a range of each other’s, even without explicit agreement.
  - bryanlarsen 4mo ago
    The article you linked seems to indicate that there has to be active communication between the gas station owners for there to be collusion. When I worked at a gas station as a teenager there was definitely an unspoken implicit agreement that the price of gas would be 6 cents/liter above wholesale IIRC. Which was highly competitive and didn't completely cover costs.
- lightedman 4mo ago
  "Every gas station on a corner has the same price because it's a highly competitive market not because of collusion." Huh? I can go to most any gas station-occupied intersection and you will always find two that match and one (usually a Persian-owned Chevron) which is consistently a dollar or more higher per gallon across all grades of fuel.

jackb4040 4mo ago

Price match creates downward pressure, nobody is gonna sue over lower prices. This is like if you showed a supermarket that their competitor's oranges were more expensive, and they "matched" by raising their prices for everyone.

varispeed 4mo ago
That is your assumption without evidence. Once the targeted market knows others are tracking the price, it can up the price without fear competing market will undercut.