Ban On Price Floors Abandoned, Internet Prices May Rise

paro12 and i_like_spam informed us of a 5-4 decision by the US Supreme Court which abandons a 96-year-old ban on manufacturers and retailers setting price floors for products. The Slashdot community discussed the issue when the case was argued back in March. The ruling means that anti-competitive complaints based on price-fixing will have to be argued case-by-case and will be harder to prove. Discounts and discounters in all venues may be under pressure, with internet sales possibly the hardest hit. "Importantly, this case points a dagger at the heart of the most consumer-friendly aspects of the Internet. The Internet has shifted power to the consumer in two ways. First, it allows consumers to search for and gather information in a cost-effective, efficient manner. Second, it provides a low-cost means of retailing, making it easy for discounters to offer products to the public. This combination squeezes excess profits and inefficiencies out of product prices. Retail price maintenance seeks to short circuit this extremely consumer friendly process. By setting minimum prices, manufacturers can build in excess margins for themselves and for their favored retailers -- prices that consumers have no choice but to pay."

Comments

Hope they enjoy their abortion rulings

[Maxo-Texas]

The religious conservatives have made a deal with the corporate devils to get abortion rulings.

I hope all the other areas where freedom of speech, workers rights, corporate political advertising (basically outshouting any normal persons ability to participate in politics), and now crap like this.

And it is going to continue for the next 8 to 10 years.

And if another 'conservative' president gets in then it will be this way the rest of our lives.

Re:Boo Conservative-Majority Supreme Court...

[corbettw]

Now you know how your conservative countrymen have felt for several decades. We tried to warn you before about activist judges creating new laws from thin air, but you wouldn't listen as long as you controlled the courts. Now maybe you'll get what we've been trying to say. Live by the SCOTUS, die by the SCOTUS.

Re:Cuts out savings if you know what you want.

[MoneyT]

For example, a few years ago, I decided on a specific LCD HDTV (an extravagant purchase that I still regret to this day). At the time, MSRP for the set was $8999. All retail outlets sold it for that price. However, I was able to go online and buy it for only $5499. Had the price floor been set at MSRP or something else favorable to the big retailers, I could've lost thousands of dollars in the purchase.


In theory, a price floor could have saved you even more money. You say that you regret your purchase. Had you not been able to find your TV for less than 8999 you might have reconsidered the purchase and not even bought it at all, saving you $5499 more than the lack of price floors saved you.