eBay are featured in the Sunday Times today highlighting restrictive trade practices by manufacturers who restrict how retailers can sell and price their products.
Highlighted is online retailer “Baby Zoop” who have been forced to close their business “due to the illegal price fixing by the major pushchair and car seat suppliers”. They say they were forced out of business with deliveries becoming fewer and further between when they refused to up their prices. Eventually the major pushchair and car seat suppliers made their business unviable.
The Times article cites other retails fighting manufacturers of everything from watches to coffee makers and stereos to flat screen TVs.
The real problem is that as the law stands price fixing is illegal, but if as a retailer your source of stock simply dries up when you lower your prices there’s absolutely nothing you can do.
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