

The Agency Model - a concise description of what Macmillan wants - ghshephard
http://fashionista-35.livejournal.com/540618.html

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_delirium
I can't really agree with the apparent conclusion that the agency model is a
good thing. It's more or less a revival of retail price mandates, where the
manufacturer dictates to retailers exactly what they must sell a product for,
instead of selling it wholesale and letting the retailer set its own prices.

That sort of manufacturer-set price model is popular in Europe but generally
not permitted in the US, because it's rather anticompetitive: it effectively
prohibits retailers from competing with each other on price, because they have
no control over prices. Europe likes that, because it keeps companies like
Amazon and Wal-Mart from undercutting the local bookstore, if it's illegal to
sell books under list price; but I'm not sure it's good for consumers or, more
generally, efficient markets.

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ghshephard
Actually, it is permitted in the US Now:

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_fixing>

"In August 2008, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that vertical price fixing by a
manufacturer and its retailers, also known as retail price maintenance, is not
a per se violation."

