" Illegal price fixing occurs whenever two or more competitors agree to take actions that have the effect of raising, lowering or stabilizing the price of any product or service without any legitimate justification."
And there’s the core – The US no longer enforces price fixing laws. Just like they don’t enforce antitrust laws, labour protection laws, laws against firing people for unionizing, or a whole heap of other laws that are meant to control corporations. They even specifically approve many major monopolies/oligopolies being formed in the past 15 years and have picked up a monstrous habit of allowing judges who have been paid millions by corporations to sit on cases – also there’s a town in East Texas that is basically 100% funded by frivolous patent lawsuits.
We live in crony capitalism, basically a banana republic without the death squads. Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate not having the death squads. . . but I’d appreciate living in a real republic a hell of a lot more.
this has nothing to do with whats going on here , this has nothing to do with two or more COMPETITORS ( the word competitors is key here ) fixing prices is way off from a MAP agreement , what is being discussed here is between a manufacturer and a retailer
I sure am not even close to smart enough to debate this topic, but it seems to me that they may be manufacturer and retailer but 528 is also a retailer, thus making them " competitors "
Dammit – I’m actually wrong. Just gonna cop to that. I didn’t actually read the third paragraph before responding this morning, I’m an ass. Price fixing does not apply to MSRP agreements. Which is total bullshit in my opinion, but I am definitely wrong about the law. @VASHTA_NERADA
Be fair, relations between manufacturer and retailer are not automatically not about price fixing, e.g. Apple’s book store lawsuit (but that was kinda the reverse of what’s going on here).
Anyway yeah, I was just straight up wrong about what the law is, didn’t realize there was a separate thing that dealt with manufacturers being allowed to make MSRP agreements.
That said – I kinda just want to pivot and say “But dammit it SHOULD be illegal then.” – which is related insofar as the discussion about what is and is not ‘classy’ goes, but just. … meh. Kinda lost all steam after actually reading that page. It’s kinda like finding out there’s a massive loophole in the labour protection rules called “Right to work”, at least from my standpoint, tho I can get how people might disagree there.
it can be looked at that way but this was a wholesale purchase from a retailer , even if one would look at it that way , this is so far from price fixing , the two companies never had an agreeement to list the same price on their sites. the price fixing theory doesnt apply at all …
I didn’t know that is what y’all were talking about, “price fixing”. I thought it was about whether or not they were competitors. Oh well, maybe I should take my time and read the whole thing before I comment… … … NAAAA
You dudes sure are good at drawing a guy back into a conversation. My email was filled with responses this morning. You are actually just supposed to say “bye Felicia” and go about your business. Come on guys That’s internet 101.
@Ailith it may not seem like it considering my earlier post but it sort of seems like we share similar view points. I disagree with more of what goes on in our country than than the things I agree with. These MAP contracts are legal but I don’t really know how I feel about them. On one hand the manufacturer being able to set Prices in stone is good but really only for them and their vendors. It really does nothing for the consumer except maybe providing assurances of availability in a broader market. On the other hand it can very easily exclude the smaller businesses looking to attract new customers by turning a profit on a slower scale.
I’m all for innovation and a manufacturer’s ability to protect their IP but I’m not sure this practice affects either one. At its core its not about helping to keep a competitive market, it’s about keeping wholesale prices high.
Regarding my previous statement, I should have sat and really thought it through. It seems there really isn’t much room for classy in the business world. You treat your customers well and don’t be a dick period. That’s about the only way to show class. After all Resellers are just another link in the chain of ripping the consumer off. I mean come on is that IPhone really worth $800
I have a ton of views on the current state of capitalism but I won’t get into them because of the potential to offend.
Ok, so I borrowed 30 bucks from my brother. The money is in my paypal account, waiting to be spent. Now that I have it, I’m like, I need PG and some refills on flavors and I JUST CAN’T BRING MYSELF TO BUY ONE.
Now what, get the goon 1.5 for a great price or get what I need?
Feel free to pm me your thoughts on capitalism if you like, but present topic excluded I try very hard to keep politics off this one forum; so, we can avoid going further here :P. I’m a raging politic addict – read some 200 books on futurism, capitalism, religion, and US history this year alone. (Certain recent events pushed me in a very extreme camp from someone who basically just ignored politics >.>)
do you feel the goon is a must have if possible ?? i just got a clone and can see the benefits , and the real ones are supposed to be better , im just trying to get thoughts because when it comes to rda rdta im a rookie and depend on what all of you have to say
Personally, I can’t really see the 1.5 being all that much better than the Goon 1 clone I bought for less than $10. I like RDA’s allright but they are kind of a PIA (dripping & all) and I don’t own a squonker yet. I prefer RTA’s for convenience and some of them (now) rival the flavor of an RDA. I’m sure some will take affront to me doing clones but with a limited vape budget, it just is that way.
I recently bought a Gorgon clone that I really like but think is over-engineered. I paid $16.00 for it vs the $100.00 + that I’ve heard mentioned in various videos.
Yeah, I got no problems buying clones.
I mean come on is that IPhone really worth $800