In article ,
Skywise wrote:
Don't forget that Garmin is very Microsoft-like in its pricing...A
vendor (Pacific Coast Avionics, I think?) said that they are mandated to
sell at whatever price Garmin sets and can't waiver from that. If they
do and Garmin finds out, then that retailer will no longer be able to
sell Garmin products.

Isn't that price fixing? And isn't that illegal?

Obviously it's happening, so there must be some loophole.


Ironically, this type of price fixing (terminating dealers who don't
adhere to the minimum sale price) is not illegal under United States
anti-trust law, as determined by the Supreme Court in "United States vs.
Colgate Co." And Garmin is far from the only manufacturer who practices
a "Minimum Advertised Price" or "Minimum Sales Price" policy.

That being said, someone could probably argue an implied "agreement"
between the manufacturer and one or more dealers or wholesalers happens
somewhere in the process and, indeed, manufacturers have to be
extraordinarily careful about how they apply this type of policy.
However, the bottom line is that we won't know whether the implied
"agreement" is there or not until someone challenges the issue in court.



JKG