It's Official, the GPSMAP 496

In article ,
T o d d P a t t i s t wrote:
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,

The theory is that the mnfr can sell to whomever he wants,
and he wants his dealers to have sufficient profit that they
can supply other auxiliary services to keep good customer
will.

That's one of the arguments. Another argument is that the practice is
not anti-competitive because no seller has a pricing advantage over
another. The favorable arguments are a little flimsy and short-sighted
if you ask me, but the precedent will stand until it is successfully
challenged.

In reality, the practice of minimum sale prices really protects the
margins of the manufacturer from market forces that would otherwise
drive the price (and margin) lower. It does not protect the
manufacturer from other market competition, but, in the case of the
Garmin 396/496, there really is none.




JKG