Is a Town Market with just one trader legal?

motorguy

phill99 wrote: »

How can it be unfair competition? It sounds like sour grapes to me.

Alls fair in love and business.

An off licence that was closed down in our town was bought over, refurbished and reopened to much fanfare with special offers, etc, to attract business away from the other one in town.

The other one didnt do much - they seemed to be sitting back and letting the customers go there. Then suddenly the new one closed down - apparently the owners of the other one had found out the guy was operating off the previous owners licence, tipped off the relevant council / government bodies and had him shut down.

Apparently its going to take a year to sort all the paperwork out before he can reopen....

Savvy_Sue

motorguy wrote: »

I like that!

Work out what he sells most of, then offer 10% off on fridays of those products.

No, my suggestion is to offer something to attract customers in which the opposition DOESN'T do. Whether that's a particular brand of dog food, or fancy collars rather than cheap'n'cheerful etc.

Given that the OP is NOT offering an identical service, then it seems to me better to focus on that rather than getting into cutthroat competition on price alone.

Mistral001

terra_ferma wrote: »

Is this your opinion, or based on facts (i.e. what the law actually says, or real cases)? What law would they be breaking by offering a discount voucher, I'm genuinely interested to know as you obviously you know something that I don't.

No it is not my opinion. i think it is the law:

http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/office-of-fair-trading/the-importance-of-competition-policy/restrictive-trade-practices.html#axzz2LFwvR9uM

I think it more to do with other firms that might want to enter the pet supplies business in that area rather than how it effects the customer, though that might be a factor as well. Does any agreement that these two businesses have, have a negative affect on someone else who might want to enter the the pet supply business in that area. If the two pet suppliers have an agreement between them on pricing or market share etc and the only pet suppliers in the area it might argued that they are having negative effect on someone wanting to set up in competition close by.

motorguy

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

No, my suggestion is to offer something to attract customers in which the opposition DOESN'T do. Whether that's a particular brand of dog food, or fancy collars rather than cheap'n'cheerful etc.

Given that the OP is NOT offering an identical service, then it seems to me better to focus on that rather than getting into cutthroat competition on price alone.

Okay.

I was just adding another idea onto the end of it!

I've edited my post to include 'OR'

terra_ferma

Mistral001 wrote: »

No it is not my opinion. i think it is the law:

http://businesscasestudies.co.uk/office-of-fair-trading/the-importance-of-competition-policy/restrictive-trade-practices.html#axzz2LFwvR9uM

That looks like a random link found through google and it still doesn't explain how what has been suggested would restrict free trade, when in fact is beneficial to consumers, and any competitors is free to give the same 20% discount.
Restrictive trade practice would be if both stores agreed to same products at the same price, kept artificially hight because of the lack of competition.

I think it more to do with other firms that might want to enter the pet supplies business in that area rather than how it effects the customer, though that might be a factor as well. Does any agreement that these two businesses have, have a negative affect on someone else who might want to enter the the pet supply business in that area. If the two pet suppliers have an agreement between them on pricing or market share etc and the only pet suppliers in the area it might argued that they are having negative effect on someone wanting to set up in competition close by

You have a habit of editing your posts after I started replying, but what you are saying is still wrong because anyone can give a 20% discount to any customers to attract their business. I can't see how that would stop competitors from setting up another store.

Idiophreak

Lighthouse_in_the_dark wrote: »

why not spend £10 and get your own stall and use it to drive traffic to your shop?

I know it's a little juvenile, but I'd be very tempted to ask the council for 20 stalls and get friends and family to sell your stock from all of them. After a couple of weeks, one of two things would happen:
1) The market stall would get bored of turning up and being lost in the middle of your shop stalls and stop coming
2) The council would realise what a mockery their £10 stalls are - and increase the price, hopefully dissuading the guy from coming in future anyway.

I have to say, though, as with any competition, the way you win in the long term is by focussing on your own game and doing the best you can...the time you spend worrying about him isn't time you're investing in your own business making it better....

lesleydn

Just wanted to say thanks to those of you who have put forward positive ideas - the audacity of the idea of renting a 100 stalls, made me laugh.

As to coments on 'Sour Grapes' on my part - of course it is!! I'm really hacked off that for £10.00 my competitor can use an increasing amount of space to both sell and advertise. In effect, he is being subsidised by the Council to command the Town Square position. Hence, my questioning the legality of the arrangement , and wondering if it is legally a market - legal definitions of markets stipulate "five or more traders".

I have not simply sat on my bum and gone 'yah boo, its not fair' . Im working very hard at putting other strategies in place to differentiate and compete. But it is a very price sensitive area & I simply cannot compete with him on prices due to my overheads.

As a previous poster mentioned - its competion and he is maximising his position. Surely it would be stupid of me not to question the facts that provide his competitive advantage and challenge them if I am able??

patman99

The market trader may have a shop himself & just use the market stall to increase his exposure.
I know a clothing retailer who as well as his shop, had stalls at 3 local markets.

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

... 5% discount for grooming, maybe more for pensioners ...

There's an idea for a service that the market trader doesn't offer; Pensioner Grooming!

lesleydn

It is hard to fully explain a situation without writing an over-long post and boring everybody to death ( I probably already have).
I did not make clear that the person who is actually fronting the market stall I am moaning about is an employee of an 'out of town' business that work the markets regionally, not a a sole trader himself.