Product same price everywhere - is that allowed?

Supersonos

I've been looking at the Apple iPad Air and have noticed that wherever I go (Apple, John Lewis, Currys etc.) they're all £479.  I thought competition meant some places might choose to sell it cheaper?

And how does this come about?  Do Apple only supply to stores who agree to sell it at £479?

Spank

Of course it's allowed & it's quite possible they set the price it can be sold at

pinkshoes

Supersonos said:

I've been looking at the Apple iPad Air and have noticed that wherever I go (Apple, John Lewis, Currys etc.) they're all £479.  I thought competition meant some places might choose to sell it cheaper?

And how does this come about?  Do Apple only supply to stores who agree to sell it at £479?

Competition doesn't have to mean just price. Stores compete on other factors like customer service, likelihood of not going bust (!), freebies, points etc...

I imagine Apple state a minimum price they expect it to be sold at. 

Lomast

Whilst in theory they can charge what they like in reality apply could charge suppliers whatever it wants so it can effectively dictate pricing. 

They could say ok Currys you want to sell our product If you sell it at rrp we will give you x % discount if you won't agree to that we will only sell it to you at rrp-£10 for example.

They could even threaten to not supply any retailer that does not agree. The normal power of retailers to negotiate is not that strong when you are dealing with the likes of apple , imagine how much business Currys would stand to lose if they did not stock Apple products

Supersonos

I remember years ago a thing where Levis tried to stop Tesco buying their jeans and selling them at a hugely discounted price.  I thought Levis lost and were told Tesco could sell them at whatever price they wanted, but maybe my memory is playing tricks.

powerful_Rogue

Supersonos said:

I've been looking at the Apple iPad Air and have noticed that wherever I go (Apple, John Lewis, Currys etc.) they're all £479.  I thought competition meant some places might choose to sell it cheaper?

And how does this come about?  Do Apple only supply to stores who agree to sell it at £479?

If places couldn't sell at the same price and always had to compete, then we would end up getting products for £0.00

shaun_from_Africa

Supersonos said:

I remember years ago a thing where Levis tried to stop Tesco buying their jeans and selling them at a hugely discounted price.  I thought Levis lost and were told Tesco could sell them at whatever price they wanted, but maybe my memory is playing tricks.

Tesco wanted to import Levi jeans independently and sell them at cheaper price that they would be able to if they purchased from Levi in the UK.
The case did go to court and Tesco lost.

Jack_Cork

Apple can definitely not dictate the price it is sold at, this is illegal!
Apple can set a recommended selling price but cannot set a minimum price - retailers sell it whatever price they like
Competitors also cannot agree what price to sell at as this is illegal as well.
If you want all the facts Google it, but here is an extract of a recent case,

'Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently imposed a substantial fine – £2.7 million - on a supplier of domestic light fittings for engaging in illegal resale price maintenance (RPM). The supplier tried to dictate the minimum prices at which resellers could sell its products online.'

Lomast

Apple can decide how much discount they give to retailers though so unless retailers want to sell at a loss they can effectively dictate the price

Jack_Cork

Lomast said:

Apple can decide how much discount they give to retailers though so unless retailers want to sell at a loss they can effectively dictate the price

Again illegal, this is known as resale price maintenance (RPM). RPM is where a supplier and a retailer agree that the retailer will not resell the supplier’s products below a particular price. RPM can also be achieved indirectly, for example as a result of restrictions on discounting or where there are threats or financial incentives to sell at a particular price

Jack_Cork

And of course a supplier can sell at a loss, there isnt anything to stop them, although they may go out of business. They can also choose to make less margin then their competitors and lower the selling price
Apple can offer its suppliers different discounts, it might sell to John Lewis for £200 each and Currys at £150. But it cant say to them you can only have them at those prices if you sell at £479 or you pay a higher price. It up t o the retailer to choose a selling price, usually based on the margin they want to make