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Newbury Petrol Prices |
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Jan 27 2010, 06:19 PM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Jan 27 2010, 06:18 PM) It seems there's an agreement amongst Newbury supermarkets about what to charge. Is this illegal or are local traders allowed to set prices as is alleged here?
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Jan 27 2010, 07:05 PM
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QUOTE (user23 @ Jan 27 2010, 06:19 PM) Is this illegal or are local traders allowed to set prices as is alleged here? It would probably be illegal if you could prove it.
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Aug 14 2010, 10:33 AM
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13/08/10 Sainsbury's Devon 112.9 ppl Sainsbury's Newbury 117.9 ppl!
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Aug 14 2010, 11:25 AM
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QUOTE (JeffG @ Aug 14 2010, 12:08 PM) Is that all Sainsbury's in Devon, or is there only one Sainsbury's in Devon? I should imagine there are more than one Sainsbury's in Devon but this is the only one I found. Not sure what town it belongs to but somewhere near Paignton.
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Aug 14 2010, 07:07 PM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Jan 27 2010, 08:05 PM) It would probably be illegal if you could prove it. Not illegal as it's a free market, the price is only an offer for you buy at that price and you are free to go elsewhere. If two retailers decide to follow each other on price that is up to them. They are not controlled in any way, and why should they be - God help us when the state is control of retail prices - we already pay 70%+ tax on fuel as it is - which some may say is state controlled anyway!
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Aug 15 2010, 08:02 AM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Aug 15 2010, 01:02 AM) My understanding is price fixing is illegal. Why would it be illegal for two independent companies to charge the same price? It's called market forces, and as has been said there are plenty of places you can get cheaper fuel. By the same token is it illegal for me to sell my house for the same price as as my neighbour ?
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Aug 15 2010, 09:02 AM
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QUOTE (DrPepper @ Aug 15 2010, 09:02 AM) Why would it be illegal for two independent companies to charge the same price? It's called market forces, and as has been said there are plenty of places you can get cheaper fuel. By the same token is it illegal for me to sell my house for the same price as as my neighbour ? That isn't what he said. Petrol stations can charge whatever price they want, price fixing is something different.
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Aug 15 2010, 12:53 PM
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QUOTE (DrPepper @ Aug 15 2010, 09:02 AM) Why would it be illegal for two independent companies to charge the same price? It's called market forces, and as has been said there are plenty of places you can get cheaper fuel. By the same token is it illegal for me to sell my house for the same price as as my neighbour ? That isn't. But collusion between to retailers to charge the same is. It is a cartel .
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Aug 15 2010, 12:58 PM
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QUOTE (GMR @ Aug 15 2010, 10:02 AM) That isn't what he said. Petrol stations can charge whatever price they want, price fixing is something different. Exactly so how do we know that, say, Tesco's isn't pricing it's petrol down to Sainsbury's level. They do it with everything else beans, bread etc - so is this price fixing or competing? Travel the country and you will see that in most towns the petrol is priced withing a penny from outlet to another, yet may be 8p or so dearer than the next town. And why moan at the supermarkets - they are usually cheaper than the other garages anyway, if they were higher in price I could see a case for price fixing.
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Aug 15 2010, 02:01 PM
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QUOTE (DrPepper @ Aug 15 2010, 01:58 PM) Exactly so how do we know that, say, Tesco's isn't pricing it's petrol down to Sainsbury's level. They do it with everything else beans, bread etc - so is this price fixing or competing? Travel the country and you will see that in most towns the petrol is priced withing a penny from outlet to another, yet may be 8p or so dearer than the next town. And why moan at the supermarkets - they are usually cheaper than the other garages anyway, if they were higher in price I could see a case for price fixing. Well, we don't... but they can be investigated if people are concerned.
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Aug 15 2010, 07:01 PM
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QUOTE (Iommi @ Aug 15 2010, 03:17 PM) DrPepper, all I said was if you could prove that supermarkets are coming to an arrangement regards pricing, you might have a case for reporting it to the relevant authorities. What relevant authority would that be? I don't see who you could complain to that two supermarkets are charging the same price for a product. If every petrol station within a 50 mile radius was charging exactly the same price then there may be a case, but as long as these are private companies they can charge what they like. You may be surprised to know that within retail many manufacturers will insist you charge a set price for the goods - if you sell at less they won't supply you, and this goes nationwide and there is nothing illegal about it (I'm talking about high-end electrical items - hence why on the internet many discounted electrical goods will be grey imports). As I said before it is a free market and retailers can charge whatever they like, and if they choose to charge the same as a competitor that is fine. Also remember there are a number of factors that will dictate the retail price of a product, such as local rents/rates/wages etc - I think you will find these are all higher in the home counties than say Devon, Dorset, Cornwall and "up north".
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