You remember how mail-order retailers would put out flyers and catalogs, but when you looked to see what their prices were, they would just say something like "Call now for a custom quote"? Internet retailers really did laugh at this quirk of the high-street store for the most part. If there were any price revisions, they could always instantly put out their new prices. But have you noticed that recently, at Amazon.com and a few other Internet superstores, when you try to research their prices on articles that are a little on the high side, TV sets and the like, that they don't really let you see the price of the article you're interested in, until you have "Added it to the cart"? On the mall online, shopping is no longer as effortless if you have to keep ringing things up just to check what they cost. What has changed that this had to happen?
There actually is a lot that has changed in the world of e-commerce. Manufacturers of all kinds of products, are sick and tired of the way the Internet just puts all the prices right out front at all the Internet stores; in a bid to outdo one another, the retailers keep whittling the prices down. And so, the makers are trying to establish some ground rules over how shoppers get to see their prices when they are at the mall online, shopping. Ever since a certain Supreme Court ruling a couple of years ago, manufacturers now have the right to tell retailers that they can't advertise something for less than what the company says - on flyers, or on the product pages on the Internet. It's the law that Amazon.com can't display a price on the main page if the manufacturers say no. The law doesn't say anything about this once you've actually clicked on it to buy it. It isn't any kind of funny business that Amazon is trying to pull; it is just so funny business that the manufacturer is up to.
The manufacturers seem to have got what they want. When you go to a website like CNet or PriceGrabber, these days, you don't get the price for the products of certain manufacturers, if they have successfully intimidated all online retailers from publishing prices. This makes it more difficult for Amazon, than a company like, say, Best Buy. They are is not allowed to advertise prices too low, but when a customer steps in, he can certainly see whatever low prices there are to take advantage of, all at one go. On Amazon, customers will have to click a couple times extra just to see how much something costs. That puts the online retailer at a slight disadvantage against potential customers visiting the mall online shopping for their stuff.
The manufacturers say that this is all planned. They wonder what would happen if the online retailers would lower their prices so much, that the real physical stores would give up and stop carrying their product linescompletely. It does make sense, if you think about it.