Lens price fixing? No package deals to be had anywhere!

RaymondR wrote:

MAP is not resale price maintenance. It is a vertical restraint, just not a price fixing one. RPM means the price at which the retailer can SELL is fixed. Conversely, MAP relates only to the price which the retailer can ADVERTISE. It may or may not have an anticompetitive effect, but it is important to be precise here because RPM and MAP are different. Neither is per se illegal anymore but both can still be illegal under the rule of reason applied in antitrust cases. It would likely be a lot harder to justify an RPM policy than a MAP policy. I am not aware of any camera manufacturer that has an RPM policy; many have MAP policies.

A couple things:

• MAP is a form of RPM, not a distinct thing. Your use of RPM is probably referring to unilateral pricing policy (UPP) which is when a retailer is prohibited from selling below a certain price even in in-person transactions.
• The distinction between MAP and UPP is becoming irrelevant because an increasing percentage of sales are done online, and even under MAP retailers are now prohibited from using coupons, "add to cart for lower price", or other means to sell below a minimum price. Retailers cannot even offer to sell at a lower price via e-mail. They're essentially only allowed to negotiate in person or over the phone, and many of them won't even do that as a matter of store policy or in fear of inadvertently stepping on manufacturer policies and getting their supply cut off.