They raised prices and left them there because enough people are paying these prices.
Them asking for bailouts because of their prices hikes makes exactly 0 sense btw, if they need to sell more, they'll just lower them again. The nice thing about margin is that it's margin - as long as you're making money, you're making money, it just depends how much.
Yeah they jacked up prices and realized that while they may be losing customers, they're still making more money. They'd need to take a tangible financial hit to stop this shit.
This same basic math is going right now at every other company that decided to opportunistically price gouge us.
It's prima facie evidence of price fixing. Not that I expect it to ever be prosecuted, or even seriously investigated.
I think maybe they make an example of a few companies but that the fines are considerably less than the windfall of cash the price gouging got them and the rest of the offenders out there (many of which I bet are even worse) will get off scot-free
Price fixing is when multiple companies collude to raise the price, companies charging more on their own is not price fixing.
Who says they're all doing it on their own?
Do you have any evidence of collusion?
The prices being kept in sync. Which I already said. There should be an investigation.
That's not evidence that they are working together, it's not even enough to start an investigation.
What do you think would be enough evidence to start an investigation?
Hearsay that executives discusses setting prices, or that executives met or talked before the price hike.
They raised prices and left them there because enough people are paying these prices.
Them asking for bailouts because of their prices hikes makes exactly 0 sense btw, if they need to sell more, they'll just lower them again. The nice thing about margin is that it's margin - as long as you're making money, you're making money, it just depends how much.
Yeah they jacked up prices and realized that while they may be losing customers, they're still making more money. They'd need to take a tangible financial hit to stop this shit.
This same basic math is going right now at every other company that decided to opportunistically price gouge us.
It's prima facie evidence of price fixing. Not that I expect it to ever be prosecuted, or even seriously investigated.
I think maybe they make an example of a few companies but that the fines are considerably less than the windfall of cash the price gouging got them and the rest of the offenders out there (many of which I bet are even worse) will get off scot-free
Price fixing is when multiple companies collude to raise the price, companies charging more on their own is not price fixing.
Who says they're all doing it on their own?
Do you have any evidence of collusion?
The prices being kept in sync. Which I already said. There should be an investigation.
That's not evidence that they are working together, it's not even enough to start an investigation.
What do you think would be enough evidence to start an investigation?
Hearsay that executives discusses setting prices, or that executives met or talked before the price hike.