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US: DOJ wins price-fixing battle against poster sellers

By  |  August 15, 2016

According to a press release from the US Department of Justice, the government just defeated an enemy overseas:

Trod Ltd. (doing business as Buy 4 Less, Buy For Less and Buy-For-Less-Online), a U.K. company headquartered in Birmingham, England, pleaded guilty to fixing the prices of certain posters sold online through Amazon Marketplace from as early as September 2013 until in or about January 2014. Trod Ltd. was indicted by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of California in San Francisco on Aug. 27, 2015.

The DOJ claims Trod Ltd. and its “co-conspirators” colluded to use the same pricing algorithm so prospective buyers would see the same price listed for specific wall posters from various Amazon retailers.

In the press release, Acting Assistant Attorney General Renata Hesse for the Justice Department’s Antitrust Division said, “[…] customers must be confident that they will receive the same benefits of vigorous competition on the web as they do at brick-and-mortar stores.”

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