Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
The collapse of the Net Book Agreement has certainly lowered book prices, but it has also beeen directly responsible for the almost complete disappearance of small independent bookshops from the British highstreet.
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I think that's always the trade-off. If you reduce competition (by not allowing discounting), you help smaller businesses - but at the expense of consumers, who have to pay higher prices. German-style shop closing laws are similar - if you're not allowed to keep your store open past 6:30, and have to close on the weekend, larger stores aren't allowed to compete on hours, which benefits smaller stores, but at the expense of customer convenience.