Quote:
Originally Posted by Andrew H.
There is this tinfoil-hat conspiracy holding that it's bad for a company to offer low prices because then they will outcompete the competition and, when they are gone, raise prices. However, this *never* happens. People have been claiming this about Walmart for decades, and we're still waiting for them to raise prices.
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Disclaimer: Not American, not living in the US.
Now, despite that;
I do think Wal-Mart is charging higher prices when they gain a monopolistic position in a local market. Granted, they don't do it by raising prices, they do it by squeezing suppliers. It is much more efficient for a retailer to lower their purchasing costs (no uproar in media) then raising their sales price. In the end, the consumer doesn't benefit from Wal-Mart's lower costs.