Consumers couldn't get a lower price from Amazon (or others) because the colluding parties had an agreement to set the prices for all retailers. That's the crux of the case.
MSRP is an agreement between Rayban and each of their retailers. If someone wants to sell Raybans, they have to agree to sell at MSRP. But as a retailer, there are plenty of other sunglass makers, who might not have the same requirements. So it's not like you have to sell sunglasses at $100 or anything.
Now imagine that one day, all the sunglass makers come to you at once, and say, you have to sell at MSRP, and it's $100. Since you are in the sunglass selling business, this sucks but what choice do you have? That's why this is also generally illegal, for competitors to collude in setting prices.
Well, then it's not a "real" MSRP if the manufacturer and the retailer are the same. There aren't two parties, so it's just the price and they have complete control over their own pricing.
my gf is an optometrist at Lenscrafters (owned by Luxottica), they have times during the year when they can get any galsses/sunglasses at 50% off for first pair, and 60% off for next 10. the markup, especially on their own brands is through the roof.
I think, also, that such agreements can only apply to the retailers advertised pricing- which is why online stores often say something like "Add to Cart for Price" or "Price too low to advertise", because they have an agreement with the manufacturer as to a Min Advertised Price. Retailers can thus sell Raybans for less, they just can't advertise it. At least, that is my understanding of the situation.
How can Ray Ban charge unfairly for their prices when you have literally 100's of other non Ray Ban options in any sunglasses store? If brand is that important to you that you feel like you have to buy them and you then overpaid for them I would say that's some pretty sweet branding at your expense.
I have no idea if that's true or not but assuming it is then it's not really a Ray Ban discussion. It's a "state of health of the sunglasses market" discussion.
