Price fixing

In my past life as a retail manager I learnt the lesson that sell price often bears no relationship to cost price, which is why you can sometimes buy goods at below cost if you know what you're looking it.

In Dick Smiths today my son says 'Look, there's my phone, still the same price as when I brought it last year'. The price point for entry level mobiles sits at $100 for some reason, which I'm sure has little to do with the cost of the components or R&D plus a fixed margin.

Supermarkets will come in for scrutiny over their pricing as the recession bites. While they spout on about 4% margins, this isn't on every product. Budget milk is well over $3 a 2ltr compared to $2.50 (2 for $5) at the local fruit and vege, which also has cheaper bread and fruit. All relative, for sure and the great thing about competition is choice. If everyone bought their milk where we do there'd be no milk sold in supermarkets and they'd change their pricing.

All we have to do is exercise free will and stop bleating.