Protecting consumers from low prices:

KARE 11 compared prices at two Wal-Mart stores that are ten miles apart. One is in Hudson, Wisconsin. The other is in Woodbury, Minnesota.

Here’s what we found:

A portable DVD player selling for $68 in Woodbury, cost $83 in Hudson.

A TV selling for $98 in Woodbury, cost $129 in Hudson.

A $398 personal computer in Woodbury was almost $100 cheaper than its Hudson twin.

And a laptop that cost $398 in Woodbury, cost $632 in Hudson. That’s a difference of $234 for the exact same computer.

How’s that?

The answer dates all the way back to 1939, when Wisconsin lawmakers passed the Unfair Sales Act. That state law says it’s illegal for retailers to sell items below cost. It’s supposed to ensure a competitive marketplace.

Lots of states have these laws, particularly when it comes to gasoline. And many of them were passed quite a bit more recently than 1939.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 28th, 2005 at 7:07 pm by Radley Balko and is filed under There Oughtta Be a Law, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.