Maryland Law Could Rewrite "Minimum Pricing" of Fly Gear

Thursday’s Wall Street Journal contained an interesting article about a new Maryland law that prohibits manufacturers from requiring retailers to charge minimum prices for their goods. As a tag-along to yesterday’s comments on the relative “priciness” of fly reels

, the story tells how the new Maryland law could reach far beyond state boundaries, because it would apply to all online sales as well. So in theory someone buying a fly rod or reel from a fly shop in Michigan could not be forced to pay a manufacturer’s minimum price. Minimum pricing is popular in many industries, including fly fishing, because it protects margins. “By creating a new law that explicitly bans all minimum-pricing agreements between manufacturers and retailers, state legal experts say, Maryland is now able to pre-empt the high-court ruling. Legal experts say more than 30 other states that filed briefs with the Supreme Court could join Maryland in enacting such a law.” Article by Joseph Pereira.