Three major fashion houses, Gucci, Chloé and Loewe, have been fined over €157 million for fixing resale prices in breach of EU competition laws. But it’s not just luxury brands that need to watch out. The prohibition against resale price maintenance is extremely broad and has implications for all businesses which supply goods to distributors or retailers in Australia.
Here’s what resale price maintenance means for you.
Fashion Victims: European Commission Fines Luxury Brands
In October 2025, Gucci, Chloé and Loewe were hit with hefty fines totalling over €157 million for fixing resale prices in breach of EU competition laws. Each brand had required its independent resellers across the European Economic Area to mirror the retail prices, maximum discount rates, and promotional terms applied by each brand in its own direct sales channel – dictating how much consumers would pay for their branded merchandise, no matter where they shopped.
The fines mark a continuation of the crackdown by European regulators on resale price maintenance and related conduct across sectors including household appliances, fashion, and cookware, with big brands including Tefal, Electrolux, LG, Whirlpool, Rolex, and Le Creuset on the hitlist.
Australian Angle: ACCC’s Double-Barrelled Enforcement Strategy
Closer to home, the ACCC has doubled down on its enforcement strategy, combining heavy penalties with educative action to bring a broad range of Australian businesses into line:
- Techtronic fined A$15 million (Dec 2023) – In 2023, the Court ordered Techtronic, a global supplier of power tools, to pay penalties of A$15 million – the largest fine ever handed down in Australia for resale price maintenance. Techtronic admitted that it had entered into agreements with retailer customers and dealers, restricting them from selling its Milwaukee-branded products below a minimum resale price. Techtronic had enforced these restrictive provisions by issuing warnings to dealers who deviated from its pricing instructions and withholding supply from two dealers.
- Court-enforceable undertakings (2025) – The ACCC is continuing to actively investigate and pursue businesses, taking a more educative approach to resale price maintenance enforcement in recent months. In October 2025 and April 2025, the ACCC secured Court-enforceable undertakings from two businesses – Connected Audio Visual and Hard Rock Enterprises – for restricting retailer customers from deviating from specified resale prices. Both businesses have agreed to take corrective action and roll out comprehensive compliance programs at their own cost.
What is Resale Price Maintenance?
Resale price maintenance is when a supplier tries to control the minimum price that retailers can charge for their goods. It captures a broad range of conduct and is a “per se” provision – meaning that the conduct is strictly prohibited regardless of its effect on competition. This means that all businesses, from big multinationals to boutique suppliers, need to be aware of the risks of resale price maintenance and how it impacts their relationships with distributors and retailers.
Remember, customers can set whatever resale prices they wish to set for their products at their absolute discretion.
Top Tips for Suppliers
- Don’t dictate resale prices – You must not tell your customers what to charge for their products. Statements such as “Mark prices at $X”, “We expect you to be in the ballpark of $X—$Y”, and “You should price our products similarly to Brand X” are strictly prohibited.
- Don’t use customer profit margins to control resale pricing – You must not use your customers’ profit margins to control the price at which they re-sell goods. For instance, you cannot tell your customers to calculate their sell price by applying a set margin to their buy price – this is strictly illegal. You can refer to potential profit margins, but it is ultimately the customer’s right to aim for whatever margins they wish to achieve on their products.
- RRPs are OK but must be clearly qualified – You can suggest recommended pricing to customers, provided that you make it clear that this is a suggestion only and that customers can set whatever resale price they decide. Your RRP list should include a statement such as “The price set out or referred to in this list is a recommended price only and there is no obligation to comply with the recommendation.”
- Stay out of pricing disputes between resellers – If a customer approaches you to complain about their competitor’s pricing in the market, you should explain upfront that you cannot get involved in market pricing discussions. You can offer that customer a rebate or a discount on their buy price, if it is commercially sound to do so. However, you must not cease supplying products to their competitor or force their competitor to increase their resale price.
- Consider setting resale price ceilings for promotions – You can set maximum resale prices for customers, for instance to coordinate a sales promotion across one or more retailers. You can combine these with rebates, so that your customers don’t end up funding your promotion. However, price ceilings can be difficult to enforce in practice.
- If in doubt, seek legal advice – Resale price maintenance is a tricky area and the consequences of getting it wrong are serious. Recently, the ACCC has pursued at least one enforcement action a year for resale price maintenance breaches. These regulatory investigations and processes are extremely stressful, time-consuming, and costly for businesses. If in doubt, seek immediate legal advice.
Got questions you need answered? Get expert advice from the Addisons Competition/Antitrust & Consumer team.