June 10, 2017
[Madison, Wis…] In a public service announcement released today, the MacIver Institute is warning online bargain hunters in Wisconsin to take extra caution when shopping Amazon on Monday and Tuesday. The state’s antiquated minimum markup law, which mandates higher prices for consumers and outlaws the sale of retail goods below cost, is in direct conflict with Amazon’s Prime Day. The minimum markup law makes it illegal for Amazon to give Wisconsinites low prices and sell deeply discounted merchandise here in the Badger State.Amazon is carelessly offering a 6-blade Yuneec Typhoon drone for 23 percent off, 50 percent off an infused water pitcher, and an astonishing 75 percent off a set of salt and pepper grinders, among many other deals, a cursory inspection of the website revealed.
“When our researchers uncovered these blatantly low prices, I was in shock,” said Brett Healy, president of the MacIver Institute, tongue thoroughly in cheek. “These deals are so good that they must be illegal thanks to Wisconsin’s minimum markup law.”
“I implore the Price Police to do something and stop all the money-saving carnage that is going on,” Healy said.
The third annual Amazon Prime Day starts Monday at 8 p.m., when the online retailer will offer deep discounts for members of its Prime program. The company is advertising Prime Day 2017 as a 30-hour long “epic day of deals.” However, those familiar with Wisconsin’s minimum markup law, formally known as the Unfair Sales Act, know today should really be called Amazon Crime Day – an epic 30-hour crime wave.
Wisconsinites shopping on Amazon during Prime Day are urged to click the “empty cart” button immediately and contact the state Price Police the moment they see a deal that’s too good to be legal. “Don’t get caught up in the Amazon Crime wave by taking advantage of a great price,” Healy urged.
“In all seriousness, Prime Day just shows us how out of step Wisconsin’s minimum markup law
is. A law created for Wisconsin’s economy during the Great Depression should not be holding Wisconsin back from fully participating in the economy of 2017. The world’s highest-valued retailer doesn’t operate a single brick-and-mortar store,” Healy said.
“If the Price Police prevent me from buying the ZShow leisure faux leather jacket, it’ll be the world’s loss because I look really good in that jacket,” Healy said.
