Buying and marketing groups are becoming more common and widely accepted in products distribution industries, as well as even in some service industries. The missions of these groups vary. Buying groups focus upon reducing the acquisition cost of products, thereby enhancing the ability of their members to compete with larger players. Marketing groups focus upon developing programs to assist their members in the promotion and sale of products. Usually, these marketing programs are far superior to what an individual member could produce and are provided at a much lower cost to the member.
Some groups focus equally in the purchasing and marketing areas.
Whatever its mission, a well-run group creates efficiencies of scale which not only benefit its members, but also benefit the public by reducing the pressure to increase prices, and, in many instances, result in lower prices. In some cases, the benefits a member receives from his group can mean the difference between survival or failure. As much good as these groups do, they have always been viewed with some degree of suspicion by the federal and state agencies charged with the responsibility for enforcing the antitrust laws. This article will discuss a few of the antitrust issues that confront many home furnishings retailers who belong to these groups and will provide recommendations that will help minimize the exposure of the group and its members. During the years of the Reagan administration, there was a definite throttling back of federal enforcement of antitrust laws.