Restatement Fees

[rwhiles]

Just a general question...what did your firm charge for the PPA restatement and what do you plan on charging for the Cycle 3 restatement? Thank you!

[Belgarath]

We are not supposed to discuss our fees on these boards, just fyi.

[BG5150]

[Dr. Evil]One. Million. Dollars.[/Dr. Evil]

[RatherBeGolfing]

1 hour ago, BG5150 said:

[Dr. Evil]One. Million. Dollars.[/Dr. Evil]

$999,999

Race to the bottom and all that  

[BG5150]

2 hours ago, RatherBeGolfing said:

$999,999

Race to the bottom and all that  

But I offer the intangibles.

[Dave Baker]

Discussing fees is A-OK by me --

[MWeddell]

There are anti-trust concerns if competitors discuss their fees.  I suggest not doing so.

[Dave Baker]

I am learning today that one can avoid the risk of anti-competitive price-fixing allegations by avoiding any discussion of fees whatsoever with a competitor. I'd never thought about it.

It strikes me as odd that the law forces businesses to be so inefficient about providing customers with their products and services at the most competitive price. Instead of asking my competitor what he or she's charging so that I can charge 10% less, I need to see if I can find some clues in press releases or other publicly available documents, or get somebody to stand in for me as a prospective customer, or chat up one of my competitor's customers. If I communicated directly with a competitor about prices, I need to worry that somebody will allege that the communication was part of a price-fixing agreement.

Live and learn! Thanks for the information.

Links:

Price Fixing (Federal Trade Commission)

Dealings with Competitors (Federal Trade Commission) - "In today's marketplace, competitors interact in many ways, through trade associations, professional groups, joint ventures, standard-setting organizations, and other industry groups. Such dealings often are not only competitively benign but procompetitive. But there are antitrust risks when competitors interact to such a degree that they are no longer acting independently, or when collaborating gives competitors the ability to wield market power together."

Spotlight on Trade Associations (Federal Trade Commission) - "One area for concern is exchanging price or other sensitive business data among competitors, whether within a trade or professional association or other industry group. Any data exchange or statistical reporting that includes current prices, or information that identifies data from individual competitors, can raise antitrust concerns if it encourages more uniform prices than otherwise would exist. In general, information reporting cost or data other than price, and historical data rather than current or future data, is less likely to raise antitrust concerns."

What Every Business Should Know About the Antitrust Laws (Keeley, Kuenn & Reid law firm) - "Don't agree on and avoid discussing the following topics with any competitor: Prices, changes in or stabilization of prices, terms or conditions of sale; Prices, changes in or stabilization of prices, terms or conditions of sale ... If you are a member of a trade association or similar group, be sure competent legal counsel monitors the association meetings, programs and activities ... Don't exchange price information (or other sensitive business information) with competitors without guidance from company counsel. Be able to show that you obtained information on a competitor's prices from some source other than the competitor."

I feel like I just fell off the turnip truck. Anybody else?

[Belgarath]

24 minutes ago, Dave Baker said:

It strikes me as odd that the law forces businesses to be so inefficient about providing customers with their products and services at the most competitive price. Instead of asking my competitor what he or she's charging so that I can charge 10% less,

Purely playing Devil's Advocate for the sheer heck of it, I could also have PLANNED to offer a lower price, but upon discovering that my competitor charges substantially more, I could raise my price accordingly...

[RatherBeGolfing]

4 hours ago, Belgarath said:

Purely playing Devil's Advocate for the sheer heck of it, I could also have PLANNED to offer a lower price, but upon discovering that my competitor charges substantially more, I could raise my price accordingly...

That really isn't the concern either, they are fine with you raising your prices.   They might be a lot more concerned about prices going down.  Theoretically, if your competitor charges X and you raise your prices from X-2 to X-1, someone else will step in and charge X-2 (as long as you and your primary competitor does not control the market). You raising your prices slightly isn't anti-competitive.  On the other hand, If you and your primary competitor "collaborate" and decide to lower your prices  to X-3 and X-4 (and keep them there), you might be able to gain a significant share of the market without cannibalizing each others customer base.  That would be anti-competitive.