For shoppers this couldn't have come at a more welcome time. 70% of toy sales are made in the weeks leading up to Christmas. Children obviously want everything and it's very disappointing if they don't get everything, and if the prices are fixed, the parents can't afford it. I think the price of toys is quite exorbitant. Obviously around Christmas time they always go up, but for parents like us, with our young children, we'd like them to go down, wouldn't we? For the makers of Monopoly, Twister, Action Man, a record fine of almost £5 million. Hasbro broke competition law when it entered into a price-fixing agreement with its distributiors. It prevented shops selling products below the manufacturer's recommended price. This supermarket chain wanted to sell Hasbro toys but at less than the Hasbro price, but in order to do that, until recently it had to go to unauthorised suppliers. It's been a constant battle over the years with all brands within the toy industry to offer our customers the best value that we possibly can, and Hasbro is one of those brands. Well in theory, big-brand toy prices should come down across the board. Take this Action Man toy, for example. Its price has already been cut by almost 20% since the inquiry, so competition this Christmas should be even keener. Though an industry expert claims toys are competitively priced, and that it's unfair to single out such a soft target. The toy industry doesn't really have a big problem with price-fixing. Toys are cheaper nowadays in real terms than they were perhaps ten years ago. Hasbro's planning to appeal against what it calls the "disproportionate fine", while consumers can hope for a further boost in competition in the almost £2 billion UK toy market. Nicola Carslaw, BBC News.


对顾客来说，这件事发生的真是时候。临近圣诞节前的几周将会销售70%的玩具。 显然，孩子什么都想要，如果得不到会非常失望，然而如果价格定死的话，父母就会买不起。 其实，我认为玩具价格有点过高了。哦，当然圣诞节左右价格总会上涨，但像我们这样有孩子的父母总希望价格下跌，不是吗？ 对于大富翁、扭扭乐、行动玩偶的制造商来说，罚金创下了纪录，几乎达到5百万英镑。如果和分销商达成价格垄断的协议，“孩之宝”就违反了竞争法。协议阻止商店以低于厂家推荐的价格销售产品。这家超市连锁店想卖“孩之宝”玩具，但想低于“孩之宝”定价，为了做到这一点，到目前为止，它只能寻求未经授权的供应商。 多年来，玩具业各品牌商战不断，力争给出我们可能提供的最超值的价格。“孩之宝”就是其中的一个品牌。 哦，理论上，大品牌玩具的价格应全面下调。举行动玩偶玩具为例，它的价格自调查以来已经降价快20%，所以今年圣诞节的竞争应更为激烈。尽管业内专家声称玩具应是竞争性定价，但单单选出这一块市场是不公平的。 玩具业在价格垄断方面真的不存在大问题。实际上现在玩具比十年前要便宜多了。 “孩之宝”计划提起上诉，反对所谓的“不均衡罚款”，而消费者们可以期望这点进一步推进近20亿的英国玩具市场内的竞争。 英国广播公司Nicola Carslaw 的报道。