Once upon a time, the “man in the street” had a simple time doing his shopping and was, maybe, paying higher prices than he should have paid. Here in the US; we do not have a real tradition of displaying un-priced goods in our shops and expecting the shopper to haggle with the shopkeeper to negotiate a price acceptable to them both. Our system used to be fairly rigid; especially when it came to new manufactured goods; someone made the goods and then sold them to wholesalers who, in turn sold them on to the shopkeepers. The public only came into the chain when they entered the shop; sometimes, the shopkeepers were allowed to set their own prices; but, often, they were forced to sell to the public at a “manufacturers recommended retail price”. In theory, this provided price stability; but it did not guarantee that the public were being charged “fair” prices. Changes In Trading Practices Everyone loves a bargain and we can be easily mislead by statements like “50% off”; or, even a shopkeeper claiming a clearance sale at “wholesale prices” – how can we recognise the genuine from the unscrupulous? Perhaps, better deals for the public and better protection came with the growth of mail order catalogues; but, one way or another, the search for a better bargain has accelerated over time and, one perceived way has involved the concept of “cutting out the middleman”; another operates on the basis of “bigger is better” whereby the seller buys in bulk to get a lower price and passes any savings on to the buying public. The out of town hypermarkets and the latest development in online stores operate on this kind of principle and they sell literally anything and everything – from...