[gamblor956]

They force manufacturers to accept returns of unsold product and have met 30-90 day payment terms. The effect is that these large retailers don't buy the product until after it's sold.

This is false. Net payment terms don't change who holds title to the product, just when the money changes hands.

Additionally, retailers only force manufacturers to accept returns of unsold product for products that overwhelming failed to sell. They don't return small batches of unsold product.

They also just rent shelf space to companies and have little if anything to do with what is stocked there and how it's priced.

True, but this is such a small portion of the retail market that it would be a rounding error of a rounding error. Generally, most retail companies don't do this.

[treis]

Holding title and nitpicking return policy doesn't change the core of my point. Retailers haven't paid for the products on their shelves. Holding title doesn't change that nor does having a minimum return size.

[gamblor956]

Holding title changes everything in legal terms, and since antitrust is a legal issue, that is what matters.

Retailers haven't paid for the products on their shelves.

Net payment terms aren't net of sale to customer. They're net of delivery to retailer. Some products sell before payment is due (i.e., perishable foodstuffs); many do not (i.e., electronics, toys, most non-food items). Title transfers before payment is due, since transfer of title is a huge consideration for a myriad of other legal issues, like product liability. Usually, title transfers when received by the retailer, but sometimes it transfers when handed off to the shipper. Actual timing depends on the contract between retailer and manufacturer, and there is an entire body of law dedicated solely to this.

Returns to manufacturers (for working/undamaged goods) are literally beside the point here, since they only happen for products that simply fail to sell through to end customers, even after substantial discounts by the retailer. Generally, outside of book sales, this happens rarely, and when it does happen the manufacturer almost always just provides discounts on other goods. (For books, returning unsold copies to the publisher is SOP, and the publisher usually takes them back and refunds the store because they want the store to purchase future books. Unlike other retail, book sales are heavily hit-driven and transient, so financial considerations differ.)

In the case of new products: for small manufacturers without a record, stock is usually provided on consignment with the manufacturer getting paid after units sell; for big/established manufacturers, the stock is purchased by the retailer at a substantial discount from wholesale price or for exchange of services such as marketing efforts by the store to move the product.