[pm215]

We used to have that in the UK (the "Net Book Agreement") for most of the 20th century, but it collapsed in the 1990s, I think under pressure from big chain bookshops like Dillons that wanted to be able to attract customers with discounts on books.

[ghaff]

In the US, I think most (all?) retail price "fixing" got thrown out many decades ago. But new books mostly sold at list price pretty much until Amazon came along. There were exceptions. Some places had discounts on current hardcover bestsellers. And there was one place in Cambridge that was unusual for having pretty much across the board 15% or so discounts.

Ordering books not in stock also wasn't possible at a lot of stores and, when you could, it often took many weeks.