> They'll go to a wine producer and tell them they want to have an exclusive brand they'll sell for 5€, BUT they want to mark it at 15€ and have regular sales at 67% off.
A consumer rights organisation here currently works its way through the legal stages to declare this illegal, two down, only one regular appeal court is still available*, see the press release https://www.verbraucherzentrale.de/urteilsdatenbank/lebensmittel/lidl-unzulaessige-werbung-mit-uvp-wenn-diese-nicht-ernsthaft-erteilt-wurde-105146 (German, though). Here the supermarket chain Lidl sold an exercise machine unavailable everywhere else with a highly discounted "recommended" retail price. The courts called this fantastic price (in the unlikely/imaginary sense) and forbid the practice.
As consumer rights are regulated by the EU I don't see a reason why this shouldn't be enforcible in the other member states (sorry UK, sorry US), too. Requires someone to sue again before the local courts, though. The legal systems are separate and I don't think the German case will end before the EU courts.
*) after that Lidl could try to call the constitutional court or the EU courts or maybe even the European Court of Human Rights but this seems unlikely, I guess?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
