Minimum Advertised Price (MAP)

A MAP policy sets the lowest price at which a reseller may advertise a brand's product: on its website, in ads, in emails or on marketplaces. A reseller that advertises below it may lose advertising support, allocation or the account, depending on the policy.

MAP is different from MSRP (manufacturer's suggested retail price). The US Federal Trade Commission notes that with MSRP the key word is "suggested": a dealer can price differently as long as it reaches that decision on its own. MAP restricts the advertised price, and the FTC notes the law allows a manufacturer considerable leeway in setting the terms for advertising that it helps to pay for.

This page is an overview, not legal advice. Talk to a competition lawyer before writing or enforcing a pricing policy for resellers.

United States. Since Leegin (2007), the Supreme Court judges vertical price restraints under the rule of reason, case by case, rather than banning them outright. The FTC adds that a manufacturer can decide not to use distributors that do not adhere to its MSRP, and that some state antitrust laws and international authorities view minimum price rules as illegal per se.

European Union. Regulation (EU) 2022/720, Article 4(a), treats restricting a buyer's ability to set its own sale price as a hardcore restriction, while the supplier may still impose a maximum price or recommend one, as long as that does not amount to a fixed or minimum price through pressure or incentives.

United Kingdom. The Vertical Agreements Block Exemption Order 2022 has the same hardcore restriction on the buyer's ability to set its onward sale price, and the CMA's guidance for retailers says resale price maintenance agreements are usually unlawful, while recommended prices are not RPM if the retailer can still sell at whatever price it wants.

For a brand selling in several markets, that means a MAP policy that is common in the US may not be usable in Europe.

Even where a brand cannot or does not enforce a minimum price, it wants to know how its products are advertised. A retailer that advertises a brand's hero product far below its own store price pulls shoppers away from the brand's site, trains them to wait for a discount and can push other retailers to follow.

A hypothetical example: a skincare brand sells direct and through four online retailers. Over one month, one retailer runs the brand's best seller at 30% off three times. The brand cannot set that retailer's price in the EU, but it can decide how much stock to allocate, which products to make exclusive to its own site, and when to run its own offers.

1. List the retailers and marketplaces that sell your products. Include your own site as the reference.

2. Record advertised prices, with dates. Product pages, sale banners, emails and ads can each show a different price.

3. Compare in one currency, per market. A price that looks low may be a different market's price.

4. Choose the right tool for the job. RivalSweeper reads public websites, so you can add a retailer's domain and see its prices, discounts and promotions with a dated history, checked daily. It does not run a MAP-enforcement workflow: it reports and alerts. If your main need is MAP enforcement as a supplier, a dedicated MAP tool is the better fit.