玩具价格战 - 英语听力
For shoppers this couldn't have come
At a more welcome time
70 percent of toy sales are made in the weeks
Leading up to Christmas
Children obviously want everything
And it's very disappointing if they don't get everything
And if the prices are fixed
The parents can't afford it
I think the price of toys is quite exorbitant
Obviously around Christmas time they always go up
But for parents like us
With our young children
We'd like them to go down
Wouldn't we
For the makers of monopoly
Twister
Action man
A record fine of almost 5 million
Pounds
Hasbro broke competition law when it entered
Into a price-fixing agreement with it's distributiors
It prevented shops selling products below
The manufacturer's recommended price
This supermarket chain wanted to sell
Hasbro toys but at less than the hasbro price
But in order to do that
Until recently it had to go to unauthorised suppliers
It's been a constant battle over the years
With all brands within the toy industry
To offer our customers the best value that we possibly can
And hasbro is one of those brands
Well in theory
Big-brand toy prices should come down across the board
Take this action man toy
For example
It's price has already been cut by almost
20 percent since the inquiry
So competition this Christmas should be even keener
Though an industry expert claims toys
Are competitively priced
And that it's unfair to single out such
A soft target
The toy industry doesn't really have
A big problem with price-fixing
Toys are cheaper nowadays in real terms
Than they were perhaps ten years ago
Hasbro's planning to appeal against what
It calls the disproportionate fine
While consumers can hope for a further
Boost in competition in the almost 2 billion UK toy market
Nicola carslaw
Bbc news
