Functional Discounts under the Robinson-Patman Act.pdf

California Law R eview olume 40 | Issue 4 Article 3 J anuary 1953 Functional Discounts under the Robinson-Patman Act Richard S. Kelley Follow this and additional works at : /californialawreview Recommended Citation Richard S. Kelley, Functional Discounts under the Robinson-Patman Act, 40 Cal. L. Rev. 526 (1953). Available at : /californialawreview/vol40/iss4/3 Link to publisher version (DOI) http://dx ./doi :10.15779/Z38JB6T This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the California Law R eview at Berkeley Law Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in California Law R eview by an authorized administrator of Berkeley Law Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact jcera@. [Vol. 40 Functional Discounts Under the Robinson-Patman Act Richard S. Kelley* A N UNDERSTANDING of the economic impact of the Robinson-Patman Act on the distributive trades is impossible without full realization of the significant differences between functional and trade discounts. The terms trade discount and functional discount are often used synono- mously. A trade discountis normally defined as a price differential granted by the seller to a particular buyer dependent on, and because of, the sup- pliers classification of the buyer at a level of commodity distribution.2 For example, a wholesaler is allowed a larger discount than a retailer. The discount granted to manufacturers from that price charged other consumers is sometimes characterized as a trade discount., This usage is not consistent with the above definition. Both the d