Premier Research Labs United States of America Minimum Advertised Price Policy

Effective Date: September 1, 2022; Last Updated: November 1, 2024

1. Purpose

There are certain advertising practices that undermine the reputation, brand, goodwill, and premium image of Premier Research Labs, LP (“PRL”) products with PRL’s target consumer retail population and discourage its sellers from investing in PRL products and providing the best possible service and support to customers. To protect the integrity of our brand, PRL is implementing this unilateral Premier Research Labs United States of America Minimum Advertised Price Policy (“Policy”), which applies to all authorized sellers (“Sellers”) of our Premier Research Lab® branded products advertising to end user consumers in the United States. This Policy is effective September 1, 2022 and supersedes all of PRL’s prior policies or representations regarding minimum advertised prices or minimum resale prices for the Covered Products (as defined below) applicable to Sellers.

2. Covered Products

This Policy applies to advertisements of PRL’s products listed on the Premier Research Labs MAP Schedule (“Covered Product(s)”), the current version of which is available at https://prlabs.com/map-schedule. The MAP Schedule will be made available to all Sellers and may be changed by PRL at any time in its discretion. Sellers are responsible for reviewing the current MAP Schedule, but PRL will work to promptly notify Sellers when updates are made to it.

3. The Minimum Advertised Price

The “minimum advertised price” (“MAP”) is the lowest price at which the Covered Product may be advertised. PRL is solely responsible for (1) establishing the MAP for each Covered Product and (2) communicating the Policy to all Sellers (including via directing any distributors to pass down the Policy to their resellers). While Sellers remain free to advertise and sell all of PRL’s products (including the Covered Products) at any price, it is a violation of this Policy for a Seller to advertise any Covered Product at a price lower than MAP unless otherwise stated herein.

4. Advertising and Advertisements

For purposes of this Policy, the terms “advertising” and “advertisement” include all promotional or pricing information of Covered Products displayed in any type of media, including, but not limited to:

catalogs magazines flyers brochures television radio ads billboards outdoor signage

websites blogs social media affiliate marketing networks/comparison shopping engines seller-initiated text messages or emails to customers or prospective customers

mobile/smart phone applications banner ads online product ads paid search ads pay-per-click ads display ads mobile ads product listing ads

sponsored links ads in any other media in a digital format that is conveyed via the Internet any other marketing or promotional materials, whether displayed online, through broadcast, or other media

 

The terms “advertise” and “advertisement” do not include:

• Signage displayed within a brick-and-mortar selling location; and
• Pricing information displayed at the Final Online Checkout Stage (when the Covered Product is put into a shopping cart that contains the customer’s name, shipping address, email address, and payment information). Pricing in the “shopping cart” must be obscured so it is not retrievable by shopping engines or displayed on search results within the Seller’s own website.

5. Policy Violations and Permissible Promotions

Advertisements that violate this Policy include, but are not limited to:

1. Displaying the advertised price of the Covered Product below the MAP.
2. Strike-outs or strikethroughs of advertised pricing information.
3. Permitting any third party to alter the advertised price for any Covered Product.
4. Direct or indirect attempts to circumvent this Policy.
5. Customer-Initiated Solicitations for Price: Customers may “call for price,” “text for price,” or “email for price” as long as no price is listed, and no automated response is used. 
6. Free/Reduced Price Shipping: Free or reduced-price shipping offers, as long as they apply to all or almost all other products in the same category. Subscriptions: “Subscribe and Save” or similar programs allowing up to 15% off MAP.
7. Subscriptions: “Subscribe and Save,” “Auto-ship and Save,” “Repeat Delivery,” or other subscription or auto-replenishment loyalty discount programs which result in a Covered Product being advertised at a price lower than the MAP, provided that such programs do not advertise a discount of more than 15 percent (15%) below the Covered Product’s MAP.  Promotion of a subscription service is allowed at any time.
8. First-Time Purchase Promotion: Coupons for the first purchase of a product, up to 15% off MAP.
9. Use of Promo Codes on Paid Social Media Advertising: Offering discounts through paid ads without showing the reduced price in the ad (up to 20% off MAP).
10. Subscription-Based Ads: Coupons or discounts accessible only by end users through personalized communication.
11. Abandoned Cart Promotions: Coupons offered to end users for products in their cart for at least 1 hour, up to 15% off MAP.

6. This Policy Is Not an Agreement and Is Non-Negotiable

This Policy is not an agreement between PRL and any other entity. PRL does not seek or accept promises of compliance from Sellers. Each Seller chooses whether to comply, and the Policy is non-negotiable.

7. MAP Holidays

PRL may announce MAP holidays during which Sellers may advertise products at lower prices without violating the Policy. Sellers will be notified of such holidays.

8. Noncompliance

PRL will take the following actions against Sellers that do not comply:

1. First Violation: Written warning.
2. Second Violation: Written warning and a 60-day shipping hold, during which no new orders will be accepted, and pending orders may be revoked.
3. Third Violation: Termination of business relationship and revocation of “authorized” status. Pending orders will be revoked, and the Seller will no longer be “authorized.”

PRL enforces this Policy at its discretion. Sellers cannot enforce this Policy.

9. Policy Administration

PRL may update, revise, suspend, or otherwise modify this Policy at any time in our discretion, and any modifications will be made available to all Sellers.  

Please note that PRL’s employees or agents cannot modify, interpret, or grant any exceptions to this Policy; cannot solicit or obtain the agreement of any person or entity to comply with this Policy; and cannot otherwise discuss any aspect of this Policy with any Seller, including any Seller’s compliance with the terms.

Any questions about this Policy should be sent in writing to PRL’s MAP Policy Administrator at mappricing@prlabs.com. PRL will not accept any other form of communication from Sellers regarding this Policy.