Q&A: Predatory Pricing
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Predatory Pricing
Question
Is a large business owner who wants to suppress competition permitted, from the standpoint of Jewish law, to sell at a loss until his competitor goes bankrupt, and in the future people will also refrain from competing with him?
Answer
Strictly speaking, I think there is no prohibition here. But the Sages prohibited price gouging, and it is reasonable that this too is included in that prohibition. There is also the claim of "you are cutting off my livelihood," which was said even about opening a similar business in geographic proximity, so all the more so in our case.