Cat, Barry, My comment about price fixing referred to my initial statement: that the law is sometimes difficult to understand. In that regard, why was it "price fixing" to try to buy products at a lower price as a group, when that purchase doesn't necessarily reflect the final price charged to the customer. I'm visiting out of state and my laptop isn't working -- sorry for the late reply. b > Need to leave or subscribe to the Sciart-L listserv? Follow the instructions at http://www.gnsi.org/resources/reviews/gnsi-sciart-l-listserv