During this broiling summer, when buying an ice cream at a store, haven't you ever tilted your head by discovering something unusual? Prices which were marked on familiar groceries disappeared, as the open price system was implemented widely on July 1. There are some people who simply think of the suggested retail price(SRP) as the selling price. However, it is necessary to know more about each pricing system through comparison.

  SRP is a manufacturer's suggested retail price to provide both the distributor and the consumer with information about the price. American manufacturers began to introduce SRP in the early 1900s. Manufacturers haven't had a legal obligation to mark SRP because it has been an optional system.

 Thanks to SRP, consumers can check prices before purchasing products and services. Furthermore, it allows consumers to observe whether distributors raise prices or not. However, consumers are rather not certain about judging a reasonable price by SRP. The reason is that manufacturers set a much higher price than the realistic value, and then distributors mislead consumers with heavy discounts. Namely, distributors induce consumers to make unnecessary purchases as if some products were drastically discounted. In this way, SRP was abused by distributors' unfair business practices.

  The Ministry of Knowledge Economy adopted an open price system on some items a decade ago for correcting the abuse of SRP. The open price system is used to mark a final selling price for distributors. The Ministry of Knowledge Economy is leading distributors to competitive pricing, so it is expecting to form an advantageous pricing system for consumers. Korea applied the open pricing system for 12 items including electronic grids and clothing, banning the use of SRP from September 1, 1999. Prohibiting the use of SRP was expanded to 279 items, including processed foods like ice cream, snacks and instant noodles from July 1, 2010. Items using the open price system are the items where SRP has become nominal because of a distinct difference between the realistic price and SRP. An officer of the Ministry of Knowledge Economy explained on its official web site that if there is more than a 20 percent difference between the two prices of an item, the open price system will be used for the item.

 The open price system is still unwelcome for lots of people because they are accustomed to SRP. However, if we consider the good aspects of the open price system, we can be more accepting the new system.