---
title: "MAP Policy: How to Write and Enforce One as a Manufacturer"
url: https://www.uncap.com/post/map-policy
author: "Denis Dyli"
published: 2026-11-05
updated: 2026-11-05
summary: "A MAP policy is a manufacturer's own written rule on the lowest price resellers may advertise, where it applies and what happens after a violation. FTC guidance says that if a manufacturer, on its own, adopts a policy regarding a desired level of prices, it may deal only with retailers who agree to that policy, and the Supreme Court's Leegin decision held that vertical price restraints are to be judged by the rule of reason. The policy should define whether cart, login and quote prices count as advertised, and enforcement should follow published steps applied the same way to every reseller. On Shopify B2B, catalogs and logged-in pricing keep dealer prices separate from public retail prices."
---

# MAP Policy: How to Write and Enforce One as a Manufacturer

> A MAP policy is a manufacturer's own written rule on the lowest price resellers may advertise, where it applies and what happens after a violation. FTC guidance says that if a manufacturer, on its own, adopts a policy regarding a desired level of prices, it may deal only with retailers who agree to that policy, and the Supreme Court's Leegin decision held that vertical price restraints are to be judged by the rule of reason. The policy should define whether cart, login and quote prices count as advertised, and enforcement should follow published steps applied the same way to every reseller. On Shopify B2B, catalogs and logged-in pricing keep dealer prices separate from public retail prices.

**Quick answer:** A MAP policy is a written rule a manufacturer adopts on its own: the lowest price resellers may advertise for each covered product, where the rule applies, and what happens after a violation. Write it unilaterally, define what counts as an advertised price (including cart and login pricing), monitor every channel, and apply the same consequences to every reseller.

Last updated: November 5, 2026.

This guide is for manufacturers who sell through dealers and distributors, with or without their own online store. Our [MAP pricing](/glossary/map-pricing) entry covers the definition and how MAP differs from [MSRP](/glossary/msrp). This post covers the document itself: what goes in it, how to announce it, how to handle prices shown in a cart or behind a login, and how to enforce it without turning a policy into an agreement.

**This is not legal advice; consult counsel.** Every legal statement below is quoted from the Federal Trade Commission or the Supreme Court, and the drafting steps are suggestions, not legal requirements. Have counsel review your policy before you publish it.

## What the law says about MAP policies, in the regulator's words

The FTC's guide on [manufacturer-imposed requirements](https://www.ftc.gov/advice-guidance/competition-guidance/guide-antitrust-laws/dealings-supply-chain/manufacturer-imposed-requirements) opens plainly: "Reasonable price, territory, and customer restrictions on dealers are legal." It then explains that "in 2007, the Supreme Court determined that all manufacturer-imposed vertical price programs should be evaluated using a rule of reason approach."

That 2007 case is [Leegin Creative Leather Products v. PSKS](https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/06-480.ZO.html). The Court wrote: "We now hold that Dr. Miles should be overruled and that vertical price restraints are to be judged by the rule of reason." The same opinion describes the earlier Colgate decision as "holding that a manufacturer can announce suggested resale prices and refuse to deal with distributors who do not follow them."

The FTC puts the practical version this way: "If a manufacturer, on its own, adopts a policy regarding a desired level of prices, the law allows the manufacturer to deal only with retailers who agree to that policy." It adds that "a manufacturer can implement a dealer policy on a 'take it or leave it' basis." In the FTC's words, "the critical distinction is between a unilateral decision to impose a restraint (lawful) and a collective agreement among competitors to do the same (unlawful)."

Two cautions from the same sources. The FTC notes that "this change is in federal standards; some state antitrust laws and international authorities view minimum price rules as illegal, per se." And Leegin names the risk of getting the process wrong: "a jury might conclude its unilateral policy was really a vertical agreement, subjecting it to treble damages and potential criminal liability."

The steps below are built around that line between a policy you announce and an agreement you negotiate.

## Step 1: Set the scope before you set a price

Before anyone picks a number, write down what the policy covers.

- Products. List the SKUs the policy covers and the MAP for each, or the rule that produces it. New launches, closeouts and discontinued items need a stated position.
- Resellers. Name who the policy applies to: authorized dealers, distributors, and anyone those distributors sell to.
- Channels. Cover the places a price can be advertised: the reseller's website, marketplaces, search and shopping ads, email, social posts, printed flyers and in-store signs.
- Your own channels. If you sell direct, say how your own store prices relate to the MAP you ask of others.

Keep the scope proportionate. The FTC's own example of a MAP program that went too far is worth reading before you draft. It challenged five music distributors because their policies "were unreasonable in their reach: they prohibited ads with discounted prices, even if the retailer paid for the ads with its own money; they applied to in-store advertising; and a single violation required the retailer to forfeit funds for all of its stores for up to 90 days." Those programs were tied to cooperative advertising money. In that context, the FTC says, "The law allows a manufacturer considerable leeway in setting the terms for advertising that it helps to pay for," but "there are limited situations when these programs can have an unreasonable effect on price levels."

## Step 2: Announce the policy on your own

A unilateral policy is one you write, publish and apply yourself. Here is what that looks like day to day.

Publish the policy as a document from you to your reseller network, dated, with an effective date and a current MAP list. Send the same version to everyone. Whether resellers sign or acknowledge it, and how your dealer agreements refer to it, are questions for counsel; the Leegin passage above on a unilateral policy being found "really a vertical agreement" is the reason to ask.

Expect complaints from dealers about other dealers. The FTC says "a manufacturer can listen to its dealers and take action on its own in response to what it learns from them." The problem starts elsewhere: "Legal issues may arise if it appears that the dealers have agreed to threaten a boycott or collectively pressure the manufacturer to take action." Take reports one at a time, check them yourself, and decide on your own.

Competing manufacturers belong outside the process as well. The FTC says antitrust issues may arise "if a manufacturer agrees with competing manufacturers to impose price or non-price restraints up or down the supply chain."

## Step 3: Define what counts as an advertised price

Online, a store can show one price on the product page and charge another in the cart. A minimum advertised price is, by its name, about the advertised price. Your policy has to say where advertising stops.

Decide and write down your position on each of these:

- Product and category pages. Whether every public listing is covered.
- Strike-through and "was" prices. Whether a reference price next to a lower one counts.
- Cart pricing. Whether a price that appears only after "add to cart" is advertised.
- Login pricing. Whether a price visible only to a logged-in trade account is advertised.
- Coupons and bundles. Whether a public code or a bundle that implies a lower unit price counts.
- Quotes and email to known buyers. Whether a one-to-one quote is covered.
- Marketplace listings and shopping feeds. Who is responsible when a feed shows a stale price.

Answer each one in writing, the same way for every reseller, before the first violation forces the question.

## Step 4: Keep your own store and dealer portal consistent

If you run a dealer portal and a direct store side by side, both send a price signal to your resellers, so set them up so the policy holds on your own site first.

On Shopify, B2B runs on the Basic, Grow, Advanced and Shopify Plus plans. Shopify describes a blended store as one that "lets you manage both your D2C (direct-to-consumer) and B2B (business-to-business) businesses in one Shopify store and admin." In that setup, "Only logged-in B2B customers can view B2B prices, products, and account information," so dealer cost stays behind the dealer's login while the public sees retail. A dedicated B2B store goes further: "You can gate your online store so that the URL and login page is only accessible to B2B customers."

Shopify catalogs are how the prices are kept apart: "You can use B2B catalogs to choose which products and prices to offer your B2B customers." On the Basic, Grow and Advanced plans, you can have up to 3 active catalog assignments across active B2B markets; that limit doesn't apply on Shopify Plus, where you can also assign catalogs directly to specific companies and company locations.

For an example of consumer and dealer pricing in one Shopify store (the store build, not a MAP policy), the E3 Spark Plugs [case study](/work/e3sparkplugs) says "E3 sells spark plugs to consumers and to dealers," with "Shopify's native B2B features, which let E3 offer group pricing for dealers."

Your direct store's retail price is a choice you make as the seller. If it sits below the MAP you ask dealers to respect, expect them to notice. Our guide to [running B2B and DTC from one Shopify store](/post/running-b2b-dtc-one-shopify-store) covers the wider setup, and [dealer and distributor portals for manufacturers](/post/dealer-distributor-portals-manufacturers) covers the dealer side. For a trade-account home with catalogs, pricing, reorders and invoices, [Uncap Portal](/products/portal) "gives trade accounts a self-serve home on Shopify."

## Step 5: Monitor every channel you named

Monitoring is the operational half of a MAP policy. Uncap's [sporting goods](/industry/sporting-goods) page says it directly: "Actual MAP enforcement also needs policy, monitoring and operational enforcement outside the storefront."

Set up monitoring to match the scope you wrote in Step 1:

- Coverage. Every channel and reseller type the policy names, checked on a regular schedule.
- Evidence. A dated screenshot or capture of the listing, the URL, the advertised price and the MAP in force that day.
- Identity. A way to tie a marketplace storefront back to an account, so you know whether the seller is authorized at all.
- Your own data. Your current MAP list, kept in the system that owns product pricing, so the number you enforce is the number you published.

Small teams can start manually on their top SKUs and largest resellers, then add software when the volume makes manual checks unreliable.

## Step 6: Enforce in published steps, the same way every time

Write the consequences into the policy before you need them, and apply them in order. One structure to review with counsel: a written notice with a deadline to correct, then a temporary hold on something the reseller values, then ending the relationship for repeat violations. On that last step, the Leegin opinion says a manufacturer "can exercise its Colgate right to refuse to deal with retailers that do not follow its suggested prices"; ask counsel how that applies to a policy on advertised prices.

Habits to build into the process:

- Same facts, same response. A large account and a small one get the same notice for the same violation.
- No side deals. Do not negotiate a lighter penalty in exchange for a promise about future prices without counsel, given the Leegin warning above.
- Proportionate penalties. Size each penalty to the violation; reread the FTC music case in Step 1 before you set them.

Log every case: the evidence, the notice, the response and the outcome. Review the policy at least once a year and when you add channels.

## Where a MAP policy fits in your channel plan

A MAP policy is one tool for [channel conflict](/glossary/channel-conflict), the tension that appears when you sell direct to buyers your dealers already serve. Price parity, exclusive lines, territory rules and lead routing all work alongside it, and our guide to [ecommerce for manufacturers](/post/ecommerce-for-manufacturers) walks through each in its channel conflict section.

If you are planning the commerce side, start with the [manufacturing](/solutions/manufacturing) page. Uncap is a Shopify Platinum Partner and Shopify Expert, and [Uncap Blueprint](/blueprint) is a fixed-price, four-week plan at $7,500, credited toward implementation if we build it. It is a sensible first step when dealer pricing, a direct store and an ERP all have to agree. [Talk to Our Experts](/quote) about yours.

## Frequently asked questions

### What does MAP stand for in terms of pricing?

MAP stands for minimum advertised price. It is the lowest price a manufacturer allows resellers to advertise for a product, set out in the manufacturer's MAP policy. MSRP, the manufacturer's suggested retail price, is a different number, and the FTC is direct about it: "The key word is 'suggested.'"

### What is a MAP policy?

A MAP policy is the document in which a manufacturer states the minimum advertised price for each covered product, where the rule applies and what happens after a violation. The FTC says that "if a manufacturer, on its own, adopts a policy regarding a desired level of prices, the law allows the manufacturer to deal only with retailers who agree to that policy." This is not legal advice; counsel should review the wording.

### Is MAP pricing enforceable?

A manufacturer can enforce its own policy through its own choices about whom it deals with. For a resale price policy, the FTC says a manufacturer "may stop dealing with a retailer that does not follow its resale price policy," and the Supreme Court in Leegin described a "Colgate right to refuse to deal." The FTC draws "the critical distinction" between a unilateral decision and a collective agreement, and notes that "some state antitrust laws and international authorities view minimum price rules as illegal, per se." This is not legal advice; confirm with counsel.

### Can a retailer sell below MAP?

It depends on the manufacturer's policy, because a MAP policy is written around the advertised price. Each policy should state whether a lower price shown in the cart, behind a trade login or in a one-to-one quote counts as advertising. Without that definition, resellers and the manufacturer will read the same policy differently.

### What are common MAP rules?

A complete MAP policy sets a minimum advertised price per product, lists the channels covered, defines what counts as advertising, and publishes the consequences for violations in order. It should also take a position on new product launches, closeouts and marketplace sellers. In one FTC case, music distributors' MAP policies were "unreasonable in their reach" in part because "a single violation required the retailer to forfeit funds for all of its stores for up to 90 days."

### What is the difference between MSRP and MAP pricing?

MSRP is the retail price a manufacturer suggests, and the FTC says "A dealer is free to set the retail price of the products it sells." MAP is the lowest price a reseller may advertise under the manufacturer's own policy. MSRP is about the selling price; MAP is about the advertised price.