The Colgate Doctrine has to be implemented on a company-wide basis and must be adhered to strictly. The problem in implementing it is that it must be absolute: in your example, it must be “sell it for $20 or else you are terminated.” If you have a distributor selling for less than $20 and it isn’t terminated, the company can, in fact, run into serious price fixing problems. Lots of companies find it is easier to not bother with it than risk a rogue sales agent going along with a price-cutting distributor, exposing the company to significant antitrust risk.
Incidentally, the Colgate Doctrine may now be a thing of the past with the Supreme Court’s decision a few years ago that makes resale price maintenance subject to the rule of reason. If you’re interested, google “Leegin Creative Leather Products.”
And avoiding jail is always a good thing. :)
In the paper industry getting rid of a customers was not easy. I honestly never saw a customer terminated for not selling a product at a particular price. I know P&G controlled their away from home customers, but they just restricted who could sell it better than most.
The paper industry was one of the justice departments favorite targets.