Morellato capped its sellers' discounts and banned marketplaces — Italy fined it €25.9M

In March 2026 Italy's Competition Authority (AGCM) fined Morellato S.p.A. — among Italy's largest producers of mid-range, accessible-priced jewelry and watches — €25,895,043 for running its selective distribution network as a restraint of competition. The conduct ran from 20 July 2018 to 23 December 2025.

AGCM found two practices. First, resale price maintenance: Morellato set the maximum online discount levels its distributors could apply and enforced them with price-monitoring software, warnings, discount revocations, order blocks and threats to terminate contracts. Second, an explicit contract clause banned distributors from third-party marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay — a ban Morellato policed while its own official stores sold on those same platforms. The marketplace ban was discriminatory and unjustified, and the pricing was a 'hardcore' restriction under EU competition rules.

The proceedings opened on 18 March 2025 after an anonymous whistleblower report and were widened in July 2025 to cover the pricing. Because Morellato's own stores competed on the same marketplaces, the practical effect was to close the online channel to its independent retailers while keeping it open for itself — using a selective-distribution system to control price and channel rather than to protect the brand.