Slashdot Mirror
Where Did All The Online Bargains Go?
cornflux writes: "There's something I've wondered recently -- 'Where did all the good deals go?' It seems I'm not the only one -- Business 2.0 has an article about the noticable lack of bargains available online, today. The author covers obvious reasons (dried up VC, need for real profit) and some others (pseudo-price fixing). The one thing that was missed is the ever-increasing number of morons who will pay full-retail price + 20% for things on eBay." Note that the piece is largely theoretical -- I've found consistently better prices on the web, even recently, than I have in-store for electronic goods, as well as obscure DVDs which I couldn't find locally anyhow.
That explains everything. There are too many idiots on Ebay, and people too lazy to comparison shop.
Repeal the DMCA!
That's the heart of the matter. Though a typical Slashdot user's online shopping probably consists of hunting down deals on RAM through Priceline, the average shopper is simply looking for convenience and selection. They're willing to pay a little more for it, too. This mirrors the rest of the catalog shopping world- which the online shopping world is just another part of. And surprise, the online winners, with very few exceptions, are the same companies who have been doing mail order successfully for the last 20 years- Lands End, LLBean, etc.
It's bad for businesses based on a sustainable business model (because they can't compete with products given away at a loss). Soon after it is bad for consumers, because (a) the dot-com is out of business (for obvious reasons), and (b) the competition is also out of business (they couldn't compete and make a profit). At this point, the only place the consumer can buy from is the MegaCorps that were able to afford to compete at a loss for a long time. Now the MegaCorp can raise its prices as much as it likes, since it has no surviving competition.
here are so many idiots with lots of money out there, maybe I should start selling miraculous "herbal medicine" (aka grass) on eBay. There's nothing wrong with exploiting morons. They're morons, it's their own fault for buying that crap.
While nice in theory, this attitude doesn't work in real life. That's why we (in the USA, anyway) have agencies like the FDA.
I don't care if it's 90,000 hectares. That lake was not my doing.
Who's the moron again?
7 November 2006: The day Americans realized corruption and incompetence weren't addressing 11 September 2001