Found the scalper! Sorry, no. The manufacturer already knows that. The scalper is just sucking money out of the economy that might otherwise facilitate expanding manufacturing. Also, if the manufacturer can't tell if there is real demand for even the 5 the scalper snapped up or if it's just a scalper, he might conclude that there's no point to expanding manufacturing because the scalper will just dump on the market later and leave him unable to service the expansion loan.
That's part of the point. They got a few kooks to pay enough that they make a handsome profit doing nothing at all productive. Then they go POOF and leave others to clean up the mess.
And I addressed why your bald assertion about the manufacturers is likely wrong and why the scalpers make it worse by creating artifical scarecity on top of any other scarcety that might already exist.
If there is demand for 4 widgets and the market has 5, there is no scarcity UNLESS a scalper buys up 3 and demands 10 times the reasonable price. Note that if the market has 3 widgets and the scalper buys 2 to sell for outrageous markups, the scalper has still taken a bad situation and made it much worse.
In no case is the scalper doing anything productive in exchange for the huge profit.
What companies do, and want to do, is maximising profits.
OMG, REALLY? This is a REVELATION. I never would have imagined!!!
That's why markets require regulation to remain healthy. Yes, trademark and copyright damage the health of the market (the flu) so why compound the problem by allowing scalpers (shooting up with smallpox and aids)?
You are correct that it is an inefficient market, but the actors who created the inefficiency are the ones who pay the price.
You mean other than to the parents and their kids.
I doubt the manufacturers as a whole are deliberately create a shortfall, that would mean leaving money on the table. I have no doubt they strive to produce just barely enough since that pumps the hype just as well when people see shelves emptying and keeps them from having to hold a bunck of stock during the January lull. The scalpers screw that calculation up.
Man, my kid asks for something, I beat dat ass with a 2x4 If they while again, I put a nail in it. They just sit there kinda glassy eyed now, never make a peep.
Trademark and copyright DO also damage the market, but I don't buy your argument for scalpers. It's like saying "Gee, I have a nasty flu, so I might as well shoot up with smallpox and AIDS while I'm at it".
When you have unmet consumer demand and a profitably manufactured product sitting on the shelf, you have a market failure. In this case, caused by scalpers.
Trademark and copyright do damage in this area as well, but at least serve some useful social purpose (though I don't think the current balance is anything like correct to maximize social benefit). MAP and forbidding re-import should certainly be nullified. Likewise scalping should be banned.
No, no it wouldn't. If there's a toothpick shortage the solution is to make more toothpicks. If laws could end shortages Venezuela would be a paradise.
Consider, a healthy market is supposed to drive price to approach the marginal cost of production. Since the toy manufacturers are NOT losing money on each unit produced, they are NOT priced too low. That is the one and only way markets can create a sane and functional economy. Scalpers disrupt that function be creating an artificial scarcity and then taking advantage of it. That is, they create market inefficiency. They reduce the health of the market.
MBA wet dreams like "value pricing" are driven out of the market if and when the market is healthy.
Try telling 5 year olds that the grump sitting in the corner is exactly why Santa can't bring them what they most wanted for Christmas and see what happens. And pass me the popcorn.
He was thinking of absolutely anything that might sell in the marketplace. If scalpers were creating a toothpick shortage, that would also be proper subject for regulation.
The problem is, it's an artificial scarcity. It's not as if our industrial capacity is maxed out, it's just that demand if focused on a small part of the year and re-tooling takes time.
Compounding that, it only takes a few kooks willing to pay those crazy prices to make the venture pay for the scalpers. A lot of product gets left on the shelf even in the midst of huge demand. That is, an inefficient market.
No, they buy it because they believe it's currenmt price is lower than it's peak price. They hope and expect to sell it off somewhere just before that peak price. Then the bubble pops and people who held too long hold a fire sale.
Slashdot Mirror
You should look up acceleration in the dictionary.
A car coming towards you at 20 MPH need not accelerate to squash you.
Yep, what would an old mainframe guy know about setting up a VM? Just because he worked on VM/360. Everything old is new again.
Found the scalper! Sorry, no. The manufacturer already knows that. The scalper is just sucking money out of the economy that might otherwise facilitate expanding manufacturing. Also, if the manufacturer can't tell if there is real demand for even the 5 the scalper snapped up or if it's just a scalper, he might conclude that there's no point to expanding manufacturing because the scalper will just dump on the market later and leave him unable to service the expansion loan.
That's part of the point. They got a few kooks to pay enough that they make a handsome profit doing nothing at all productive. Then they go POOF and leave others to clean up the mess.
It's generally those very heirs who go "ooh, shiny Ethereum kittehs!".
But they have well over those percentages of the disposable income and accumulated wealth.
Crooks
And I addressed why your bald assertion about the manufacturers is likely wrong and why the scalpers make it worse by creating artifical scarecity on top of any other scarcety that might already exist.
If there is demand for 4 widgets and the market has 5, there is no scarcity UNLESS a scalper buys up 3 and demands 10 times the reasonable price. Note that if the market has 3 widgets and the scalper buys 2 to sell for outrageous markups, the scalper has still taken a bad situation and made it much worse.
In no case is the scalper doing anything productive in exchange for the huge profit.
What companies do, and want to do, is maximising profits.
OMG, REALLY? This is a REVELATION. I never would have imagined!!!
That's why markets require regulation to remain healthy. Yes, trademark and copyright damage the health of the market (the flu) so why compound the problem by allowing scalpers (shooting up with smallpox and aids)?
You are correct that it is an inefficient market, but the actors who created the inefficiency are the ones who pay the price.
You mean other than to the parents and their kids.
I doubt the manufacturers as a whole are deliberately create a shortfall, that would mean leaving money on the table. I have no doubt they strive to produce just barely enough since that pumps the hype just as well when people see shelves emptying and keeps them from having to hold a bunck of stock during the January lull. The scalpers screw that calculation up.
They can't, the product is sitting on a shelf in the scalper's warehouse.
Man, my kid asks for something, I beat dat ass with a 2x4 If they while again, I put a nail in it. They just sit there kinda glassy eyed now, never make a peep.
Trademark and copyright DO also damage the market, but I don't buy your argument for scalpers. It's like saying "Gee, I have a nasty flu, so I might as well shoot up with smallpox and AIDS while I'm at it".
When you have unmet consumer demand and a profitably manufactured product sitting on the shelf, you have a market failure. In this case, caused by scalpers.
Trademark and copyright do damage in this area as well, but at least serve some useful social purpose (though I don't think the current balance is anything like correct to maximize social benefit). MAP and forbidding re-import should certainly be nullified. Likewise scalping should be banned.
And so, overproduce, There is no ACTUAL shortage, they're all in a tent in the scalper's back yard. Enough to last the whole population for a year.
No, no it wouldn't. If there's a toothpick shortage the solution is to make more toothpicks. If laws could end shortages Venezuela would be a paradise.
Consider, a healthy market is supposed to drive price to approach the marginal cost of production. Since the toy manufacturers are NOT losing money on each unit produced, they are NOT priced too low. That is the one and only way markets can create a sane and functional economy. Scalpers disrupt that function be creating an artificial scarcity and then taking advantage of it. That is, they create market inefficiency. They reduce the health of the market.
MBA wet dreams like "value pricing" are driven out of the market if and when the market is healthy.
Try telling 5 year olds that the grump sitting in the corner is exactly why Santa can't bring them what they most wanted for Christmas and see what happens. And pass me the popcorn.
He was thinking of absolutely anything that might sell in the marketplace. If scalpers were creating a toothpick shortage, that would also be proper subject for regulation.
The problem is, it's an artificial scarcity. It's not as if our industrial capacity is maxed out, it's just that demand if focused on a small part of the year and re-tooling takes time.
Compounding that, it only takes a few kooks willing to pay those crazy prices to make the venture pay for the scalpers. A lot of product gets left on the shelf even in the midst of huge demand. That is, an inefficient market.
Better, make the toy scalpers watch the crying kids belonging to the more practical parents until they calm back down. No ear plugs allowed.
Actually, Smith warned that this sort of rent seeking needs to be regulated lest the economy go in the dumper.
Or if we could chop up excess grammar nazis for firewood.
So you're saying they illegally used the DMCA when their real issue was brand disparagement?
Gold has the advantage that it's solidly embedded into history and culture. Housing has the advantage that people like to live indoors.
Bitcoin MIGHT hang in there and it might just poof.
No, they buy it because they believe it's currenmt price is lower than it's peak price. They hope and expect to sell it off somewhere just before that peak price. Then the bubble pops and people who held too long hold a fire sale.