when does it become "gouging" vs supply & demand?
Saw this in an ad, and now I've pulled out the soap box:[Rant1]
Quote:
Originally Posted by
bismarcksea
It is NOT gouging if an auction has bid up to a point that you personally think is high.
That my friend is supply and demand.
First off, my hats off to Stoneheart who lowered his price, rather than just listing his primers on GB where he maybe could have gotten the original price he was looking for- I realized that continuing this argument in his sale thread may do him a disservice, so as a courtesy I moved it to a new thread in this topic..
I keep seeing this defense (supply & demand) for charging 2-10x as much as you paid for an item...
I understand the idea of a free market economy- supply & demand determine price... so do you let a man die in the desert because he can't afford to pay the $100 that you're asking for the last bottle of water?
Factors that are not considered part of the "supply & demand" equation include concepts of:
1) "Price fixing" where all the suppliers of a commodity agree to raise their price -together- so none of that commodity are available at a lower price... in a true free market, this is only temporary- unless the commodity has a regulatory factor (the gov't has outlawed any other suppliers).. which leads to:
2) "regulatory" basically any government or authority control on the price of a commodity. By requiring that all ammo manufacturers be 06 FFL holders, then you've affected the price, because in a pure supply & demand economy, there's competition to drive the price down- and you've regulated "the little guy" out of the picture...
3) "Market manipulation"- this includes a number of tactics, including fear mongering, rumors (of bans, taxes, etc on the item), bashing of competition, "cornering" the market, etc... This I believe is the biggest problem with the firearms industry today- many dealers, suppliers & owners participate in it... there are enough people buying more ammo & supplies than they need, either to cache it away (nothing wrong with that, but it affects market price) or to sell it in another market at a profit... that is where gouging comes in...
if ONE group, company or person were to go and buy every single round of ammo in the state of Colorado, then demand 2-3x the price they paid for it "just because they can"- does that make it right?
what we're seeing too much of lately is this going on in a larger, unorganized scale...
Individuals buy any primers, ammo, magazines or other accessories that they see available, knowing they can profit from them... enough individuals do this, and it has the same effect on the market as if one entity "cornered" the market...
it's usually a temporary bubble that will eventually burst... when the fear & rumors die down- or the supply is increased to the point that there's not enough capital available for the market to be "cornered" anymore... but if regulatory or price fixing issues come into the picture, then it can be sustained longer...
these principles apply to many more items than just firearms & ammunition... anyone remember the "cabbage patch kids" craze? or the more recent Xbox/Playstation shortages?
particpating in the practice of buying these items when you see them available, then selling them at a profit- makes you part of the problem, IMHO.... [Poke]
there's risk involved with these practices... if you're holding onto 250,000 primers that you paid $40/1000 for, hoping to get $70/1000 for them... and the bubble bursts- and supply is then greater than demand, and the price drops to $20/1000.... well, you get the picture...
but for the most part, it's "opportunistic profiteering"
it may be within your rights to do it, but I'm within my rights to scorn you for it as well...
>rant off<
New Walmart ammo restriction policy.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
dbeal
Last night our local Walmart finally got some ammo in. Found out because my son just happened to ask if they had any 9mm. To make a long story short I picked up 2 boxes of 9mm because I was out. It was 20.00 per 100 rounds. Walmart had a 5 box maximum purchase because one of the local gun shops had purchased that Walmarts entire stock and was reselling it for double what they paid for it. I will not be sending any business to that shop. My choice. Others may feel the need to spend more, but I don't.
So I was in Wally World last week (the store on the corner of Colfax and Wadsworth in Lakewood) and noted they had a sign stating that they were limiting ammo purchases to 3 boxes per customer per day. I've heard about some stores with no restrictions and others with different #'s for their restrictions. So I sent an email to the Mother Ship (Corporate), and received a phone call today from the Manager of my local Wally World.
He stated that he just heard from Corporate that they are instituting a new ammo restriction policy across all of their stores. The new policy is a maximum of 6 boxes per customer per day for rifle and handgun ammunition. For example, 6 boxes of 9mm or 3 boxes of 9mm + 3 boxes of .45ACP. He had just printed a sign from Corporate to post on the display case.
He explained to me that he had personally seen local pawn shops, ranges, and gun shops that were coming in and buying everything they had, only to sell it at marked up prices in their own stores. He had instated the 3 box limit to try to prevent this. It looks like Corporate is now also trying to prevent this gouging with their new policy.