Saw this in an ad, and now I've pulled out the soap box:

Quote Originally Posted by bismarcksea View Post
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....
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<