3 ms·

I find that attitude a bit strange. Carried to its logical conclusion, you wouldn't want to buy a used car from someone if they received it for free, regardless

by baddox 10y ago

I find that attitude a bit strange. Carried to its logical conclusion, you wouldn't want to buy a used car from someone if they received it for free, regardless of how much they're charging vs. market rates. It makes sense to compare a product offering with other offerings on the market, but it doesn't make sense to me to care about the profit margin. What if one firm can offer a product cheaper than all equivalent competing products, but with a much higher profit margin?

grandalf 10y ago
> Carried to its logical conclusion, you wouldn't want to buy a used car from someone if they received it for free, regardless of how much they're charging vs. market rates. Great point. These objections to Instacart are not just bizarrely irrational, they are at odds with how the service economy works.
enraged_camel 10y ago
The point I'm making is that a buying decision depends on much more than just the price you're paying. All kinds of information go into people's decision-making process. For instance, if you knew that the duck-fur coat (or whatever, I don't know if that's a real thing) you are about to buy was made by torturing ducks, you would be less likely to buy it, even if the price, by itself, was reasonable. This is why a lot of companies that sell animal products go to great lengths to keep such information from consumers: because the resulting information asymmetry benefits them. The idea that at the end of the day the product/service is either worth it to you at X price or it isn't is simply wrong.
- baddox 10y ago
  I suppose you have a point: if I thought earning profit (or a certain level of profit) was immoral, then I would want to know the profit margin before I made a purchase. I personally don't hold that moral belief, but undoubtedly some people do.

3 ms·

I find that attitude a bit strange. Carried to its logical conclusion, you wouldn't want to buy a used car from someone if they received it for free, regardless

by baddox 10y ago

grandalf 10y ago
> Carried to its logical conclusion, you wouldn't want to buy a used car from someone if they received it for free, regardless of how much they're charging vs. market rates. Great point. These objections to Instacart are not just bizarrely irrational, they are at odds with how the service economy works.
enraged_camel 10y ago
The point I'm making is that a buying decision depends on much more than just the price you're paying. All kinds of information go into people's decision-making process. For instance, if you knew that the duck-fur coat (or whatever, I don't know if that's a real thing) you are about to buy was made by torturing ducks, you would be less likely to buy it, even if the price, by itself, was reasonable. This is why a lot of companies that sell animal products go to great lengths to keep such information from consumers: because the resulting information asymmetry benefits them. The idea that at the end of the day the product/service is either worth it to you at X price or it isn't is simply wrong.
- baddox 10y ago
  I suppose you have a point: if I thought earning profit (or a certain level of profit) was immoral, then I would want to know the profit margin before I made a purchase. I personally don't hold that moral belief, but undoubtedly some people do.