4 ms·

Demand is relatively inelastic in some markets; less so in others.

• rayiner 9y ago
  Most consumer-goods markets have relatively elastic demand and high levels of competition. Companies have little ability to "pass on costs" in such markets.
• forapurpose 9y ago
  Where it's inelastic then a profit-maximizing business would already have priced their goods accordingly, and there would be no room to raise prices. Most businesses won't just leave money on the table. There are exceptions and complexity, of course. In health care, raising the price of a good with inelastic demand such as, say, Epipens, might attract social and political penalties. On the other hand, pricing such goods (e.g., pills that cure terminal diseases) at very high levels to begin with is an accepted practice.