4 ms·

Like * drop shipping * trading * and so many other jobs that make money out of money without benefiting anyone except themselves

convolvatron 8y ago
surely lubricating the wheels that set prices is worth a reasonable fraction of your economic output. lets say 10%?
turc1656 8y ago
That's not necessarily true. A viewpoint is that the sales they are securing wouldn't have been made otherwise. For example, a website about high end electronics that is supported by drop-ship based ads for product purchases. Those sales might not have been made were it not for the visitor going to that site. Also, an argument could easily be made for all the items on Amazon that are fulfilled my the merchant as being the equivalent of drop-shipping because Amazon is basically listing stuff that others are selling and shipping on their behalf.
disiplus 8y ago
Well this is worse because domain squatters take the domain and its no longer available.
rob_b 8y ago
That is a completely inept comparison. Domain squatting serves no purpose other than lining the owner’s pockets in what many would consider an unethical manner. Domain names are finite and cannot be replaced as a manufactured product can. A more accurate comparison would be buying every lot of land in an area, another finite resource, without any intention to use the land for yourself with the only goal of then marking it up significantly to milk a potential purchaser without adding any value to the transaction.
- simongr3dal 8y ago
  I know of an owner of a grocery store in a small town where I used to live, he bought a few lots of land here and there in the surrounding area such that there wasn't any contigous area big enough for a competing store to be. It was a small town of maybe 500 people, and the nearest city was 6 miles away.
  - rob_b 8y ago
    I’m not too sure which one I would consider worse. That approach would be similar to buying every desirable domain containing a certain keyword when you operate within the same market. I personally believe the way to beat out competitors in a market is by the quality of service and value added, not by utilizing an artificial barrier that prevents anyone else from entering. I can understand his approach even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. Although, I also believe that competition is better for any market.

convolvatron 8y ago

surely lubricating the wheels that set prices is worth a reasonable fraction of your economic output. lets say 10%?

turc1656 8y ago

That's not necessarily true. A viewpoint is that the sales they are securing wouldn't have been made otherwise. For example, a website about high end electronics that is supported by drop-ship based ads for product purchases. Those sales might not have been made were it not for the visitor going to that site. Also, an argument could easily be made for all the items on Amazon that are fulfilled my the merchant as being the equivalent of drop-shipping because Amazon is basically listing stuff that others are selling and shipping on their behalf.

disiplus 8y ago

Well this is worse because domain squatters take the domain and its no longer available.

rob_b 8y ago

That is a completely inept comparison. Domain squatting serves no purpose other than lining the owner’s pockets in what many would consider an unethical manner. Domain names are finite and cannot be replaced as a manufactured product can. A more accurate comparison would be buying every lot of land in an area, another finite resource, without any intention to use the land for yourself with the only goal of then marking it up significantly to milk a potential purchaser without adding any value to the transaction.

simongr3dal 8y ago
I know of an owner of a grocery store in a small town where I used to live, he bought a few lots of land here and there in the surrounding area such that there wasn't any contigous area big enough for a competing store to be. It was a small town of maybe 500 people, and the nearest city was 6 miles away.
- rob_b 8y ago
  I’m not too sure which one I would consider worse. That approach would be similar to buying every desirable domain containing a certain keyword when you operate within the same market. I personally believe the way to beat out competitors in a market is by the quality of service and value added, not by utilizing an artificial barrier that prevents anyone else from entering. I can understand his approach even if I don’t necessarily agree with it. Although, I also believe that competition is better for any market.