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> There's nothing wrong with any of this There isn't? Deliberately understocking so that some of your users miss out and the rest have to pay more seems like i
by PhasmaFelis 7y ago
> There's nothing wrong with any of this
There isn't? Deliberately understocking so that some of your users miss out and the rest have to pay more seems like it's all bad for the users, even if it's making money for somebody.
- dwoozle 7y agoA vendor doesn’t have to offer the socially optimal package. Other vendors can fill in other gaps.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoThe GP said: > The hobby intentionally does nothing to try to improve [the drawbacks of the small scale] because the exclusivity drives prices up to an insane point. [...] There is nothing wrong with any of this. If it's still worth it for you, that's fine. Or if you figure that selling a few blinged-out "designer" models at ultra-premium prices helps support the main product, or if you don't care either way because you don't buy the top models, or you admire the designer's business savvy, or any other thoughtful reason that hasn't occurred to me, that's all fine. But describing that situation I quoted above, and saying "there is nothing wrong with this," is pretty debatable! And I'm getting downvote-bombed for politely debating it. Hacker News is weird sometimes.
- balfirevic 7y ago> But describing that situation I quoted above, and saying "there is nothing wrong with this," is pretty debatable! "There is nothing wrong with this" in contexts like these usually means "nothing morally wrong".
- pbhjpbhj 7y agoSeems there's a pretty obvious argument why artificial scarcity purely for financial gain is wrong, assuming the goods provide a benefit of some kind (and if they don't then there are ready arguments not to sell them at all).
- tonyedgecombe 7y agoIt seems pretty obvious why it isn’t wrong in this case and that is that there is no general shortage of keyboards. Someone buying one of these isn’t going to deprive anybody else from buying a keyboard for their computer.
- edoceo 7y agoMaybe downvotes cause the MK group thinks it's fine. Then you, with a cursory look at the group, state their happy place is "all bad" - and demonstrate a mis-understanding of the MK market forces - which had already been described.
- buckminster 7y agoIt's the same thing as limited edition prints. The exclusivity is the point. Though it's not my cup of tea.
- phaus 7y agoI upvoted because I did poorly word what I meant by the latter part of that statement, see above.
- PhasmaFelis 7y agoThanks for clarifying!
- iliketocomplain 7y ago"Making a profit is bad."
- pjc50 7y agoI can't see how there's anything wrong with deliberately doing a small production run of something, because if it undersells you're going to lose a lot of money. Fundamentally these aren't utilitarian items, they're luxuries, and the market behaves as such. Limited editions are totally normal in the art world.
- jagger27 7y agoThis problem has been thoroughly solved in the mechanical keyboard community with group buys. Take pre-order payment in advance over several weeks and Bob's your uncle, no underselling.
- phaus 7y agoI spoke poorly, I meant there's nothing wrong with people spending money on expensive things simply because they like the way they look/sound. I don't like predatory pricing. Limited Editions are OK, but when every single product is a limited edition designed to milk every last cent out of people I have an issue with it. Although, if its gonna happen, I am very happy that its happening to a luxury product and not something my friends and relatives that make less than a 3rd of my annual income desperately need to survive.