4 ms·

assuming you can sell them for 100x what you paid That would be a dangerous assumption. Price is a good method of discriminating between who wants something a

assuming you can sell them for 100x what you paid That would be a dangerous assumption. Price is a good method of discriminating between who wants something and who needs something. But just try and raise prices during a pandemic and there will be 1) laws and 2) calls of "price gouging". If The Event really happened I bet that any transformers would be taken by the state/feds within 24 hours. And such an action would have the support of 99% of the populace. Of course they would pay you. But it would be at 1x your cost, not a nickel higher.

IAmEveryone 6y ago
Never has there been a better time to find evidence on this particular debate... Here's a relevant search of Google News: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1265&bih=657&tbm=nws&sxsrf=ALeKk01ZyZDHQ0UsyYtnWWXacqJoyGCk5Q%3A1588555718748&ei=xm-vXqOhLcv5kwWf7IOAAQ&q=ppe+prices&oq=ppe+prices&gs_l=psy-ab.3...9984.11904.0.12125.10.10.0.0.0.0.129.822.8j2.10.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.90...33i10k1.0.oqLKr-QkHJA https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1265&... Choice headlines include: PPE suppliers accused of 'blatant profiteering' as prices inflated by up to 825 per cent. Cost of PPE soars due to price gouging, surge in demand ... Protective equipment costs increase over 1000% amid ... There are indeed some headlines of investigations regarding price gouging in such matters. But it appears that high prices are being paid. And with lots of outrageous stories of millions being paid and the product never showing up, I'd feel relatively safe charging some sane multiplier as long as the product actually exists.
- floatingatoll 6y ago
  The comparison isn’t exact. The entire US nation needs 30 HV transformers in total and there is essentially no competition for those resources within the US, leading to an extremely illiquid market based upon a good that cannot be easily moved and can be easily seized with force. PPE demand is measured in millions per day, is a resource in high demand by both nation and non-nation entities, and cannot as easily be seized by force as each unit item is the size of a dollar bill (and shipments can be protected, etc).
- toss1 6y ago
  The federal government can and does come in, commandeer any goods needed on a NATSEC basis, They will pay the better of the list price or the most favored contract price. Take the goods, cut a check on the spot. Your other customers can and will wait. Period. So, you would need to establish solid pricing history for your stockpile. (source: worked with a mil commander who had been peripherally involved with an event where they snagged ~100 very backordered top end Sun workstations off the shipping floor. also currently work on DOD projects) What you are reading is likely commercial transactions. You should also note that some of those vendors have been snd will be busted by the FBI for price gouging. E.g., one guy in Brooklyn got busted with truckloads of N95 masks & PPE, they just arrested him, logged the gear & donated it. Your multiple needs to be very sane, or you are relying only on luck - they like to make examples of that kind of of behavior...
- makomk 6y ago
  Yes, and the evidence is that the US government has been seizing people's stockpiles of PPE and paying what they think the market price is: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/brooklyn-coronavirus-price-gouging.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/brooklyn-coronav... The only reason suppliers can get away with profiteering and price gouging is that ultimately, most of them aren't based in the USA and so there's no way for the US federal government to get their goods without either paying the price they demand or starting a war.

IAmEveryone 6y ago

Never has there been a better time to find evidence on this particular debate... Here's a relevant search of Google News: https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1265&bih=657&tbm=nws&sxsrf=ALeKk01ZyZDHQ0UsyYtnWWXacqJoyGCk5Q%3A1588555718748&ei=xm-vXqOhLcv5kwWf7IOAAQ&q=ppe+prices&oq=ppe+prices&gs_l=psy-ab.3...9984.11904.0.12125.10.10.0.0.0.0.129.822.8j2.10.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.1.90...33i10k1.0.oqLKr-QkHJA https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&biw=1265&... Choice headlines include: PPE suppliers accused of 'blatant profiteering' as prices inflated by up to 825 per cent. Cost of PPE soars due to price gouging, surge in demand ... Protective equipment costs increase over 1000% amid ... There are indeed some headlines of investigations regarding price gouging in such matters. But it appears that high prices are being paid. And with lots of outrageous stories of millions being paid and the product never showing up, I'd feel relatively safe charging some sane multiplier as long as the product actually exists.

floatingatoll 6y ago
The comparison isn’t exact. The entire US nation needs 30 HV transformers in total and there is essentially no competition for those resources within the US, leading to an extremely illiquid market based upon a good that cannot be easily moved and can be easily seized with force. PPE demand is measured in millions per day, is a resource in high demand by both nation and non-nation entities, and cannot as easily be seized by force as each unit item is the size of a dollar bill (and shipments can be protected, etc).
toss1 6y ago
The federal government can and does come in, commandeer any goods needed on a NATSEC basis, They will pay the better of the list price or the most favored contract price. Take the goods, cut a check on the spot. Your other customers can and will wait. Period. So, you would need to establish solid pricing history for your stockpile. (source: worked with a mil commander who had been peripherally involved with an event where they snagged ~100 very backordered top end Sun workstations off the shipping floor. also currently work on DOD projects) What you are reading is likely commercial transactions. You should also note that some of those vendors have been snd will be busted by the FBI for price gouging. E.g., one guy in Brooklyn got busted with truckloads of N95 masks & PPE, they just arrested him, logged the gear & donated it. Your multiple needs to be very sane, or you are relying only on luck - they like to make examples of that kind of of behavior...
makomk 6y ago
Yes, and the evidence is that the US government has been seizing people's stockpiles of PPE and paying what they think the market price is: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/brooklyn-coronavirus-price-gouging.html https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/nyregion/brooklyn-coronav... The only reason suppliers can get away with profiteering and price gouging is that ultimately, most of them aren't based in the USA and so there's no way for the US federal government to get their goods without either paying the price they demand or starting a war.