There’s a similar concept explored in Catch-22[1]: Milo buys eggs for $.07, and sells them to the mess hall for $.05 What the mess hall doesn’t know and doesn’t

There’s a similar concept explored in Catch-22[1]: Milo buys eggs for $.07, and sells them to the mess hall for $.05 What the mess hall doesn’t know and doesn’t look into is that Milo is running the wholesaler, too - He buys eggs elsewhere for $.01, provides the egg to middlemen for $.045, and buys it back from the middlemen for $.07. For each egg sold, he’s losing $.02 selling it to the mess hall - But making $0.035 selling it to the middlemen. He can’t sell it directly to the mess hall, because the entrenched middlemen would cry foul, and likely have the connections to make it stick (or simply the thuggery to make his life hard if he doesn’t cut them in). Sometimes, you’re not selling ice-cream - You’re selling milk, and the sugar is a loss-leader. [1] I found the relevant quote at https://norighttobelieve.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/everybody-has-a-share/ https://norighttobelieve.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/everybody-...