5 ms·
Alternate answer: No, the manifacturing cost of the gpu stays relatively the same, greedy sellers increase price because of the increased demand. It's not like
by gtsop 5y ago
Alternate answer: No, the manifacturing cost of the gpu stays relatively the same, greedy sellers increase price because of the increased demand. It's not like they wouldn't make profit on regular prices.
- factorialboy 5y agoSupply steady. Demand exponential increase due to cryptocurrencies. Blame whomever you wish.
- gtsop 5y agoI just don't get why people hide behind their finger. This is capitalism 101. You either like it and go by it or dislike it and try to change it. For some reason X the demand for product Y has increased which leads to price bump. If you are pro capitalist economy then you just accept it for what it is. If you don't like it then discuss alternate economies. The rules of the economy are the ones to blame, not the people who play by the rules.
- lottin 5y agoIt probably has something to do with the fact that crypto is perceived as having no social value, and therefore people are less inclined to accept negative consequences that may result from such an activity.
- gtsop 5y agoYes this is probably it. But if we walk down that route, what prevents anyone from having a say into what everybody else does with their products. Eg: If think there is no social value in crafting wooden cups, do I have a say in what you do with your purchased wood?
- lottin 5y agoNot you, as an individual, but as a society, absolutely. There are plenty of laws that regulate or forbid certain activities.
- gtsop 5y agoSurely, but are we going to discuss making mining illegal because it drives up gpu prices?
- lottin 5y agoIt's already been banned in various countries, including a number of US towns.
- gtsop 5y agoReally? I was totally not aware of that, do you have a resource?
- lottin 5y agoCheck this out: https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/16/17128678/plattsburgh-new-york-ban-cryptocurrency-mining https://www.theverge.com/2018/3/16/17128678/plattsburgh-new-... https://www.govtech.com/policy/washington-utility-will-uphold-its-cryptocurrency-mining-moratorium.html https://www.govtech.com/policy/washington-utility-will-uphol...
- gtsop 5y agoInteresting. This seems to be concerned with grid electricity consumption which is kinda reasonable
- woah 5y agoThe government should guarantee a GPU for every gamer. Gamers rise up!
- yokoprime 5y agoYes, the big 2022 gamer strike would be interesting
- larsiusprime 5y agoCost is not price. The article is about price.
- gtsop 5y agoCost is a major factor of price (so is profit margin). By stating that cost is relatively the same I highlight the stable factor in the price, at the same time highlighting the changed factor in the price (profit)
- jfengel 5y agoIt seems odd to single out greedy sellers when the key demand here is people hoping to print money. It's all greed here.
- gtsop 5y agoFor the matter of price, i don't care what other buyers do with their purchased goods. I care how the seller treats the customer. If we were to discuss other aspects of mining then yes, i would point to other greedy participants in this chain
- sokoloff 5y agoIf a seller has limited capacity to produce, is it better for a motivated buyer to be able to buy one, albeit at a price higher than they’d like? Or is it better if the price is what all buyers would like, but many motivated buyers can’t get one at all? Neither is perfectly “right”; it’s a direct trade off between “they’re available if you want one” and “they’re as inexpensive as you’ve come to expect from history”.
- gtsop 5y agoMy personal answer on this question is the later. Price stays the same. Eventually the produced products will get into some people's hands. The only difference is how much of their money will end up in the seller's pocket. The motivation you have doesn't scale linearly with the amount of money you can spend. Eg you may have very poor people who would make great use of product X and are very motivated, but they can't grt their hands on it because it is too expensive for them. See the health/surgery industry as a great example.
- sokoloff 5y agoThere’s an additional wrinkle in that this choice tends to lead to intermediate sellers who take the latter choice and turn it into the former choice with additional friction and fraud risk (and no additional profit to the producer, which might give them incentive to scale up production to meet the overage of demand.) High end GPUs are readily available on EBay and other secondhand markets and I’ve resorted to buying them there to get them in for ML training machines. (Same with consoles, concert and sporting event tickets, and other limited production, desirable items.)
- xondono 5y agoSo your theory is that sellers weren’t greedy before?
- gtsop 5y agoNo, my theory is that this the true core of the disscussion here should be how the economy works in general, rather than a specific case of supply and demand.
- xondono 5y agoWhy? We are talking about a specific case. Don’t get me wrong, I love generality, but it’s clear that the trees don’t let you see the forest here. Sellers were as greedy before the price rise, so greed is not the cause. The difference here is that: 1) Supply difficulties mean there’s less in offer. 2) crypto miners have strong demand, since they can make money on those gpus. I would argue that the market is working fairly well, since gpus are being allocated for their best use. Gaming is great, but people seem to really love their eth.
- cesarb 5y ago> greedy sellers increase price because of the increased demand The way supply and demand works can be more subtle than that. Imagine two sellers selling the same widget, one has 50 units and is selling at $100, the other has 60 units and is selling at $120. As long as the demand is below 50 units, buyers will prefer the first seller, and the price will be $100. Once the demand gets above 50 units, the first seller has no more units, and the price is now $120 since buyers have no choice other than buy from the second seller. Notice that at no moment did any of the sellers increase their price. And the reason for the second seller starting with a higher price is most probably not greed, but higher costs (for instance, their store being in a place with a higher rent).
- gtsop 5y agoI get your point but I am not sure the price gaps we're dealing with right here fall into these cases.