4 ms·

No that's wrong. If you have $850 right now you can buy a PS5. If nobody on earth marked up the price, you wouldn't be able to buy one for any amount (without g

by yepguy 5y ago

No that's wrong. If you have $850 right now you can buy a PS5. If nobody on earth marked up the price, you wouldn't be able to buy one for any amount (without getting very lucky or expending a lot of effort to find one).

6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago
There were N ps5’s and there are still N ps5’s. The only change is from first come first serve to a market price. Without those scalpers, those units that you can buy today would already be owned by end users. Instead they’re sitting with the scalpers.
- yepguy 5y ago
  Yep, in other words they are now available to buy. So availability increased without having to increase supply.
  - 6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago
    You’re completely ignoring the people who would otherwise have them. It’s less available to them and more available to those you’re talking about. It’s zero sum, at best.
    - yepguy 5y ago
      I don't think I'm ignoring anyone, but I really like living in a society where goods are actually available for purchase. All I'm saying is that that's such a good thing that it counts as value added by the scalpers. There are maybe a couple issues obscuring my point, though. First, there's a sense that scalpers are illegitimate and cheating the system. If Sony were to raise the MSRP themselves, or retailers did it instead, most of the anger and complaints would disappear. Honestly, they should absolutely raise the price. Scalpers are making the market function better in this case, because the "official" outlets are not doing their jobs. Second, most people in the West are not used to thinking about real scarcity and what it means. (If there was a terrible coffee shortage, you might be happy to find a guy who will sell you a cup for $20.)
    - colinmhayes 5y ago
      This is how the economy works. Scarce resources cost more money. Setting price ceilings just mean the people who are willing to pay the most can't get the item.

by yepguy 5y ago

6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago

There were N ps5’s and there are still N ps5’s. The only change is from first come first serve to a market price. Without those scalpers, those units that you can buy today would already be owned by end users. Instead they’re sitting with the scalpers.

yepguy 5y ago
Yep, in other words they are now available to buy. So availability increased without having to increase supply.
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 5y ago
  You’re completely ignoring the people who would otherwise have them. It’s less available to them and more available to those you’re talking about. It’s zero sum, at best.
  - yepguy 5y ago
    I don't think I'm ignoring anyone, but I really like living in a society where goods are actually available for purchase. All I'm saying is that that's such a good thing that it counts as value added by the scalpers. There are maybe a couple issues obscuring my point, though. First, there's a sense that scalpers are illegitimate and cheating the system. If Sony were to raise the MSRP themselves, or retailers did it instead, most of the anger and complaints would disappear. Honestly, they should absolutely raise the price. Scalpers are making the market function better in this case, because the "official" outlets are not doing their jobs. Second, most people in the West are not used to thinking about real scarcity and what it means. (If there was a terrible coffee shortage, you might be happy to find a guy who will sell you a cup for $20.)
  - colinmhayes 5y ago
    This is how the economy works. Scarce resources cost more money. Setting price ceilings just mean the people who are willing to pay the most can't get the item.