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Fixed pricing with scarce goods tends to lead to this result, just let supply and demand sort it out and this problem wouldn't exist. Trying to fix this by usin

Fixed pricing with scarce goods tends to lead to this result, just let supply and demand sort it out and this problem wouldn't exist. Trying to fix this by using 2FA won't change much, it's just an arms race where each side keeps investing more and more money into fixing a problem that doesn't have to exist in the first place.

samwillis 5y ago
> just let supply and demand sort it out and this problem wouldn't exist That would go against the mission of the Raspberry Pi Foundation which is to promote computer science education. Accessibility though low prices is an important aspect of that. Not all problems are solved with free markets. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_Foundation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_Foundation
- Ajedi32 5y ago
  Lowering prices doesn't make the product more "accessible" if you can't supply enough to keep up with demand at that price. It just turns the purchasing process into a lottery rather than a bidding war. I can't say I find the former process any more in line with the Pi foundation's stated goals than the latter.
  - zht 5y ago
    so let's say that you target people who can only afford $30 computers if it's a lottery, then some of those people would be able to buy it at $30 if it's a bidding war, then none of them would be able to buy it at $30
    - Ajedi32 5y ago
      That makes sense, assuming "people who can only afford $30 computers" are your sole priority. If you also care about, for example, "people who can only afford $40 computers", then a better approach would be to raise prices to match market value and use the resulting profits to increase supply.
      - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
        As another poster noted, a lot of businesses are basing their product lines on the Pi and Pi Compute Module. To those businesses, the market price can rise well past $40 and completely out of the "hobbyist price range" before it becomes worth it to them to find alternatives. With the difficulty of finding components these days, that "increase in supply" that the increased revenue brings to the Pi Foundation may not come for a very long time. I developed a pi-based system for a well-known company that now has a few hundred deployed at various sites. I can assure you that they wouldn't blink at $200 each. There are businesses out there redesigning their products because they can't find any at all.
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
    - AussieWog93 5y ago
      >so let's say that you target people who can only afford $30 computers I cannot name a single person who has bought a RPi that isn't either a generously-compensated STEM worker or a member of their immediate family. I also cannot name a single person who has bought an RPi that doesn't already own a mid-to-high-end desktop or laptop. Poor people buy used smartphones or refurbed ex-office PCs. EDIT: This probably explains why there's a strong scalper's market for this, thinking about it. Raspberry Pi's typical customers are wealthy enough to not care about paying an extra few bucks.
      - thebigman433 5y ago
        > I cannot name a single person who has bought a RPi that isn't either a generously-compensated STEM worker or a member of their immediate family. Teachers and students. The Pi has tons of uses in education
        AussieWog93 5y ago
        Fair point. Perhaps a better way to distribute them then would be to prioritise deliveries to schools/universities.
  - londons_explore 5y ago
    If the goal is 'get it into the hands of students to further computer science education', then the lottery might end up getting more into student hands than an auction. Remember students are pretty poor compared to VC backed startups trying to deploy their latest IoT blender with Blockchain technology.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  Yes the free market can't solve everything, but we still have to wait for the free market to solve the supply chain issues before this situation will improve. They could temporarily let go of their fixed pricing rule in the meantime.
- eikenberry 5y ago
  Are they selling them at a loss? If not then the market would work fine, they just need to increase production. Maybe they'll make enough money to give some to students that way.
- lvass 5y ago
  There's just no way to look into this and not think they are doing an absolute shit job. A raspberry pi 4 costs the equivalent of 200 US Dollars in Brazil, more than some brand new laptops. Most of our population do not have computers, RPi avaliability would be awesome for us. Allowing some people in some countries to get it for $35 is just the lazy solution. I'd be glad to pay $50, because I'm able to. Put in some effort so the ones who really need it can get it cheap. Sell it at real market value for the rest of us. Doing good things require effort.
colechristensen 5y ago
There are a lot of people who want to play arbitrage with rare goods, if you have enough money you can do it with just about anything. It is perfectly fair to want your market segment to be to deliver cheap rare goods to people without many resources. Sometimes arbitrage helps make efficient markets, other times it is just a drag on the economy. It is perfectly fair for a provider to not want to only provide goods to people with many resources or scalpers. RPi is also just not a good deal if it is significantly more expensive, there are lots of more expensive options out there for small computers which have better specs and are more readily available.
- cinntaile 5y ago
  > It is perfectly fair for a provider to not want to only provide goods to people with many resources or scalpers. Yes but I doubt this will achieve that goal, at most it'll work for a couple of weeks. Also I very much doubt that RPis are being bought by financially disadvantaged people to learn valuable computing skills. These things are bought by people wanting to automate something at home, they're usually well off. Schools and training centres don't buy via the Adafruit retail channel.
- teeray 5y ago
  > RPi is also just not a good deal if it is significantly more expensive Then the price will fall to the point where it’s a good deal, but still more expensive than what it is now. Maybe it’s not the $5 Pi Zero anymore, but $50 might not be too bad.
WheatM 5y ago
zozbot234 5y ago
As others have pointed out, AdaFruit likely cannot raise their selling price for these Pi's due to prior contractual arrangements. They're essentially forced to ration their supply, and all they can do is make the best of a pretty bad situation by at least trying to act fair (i.e. limited buys only) and rewarding their existing customers with preferential access.

samwillis 5y ago

> just let supply and demand sort it out and this problem wouldn't exist That would go against the mission of the Raspberry Pi Foundation which is to promote computer science education. Accessibility though low prices is an important aspect of that. Not all problems are solved with free markets. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_Foundation https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raspberry_Pi_Foundation

Ajedi32 5y ago
Lowering prices doesn't make the product more "accessible" if you can't supply enough to keep up with demand at that price. It just turns the purchasing process into a lottery rather than a bidding war. I can't say I find the former process any more in line with the Pi foundation's stated goals than the latter.
- zht 5y ago
  so let's say that you target people who can only afford $30 computers if it's a lottery, then some of those people would be able to buy it at $30 if it's a bidding war, then none of them would be able to buy it at $30
  - Ajedi32 5y ago
    That makes sense, assuming "people who can only afford $30 computers" are your sole priority. If you also care about, for example, "people who can only afford $40 computers", then a better approach would be to raise prices to match market value and use the resulting profits to increase supply.
    - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
      As another poster noted, a lot of businesses are basing their product lines on the Pi and Pi Compute Module. To those businesses, the market price can rise well past $40 and completely out of the "hobbyist price range" before it becomes worth it to them to find alternatives. With the difficulty of finding components these days, that "increase in supply" that the increased revenue brings to the Pi Foundation may not come for a very long time. I developed a pi-based system for a well-known company that now has a few hundred deployed at various sites. I can assure you that they wouldn't blink at $200 each. There are businesses out there redesigning their products because they can't find any at all.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - AussieWog93 5y ago
    >so let's say that you target people who can only afford $30 computers I cannot name a single person who has bought a RPi that isn't either a generously-compensated STEM worker or a member of their immediate family. I also cannot name a single person who has bought an RPi that doesn't already own a mid-to-high-end desktop or laptop. Poor people buy used smartphones or refurbed ex-office PCs. EDIT: This probably explains why there's a strong scalper's market for this, thinking about it. Raspberry Pi's typical customers are wealthy enough to not care about paying an extra few bucks.
    - thebigman433 5y ago
      > I cannot name a single person who has bought a RPi that isn't either a generously-compensated STEM worker or a member of their immediate family. Teachers and students. The Pi has tons of uses in education
      - AussieWog93 5y ago
        Fair point. Perhaps a better way to distribute them then would be to prioritise deliveries to schools/universities.
- londons_explore 5y ago
  If the goal is 'get it into the hands of students to further computer science education', then the lottery might end up getting more into student hands than an auction. Remember students are pretty poor compared to VC backed startups trying to deploy their latest IoT blender with Blockchain technology.
cinntaile 5y ago
Yes the free market can't solve everything, but we still have to wait for the free market to solve the supply chain issues before this situation will improve. They could temporarily let go of their fixed pricing rule in the meantime.
eikenberry 5y ago
Are they selling them at a loss? If not then the market would work fine, they just need to increase production. Maybe they'll make enough money to give some to students that way.
lvass 5y ago
There's just no way to look into this and not think they are doing an absolute shit job. A raspberry pi 4 costs the equivalent of 200 US Dollars in Brazil, more than some brand new laptops. Most of our population do not have computers, RPi avaliability would be awesome for us. Allowing some people in some countries to get it for $35 is just the lazy solution. I'd be glad to pay $50, because I'm able to. Put in some effort so the ones who really need it can get it cheap. Sell it at real market value for the rest of us. Doing good things require effort.

colechristensen 5y ago

There are a lot of people who want to play arbitrage with rare goods, if you have enough money you can do it with just about anything. It is perfectly fair to want your market segment to be to deliver cheap rare goods to people without many resources. Sometimes arbitrage helps make efficient markets, other times it is just a drag on the economy. It is perfectly fair for a provider to not want to only provide goods to people with many resources or scalpers. RPi is also just not a good deal if it is significantly more expensive, there are lots of more expensive options out there for small computers which have better specs and are more readily available.

cinntaile 5y ago
> It is perfectly fair for a provider to not want to only provide goods to people with many resources or scalpers. Yes but I doubt this will achieve that goal, at most it'll work for a couple of weeks. Also I very much doubt that RPis are being bought by financially disadvantaged people to learn valuable computing skills. These things are bought by people wanting to automate something at home, they're usually well off. Schools and training centres don't buy via the Adafruit retail channel.
teeray 5y ago
> RPi is also just not a good deal if it is significantly more expensive Then the price will fall to the point where it’s a good deal, but still more expensive than what it is now. Maybe it’s not the $5 Pi Zero anymore, but $50 might not be too bad.

WheatM 5y ago

zozbot234 5y ago

As others have pointed out, AdaFruit likely cannot raise their selling price for these Pi's due to prior contractual arrangements. They're essentially forced to ration their supply, and all they can do is make the best of a pretty bad situation by at least trying to act fair (i.e. limited buys only) and rewarding their existing customers with preferential access.