3 ms·

To clarify, I'm not proposing for anything to be implemented. I'm saying that I think the market works this way already. The scenario you're describing sounds

To clarify, I'm not proposing for anything to be implemented. I'm saying that I think the market works this way already. The scenario you're describing sounds different than what I'm talking about, though. You're talking a retailer selling a new product and then passing back commissions on the sale to vendors upstream in the supply chain? I'm not seeing the connection between that and the price effect of used goods on their corresponding new goods.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 4y ago
>>>> Authors aren't benefited by second hand sales. >>> Authors should benefit from secondhand sales >> Would you propose this for all goods? > Yeah, I think it's true for most goods. You suggested that "most goods" already have money from 2nd hand sales flowing back to the "authors". I asked the obvious question about physical goods. Who would get the money? Now I obviously think it is ridiculous idea and "authors" shouldn't be profiting from 2nd hand sales of their works whether those are books or clothes. I am asking you, someone who seems to think it is a good idea, who gets that money from 2nd hand sales of physical goods? The retailer? The manufacturer? The laborer?
- mtlynch 4y ago
  Oh, sorry. I think the confusion is coming from the ambiguity of the word "should." When I said "should" I meant "logically should," not "morally should." I wasn't wishing for a world where this is true but rather describing our current world where this is already true. Like, "Hitting a lightbulb with a hammer should cause the bulb to break." It might help to have a more fleshed out example. Imagine a system where there are only two ways to buy my book. You can either buy it new directly from my website or buy it used on eBay. I sell it on my website for $60, but the current price for a used copy on eBay is $30. Suppose 100 buyers decide to start buying used copies on eBay. eBay sellers increase the price from $30 to $50 to match the increased demand. I, the author, still receive $0 on every sale of the used copy, so I don't see any new money directly. But there are buyers who are open to either a used copy or a new copy, depending on the price. As the price of used copies approaches the price of new copies, more buyers will choose to purchase new directly from me rather than from eBay. Even though the 100 new eBay buyers didn't benefit me directly as the author, it indirectly benefitted me by pushing up the used price and influencing other buyers to purchase the new copy instead of the used copy.

Am4TIfIsER0ppos 4y ago

>>>> Authors aren't benefited by second hand sales. >>> Authors should benefit from secondhand sales >> Would you propose this for all goods? > Yeah, I think it's true for most goods. You suggested that "most goods" already have money from 2nd hand sales flowing back to the "authors". I asked the obvious question about physical goods. Who would get the money? Now I obviously think it is ridiculous idea and "authors" shouldn't be profiting from 2nd hand sales of their works whether those are books or clothes. I am asking you, someone who seems to think it is a good idea, who gets that money from 2nd hand sales of physical goods? The retailer? The manufacturer? The laborer?

mtlynch 4y ago
Oh, sorry. I think the confusion is coming from the ambiguity of the word "should." When I said "should" I meant "logically should," not "morally should." I wasn't wishing for a world where this is true but rather describing our current world where this is already true. Like, "Hitting a lightbulb with a hammer should cause the bulb to break." It might help to have a more fleshed out example. Imagine a system where there are only two ways to buy my book. You can either buy it new directly from my website or buy it used on eBay. I sell it on my website for $60, but the current price for a used copy on eBay is $30. Suppose 100 buyers decide to start buying used copies on eBay. eBay sellers increase the price from $30 to $50 to match the increased demand. I, the author, still receive $0 on every sale of the used copy, so I don't see any new money directly. But there are buyers who are open to either a used copy or a new copy, depending on the price. As the price of used copies approaches the price of new copies, more buyers will choose to purchase new directly from me rather than from eBay. Even though the 100 new eBay buyers didn't benefit me directly as the author, it indirectly benefitted me by pushing up the used price and influencing other buyers to purchase the new copy instead of the used copy.