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During emergencies, many brick-and-mortar stores do not raise prices, and will eat the cost to avoid making people upset. People hold grudges. You may gain in t
by scott_s 13y ago
During emergencies, many brick-and-mortar stores do not raise prices, and will eat the cost to avoid making people upset. People hold grudges. You may gain in the short term, but are likely to lose in the long term.
- tvladeck 13y agoAbsolutely some do; I consider that orthogonal to the question of whether or not it would be ethical for them to raise them if they wished, however.
- scott_s 13y agoI point it out as a counter to the tempting narrative of rational economic thinking versus compassion.
- qq66 13y agoAlso, because brick-and-mortar stores don't raise prices (often due to price-gouging laws), people who find themselves in a store with bottled water, for example, will buy much more than they would have if the water was suddenly $50 per bottle. They buy more than they need, leaving none for people who need it just as much but showed up to the store 5 minutes later. When demand exceeds supply, there will be some mechanism by which some demand will be satisfied and other demand will not. In the case of hotels, it's price, in the case of water in an emergency, it's randomness or physical strength grabbing bottles in the grocery store, and in some cases the government steps in and starts rationing goods.