People should hate scalpers. They are leaches who use excess time and information to squat on something others want. They make nothing, add nothing, provide nothing.
It’s mostly poor kids who make 20-30k a year trying to get some extra pocket change. Even if you are doing it at scale you probably won’t make more than 100k
It was really difficult to understand the concept in my mind, and the myriad places it applies, but it has helped me understand a lot of stuff.
Also an interesting fact: When Adam Smith said "free markets" what he meant was "free of economic rent". That is maybe as radical an idea now in our era of health insurance and credit based finance as it was in Smith's day of the "place men" of Britain.
Scalpers exist when a company chooses to ignore the supply demand curve. The value of a Ps5 is much above the asking price, which is easily seen in the price scalpers are asking. This is similar to video cards as well right now, or tickets to many sporting events.
Scalpers essentially make it always possible for a customer to buy a product if they want it enough ($$$). Otherwise, it's more of a lottery system, if the product is not priced well enough.
rdtwo|4 years ago
falcolas|4 years ago
Two, I don't care if they're starving children in Africa. They're leeches creating, extending, and profiteering off shortages.
And it's not just PS5/Xbox X - it's happening with OLED Switches, something which wasn't forecast to have shortages in the first place.
droopyEyelids|4 years ago
It was really difficult to understand the concept in my mind, and the myriad places it applies, but it has helped me understand a lot of stuff.
Also an interesting fact: When Adam Smith said "free markets" what he meant was "free of economic rent". That is maybe as radical an idea now in our era of health insurance and credit based finance as it was in Smith's day of the "place men" of Britain.
ApolloFortyNine|4 years ago
Scalpers essentially make it always possible for a customer to buy a product if they want it enough ($$$). Otherwise, it's more of a lottery system, if the product is not priced well enough.