I was meandering through Best Buy the other day looking for the box set of The Wire and when I found it, I was taken back by the price.
$154.99 is a lot to pay, for anything.
So I immediately get on my iPhone and open the eBay app, type in "The Wire, box set" and look at the prices. Then it hit me; eBay is the perfect example of a free market. The buyer and seller exchange without much regulation/interference from government (though eBay does have some regulatory rules...but nothing too imposing), no tariffs imposed that favor one seller over another, no quotas on how much can be sold or restrictions on to whom. The seller can raise the price and list it as a "buy it now" option (if it is in high demand), or list it for the lower price and have the potential buyers bid.
Which brings me to my next point...
After the bidding is complete and the item sells for a specified price, that price is exactly what the product was worth to the market.
In this case, the box set of The Wire is not worth $154.99 to the market, it's actually worth $65-80 (this includes straight bidding and most "buy it now" options).
Ebay puts more buying power into the consumer's hands which is not a bad thing.
I paid $70 for my box set of The Wire and that includes free shipping.
More power to the consumer!
Additional Reading:
1.)Greg Perry wrote this about eBay and Free Markets...it's a good read (especially if you don't like Economic jargon).
2.)Adam Smith - the father of free markets.
No comments:
Post a Comment