Mike, I agree with you completely. This is the basic law of supply and demand. If you have a product that is in high demand, the price rises. In times of plenty, the price drops. It's not "price gouging" any more than stocking extra ammo or food is "hoarding".
Vanderbough: There's a such a thing as an honest profit and a dishonest profit. And a shrewd businessman sticks to the honest profit in a market like this. Which is why companies like Midway and Brownells have gotten a plethora of new customers. Companies like CDT? They are doomed now.
Ya know; for years now I been telling Y'all that magazines were a weekness. I guess now you know what I was talking about. Once those mags are gone your rifle is uesless.
It's not a free market. It's an artificially restricted market, controlled and interfered with from design through distribution, including what can be domestically produced or imported and by whom, and that drastically chokes off supply at times of high demand--they have no true free market competitors. And this latest rush is not due to some natural disaster but to the threat of further direct government interference in that marketplace. So yeah, there's opportunism that could accurately be described as gouging, not that that should be illegal, but gun owners certainly ought to remember who exploited this artificial shortage and who behaved like Mr. Hill's shop, which I talk about in the column, and reward businesses in the future according to the customer loyalty they merit.
I'm surprised at you, Mike. It's like you read the headline and decided you knew what this was all about from that. It's essentially about gun owner apathy enabling all this. I thought we talked about that the other day.
I have all my needs covered, so I began saving for a want. When I got the funds needed, this happened. Now I can't even find a stripped lower (of quality) let alone a matched upper / lower set. Ah well. I'll keep saving and looking until I can do the build I want.
it's definitely not a free market -- but that doesn't necessarily make it favor the seller over the buyer.
what if i try this rationing tactic and run out of my supplies for longer than my competitors? i could be out of business permanently. as the commenter said, "That type of kneejerk reaction is going to cost them dearly down the road." yeah, well at least they'll still be in business at all to pay those costs. finding a few new customers is always going to be easier than liquidating and starting over from scratch.
and imagine the gun buyer not understanding that all he's doing is playing musical chairs with a bunch of other like-minded people! disgruntled folks who shopped at DSG and walmart are switching to the mom-and-pop you now hate, and vice versa. all of you just sit tight. you didn't get all that you needed beforehand, and you might come up short -- i understand that, i'm in the same boat. but i have enough to do what i would need to do if it came to it, don't you? i do sympathize. it's just that economics is not a political exercise, it's LAW. like PHYSICS. one has to cultivate an understanding of the rules of the game.
Yes, the FEAR of government manipulation (i.e., a ban) is the reason for the spike in demand....but it doesn't change the facts.
Markets are affected by all sorts of things....and government legislative decisions are just one such element.
If the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" hadn't been "avoided" (and I use the term very loosely since nothing was actually fixed with our profligate spending).....the stock market would have detonated (and probably still will once the market figures out that the "deal" won't solve any real problems).
We don't have a truly "free" market in the US b/c we have government interference.....but it is what it is.
Gun owners complaining of price gouging are simply being foolish about the way ANY market works with supply and demand. Their blame is misplaced....rather than blaming the distributors and retailers, they SHOULD be blaming government....or, even more accurately, THEMSELVES....since the time to buy mags was when they were plentiful and under $10 a piece for AR and AK mags.
Further, I disagree with your assertion that there are no "free market competitors". Lancer, Magpul, Tango Down, Troy, HK, Fusil, etc., etc., are all mfrs....then there are all sorts of distributors/retailers: Brownells, Botach, CDNN, Global Tactical, CTD, etc. They are all competitors in this market. The shortage is not artificial...it is very real. The cause may be orchestrated or "artificially" cause by government intervention...but these companies are pumping out mags as fast as they can.
Lastly, I agree that people can choose which companies to support based on their policies in this time of shortages. That's truly an American concept.
It is short-sighted and, quite frankly, stupid beyond belief to blame this problem apathy in the community, failure to heed warning signs, etc., instead of putting the blame where it belongs: on the government and their enablers in the media.
It is even stupider to back it up with cliches and bromides about the "free market" when, as David Codrea points above, this market is anything but. And the most stupid response of all, which I have been seeing many places, is "Oh, well I have what I need. You should have planned better!" Ridiculous when it is all of our interests that everybody get what they need, and that any new people who haven't before but what to join in get what they need.
This government is becoming more and more buffoonish in its oppressiveness every day. A lot of people who are fed up might just think now is the time to buy, but that can't, in part because of gouging.
There is no way of knowing how many NEW people, how many potential NEW supports of this cause, are being prevented from entering the community because they can't obtain what they need.
I told people back in 2004 to get them while you can. The would come when you could not get them. I said the AWB will be back someday worse than before. People said I was crazy. I hope I am wrong about the AWB. Even if we can hold the line this time the powers that be will use ATF rules and/or other edicts.
Does no one get the fundamental difference between what Brownells and Cheaper Than Dirt is doing?
Brownells is taking back orders for product that may never exist.
Cheaper Than Dirt is selling product that is available for delivery today.
How is taking orders for product that may not exist more honest than selling product that does? If you do not like the price do not buy! That is what I am doing.
13 comments:
Agree 100% Mike. If these lollygaggers think this is bad...wait until food shortages hit. They haven't seen gouging yet.
Failing to plan is planning to fail.
Mike, I agree with you completely. This is the basic law of supply and demand. If you have a product that is in high demand, the price rises. In times of plenty, the price drops. It's not "price gouging" any more than stocking extra ammo or food is "hoarding".
Words mean things.
Vanderbough: There's a such a thing as an honest profit and a dishonest profit. And a shrewd businessman sticks to the honest profit in a market like this. Which is why companies like Midway and Brownells have gotten a plethora of new customers. Companies like CDT? They are doomed now.
Ya know; for years now I been telling Y'all that magazines were a weekness. I guess now you know what I was talking about. Once those mags are gone your rifle is uesless.
Here's Robert Murphy talking about how price gouging is part of the free market, and useful:
Hurricane Sandy and Gas Lines
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi__4Yt-dJQ
And this is Tom Woods going over the issues of predatory pricing and price gouging:
The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History, Lecture 8 | Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGeA1Sbd4XM#t=12m01s
It helps to be reminded that no one is entitled to the merchandise of anyone else - that's their property.
It's not a free market. It's an artificially restricted market, controlled and interfered with from design through distribution, including what can be domestically produced or imported and by whom, and that drastically chokes off supply at times of high demand--they have no true free market competitors. And this latest rush is not due to some natural disaster but to the threat of further direct government interference in that marketplace. So yeah, there's opportunism that could accurately be described as gouging, not that that should be illegal, but gun owners certainly ought to remember who exploited this artificial shortage and who behaved like Mr. Hill's shop, which I talk about in the column, and reward businesses in the future according to the customer loyalty they merit.
I'm surprised at you, Mike. It's like you read the headline and decided you knew what this was all about from that. It's essentially about gun owner apathy enabling all this. I thought we talked about that the other day.
Warning signs have long been out there. Didn't buy when stuff was cheaper? Whose fault is that?
On the bright side, glad to see previous some of the previous sleepers have awakened.
I have all my needs covered, so I began saving for a want. When I got the funds needed, this happened. Now I can't even find a stripped lower (of quality) let alone a matched upper / lower set. Ah well. I'll keep saving and looking until I can do the build I want.
it's definitely not a free market -- but that doesn't necessarily make it favor the seller over the buyer.
what if i try this rationing tactic and run out of my supplies for longer than my competitors? i could be out of business permanently. as the commenter said, "That type of kneejerk reaction is going to cost them dearly down the road." yeah, well at least they'll still be in business at all to pay those costs. finding a few new customers is always going to be easier than liquidating and starting over from scratch.
and imagine the gun buyer not understanding that all he's doing is playing musical chairs with a bunch of other like-minded people! disgruntled folks who shopped at DSG and walmart are switching to the mom-and-pop you now hate, and vice versa. all of you just sit tight. you didn't get all that you needed beforehand, and you might come up short -- i understand that, i'm in the same boat. but i have enough to do what i would need to do if it came to it, don't you? i do sympathize. it's just that economics is not a political exercise, it's LAW. like PHYSICS. one has to cultivate an understanding of the rules of the game.
David,
Yes, the FEAR of government manipulation (i.e., a ban) is the reason for the spike in demand....but it doesn't change the facts.
Markets are affected by all sorts of things....and government legislative decisions are just one such element.
If the so-called "Fiscal Cliff" hadn't been "avoided" (and I use the term very loosely since nothing was actually fixed with our profligate spending).....the stock market would have detonated (and probably still will once the market figures out that the "deal" won't solve any real problems).
We don't have a truly "free" market in the US b/c we have government interference.....but it is what it is.
Gun owners complaining of price gouging are simply being foolish about the way ANY market works with supply and demand. Their blame is misplaced....rather than blaming the distributors and retailers, they SHOULD be blaming government....or, even more accurately, THEMSELVES....since the time to buy mags was when they were plentiful and under $10 a piece for AR and AK mags.
Further, I disagree with your assertion that there are no "free market competitors". Lancer, Magpul, Tango Down, Troy, HK, Fusil, etc., etc., are all mfrs....then there are all sorts of distributors/retailers: Brownells, Botach, CDNN, Global Tactical, CTD, etc. They are all competitors in this market. The shortage is not artificial...it is very real. The cause may be orchestrated or "artificially" cause by government intervention...but these companies are pumping out mags as fast as they can.
Lastly, I agree that people can choose which companies to support based on their policies in this time of shortages. That's truly an American concept.
JMO,
Sean
It is short-sighted and, quite frankly, stupid beyond belief to blame this problem apathy in the community, failure to heed warning signs, etc., instead of putting the blame where it belongs: on the government and their enablers in the media.
It is even stupider to back it up with cliches and bromides about the "free market" when, as David Codrea points above, this market is anything but. And the most stupid response of all, which I have been seeing many places, is "Oh, well I have what I need. You should have planned better!" Ridiculous when it is all of our interests that everybody get what they need, and that any new people who haven't before but what to join in get what they need.
This government is becoming more and more buffoonish in its oppressiveness every day. A lot of people who are fed up might just think now is the time to buy, but that can't, in part because of gouging.
There is no way of knowing how many NEW people, how many potential NEW supports of this cause, are being prevented from entering the community because they can't obtain what they need.
I told people back in 2004 to get them while you can. The would come when you could not get them. I said the AWB will be back someday worse than before. People said I was crazy. I hope I am wrong about the AWB. Even if we can hold the line this time the powers that be will use ATF rules and/or other edicts.
Does no one get the fundamental difference between what Brownells and Cheaper Than Dirt is doing?
Brownells is taking back orders for product that may never exist.
Cheaper Than Dirt is selling product that is available for delivery today.
How is taking orders for product that may not exist more honest than selling product that does?
If you do not like the price do not buy! That is what I am doing.
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