Gouging has already started....

[jefmad]

My favorite part is how nobody ever feels sorry for the vendor if they buy something for less than it cost to produce. Instead they come here and brag what a good deal they got. If you are going to try to get every last nickle out of your purchases do not resent they supplier when they have the upper hand, you used it to your full advantage then there was more supply than demand.

 

[Jeff Timm]

I'm in FL, outside the main damage area.

I had MOST of my emergency supplies in hand. I didn't expect a 6 day power outage.

The "trick" to avoiding "gouging" is PREPARATION! <Insert song "Be Prepared" here> I never expended my on-hand stock of batteries, and since Wal*Mart and Home Depot had big packs of batteries at their regular prices I bought replacements.

I sent my wife out of state to get her out of the heat. My brother-in-law and sister bought a generator for us and the wife brought it back. There were two left in Cleveland Ohio, people have been buying them and shipping to relatives in FL.

The retired CPO next door had his generator a long time. He wants a bigger one to run his A/C next time, as well as lights, fan, TV and Fridge.

Geoff
Who learns from his mistakes. BTW Novemeber 2003 Consumer Reports, article on back-up generators. I bought the Best Buy.

 

[TaxPhd]

Hey Jeff, is the song "Be Prepared" the one that was done by Tom Leher?




Scott

 

[twency]

mike dillon, for instance charges $8.99 for four grip screws. they are not gold or any other precious metal. he charges $4.95 for 1/2 ounce of oil. that's $1267.20 for a gallon!!

Hmm, you probably have an inkjet printer attached to your computer. Do you realize that you're probably paying about $10,000 a gallon for the ink in the cartridges?
...
How Evil!
...
Not. It's what you are willing to pay for the stuff. If Mike Dillon is charging more than you're willing to pay for his oil, then buy it from somebody else. Is that particular oil not available elsewhere? Buy a similar but lower-priced competing product. Does nobody sells a lower-priced alternative, so you buy Dillon's product anyway? Then he isn't overcharging. He's simply charging what the market will bear. Same as with gold, gasoline, T-Bone steaks, 9x18 Makarov ammo, or any other item you might want to buy.

If you don't like the price, go elsewhere. Whether or not you eventually go elsewhere, a seller has (or should have) the right to choose the price at which he will offer his product for sale. Businesses aren't charities. Businesses survive and thrive by making a profit. Most businesses choose where they will make more profit, and where they will make less. They might mark up the flashlights 50% over cost, and mark up the batteries 100% over cost. They might mark up the reloading presses 20%, and the dies 75%. They might mark up their screws 500% over net cost. Maybe because there's some non-obvious (to you) significant overhead cost involved in reselling them. Maybe just because they can. It doesn't matter why. It's their choice to offer a product at a particular price. It's your choice to buy or not. And it's your right to tell others when there's a better deal available elsewhere.

The free-market system encourages competition, lowering prices and increasing availibility to a wider market for easily obtained goods, and serving as a distribution control mechanism for scarce, hard to obtain goods. And civilization is the better for it.

-twency

I am not associated with, employed by, or otherwise related to any company that makes or sells any of the products mentioned above.

 

[ctdonath]

Tom Lehrer: Be Prepared

You know: of all the songs I've ever sung, that is the one I've had the most requests not to.
I have time for one more here. This one is a little song dedicated to the Boy Scouts of America. [applause] We seem to have a convention here tonight. The Boy Scouts of America, those noble little... bastions of democracy, and the American Legion of tomorrow. Their motto is... I would like to state at this time that I am not now and have never been... a member of the Boy Scouts of America. Their motto is, as you know, Be Prepared! and that is the name of this song.

Be prepared! That's the Boy Scout's marching song,
Be prepared! As through life you march along.
Be prepared to hold your liquor pretty well,
Don't write naughty words on walls if you can't spell.

Be prepared! To hide that pack of cigarettes,
Don't make book if you cannot cover bets.
Keep those reefers hidden where you're sure
That they will not be found
And be careful not to smoke them
When the scoutmaster's around
For he only will insist that it be shared.
Be prepared!

Be prepared! That's the Boy Scouts' solemn creed,
Be prepared! And be clean in word and deed.
Don't solicit for your sister, that's not nice,
Unless you get a good percentage of her price.

Be prepared! And be careful not to do
Your good deeds when there's no one watching you.
If you're looking for adventure of a
new and different kind,
And you come across a Girl Scout who is
similarly inclined,
Don't be nervous, don't be flustered, don't be scared.
Be prepared!

 

[ctdonath]

jefmad summarizes it. Most people decry "price gouging", but nobody cares about the seller who is getting pennies for his dollar.