"If minimum wage goes up, the price of everything goes up."

[Speaker to Animals]

No wonder our market is so fucked up.

A seller should be able to price its wares at whatever price it wants. If a gas station/convenience store makes all its money on Slurpees and Snickers bars, sell gas at $0.50/gallon. Then the consumers win.

This is why Amazon is so successful, they sell virtually everything and at a lower price than anywhere else.

They already sell pretty damned near cost. Most of the money made by gas stations is by selling items in the store, or reducing costs by shrinking the store down to a kiosk that sells discount tobacco with some soda machines out in the parking lot. Oil and gas is a tough industry at the downstream level.

[DBTrek]

This is why Amazon is so successful, they sell virtually everything and at a lower price than anywhere else.

Then why is Mercedes so successful?

[Ex-California]

This is why Amazon is so successful, they sell virtually everything and at a lower price than anywhere else.

Then why is Mercedes so successful?

Perceived status. Blame it on the ego

[Ex-California]

No wonder our market is so fucked up.

A seller should be able to price its wares at whatever price it wants. If a gas station/convenience store makes all its money on Slurpees and Snickers bars, sell gas at $0.50/gallon. Then the consumers win.

This is why Amazon is so successful, they sell virtually everything and at a lower price than anywhere else.

They already sell pretty damned near cost. Most of the money made by gas stations is by selling items in the store, or reducing costs by shrinking the store down to a kiosk that sells discount tobacco with some soda machines out in the parking lot. Oil and gas is a tough industry at the downstream level.

But that post above actually said that it is illegal to sell below cost. I'm pretty exasperated at this and am having trouble believing its true, but considering everything, i'm sure it is true

[DBTrek]

But that post above actually said that it is illegal to sell below cost. I'm pretty exasperated at this and am having trouble believing its true, but considering everything, i'm sure it is true

Selling below cost is a way to monopolize. If I can afford to sell product 'X' below cost for a sustained amount of time I can drive all other legitimate retailers of 'X' out of business and then claim the entire market as a monopoly. It's anti-competitive.

[Speaker to Animals]

It's not really illegal to sell below cost. What can happen is that it displays monopolistic powers, which can trigger anti-trust action from the federal government.

You can have a monopoly, but if you use your monopolistic powers, they can break up your company.

But just selling below cost, by itself, is insufficient. Lots of people sell one thing below cost so that they can drive up sales of other items. Grocery stores do this every day. Hell, casinos sell steak dinners at below cost (or did in the 90s when I used to drive down to the Nevada border) because it pulls people into the casino (and keeps them there). Just selling below cost doesn't necessarily trigger it. It's been a long time since I studied it as an undergrad, but there are a lot of other factors that go into it. It's actually not easy to trigger anti-trust laws.

[DBTrek]

All true.

I was just laying out the basics of why selling below costs can cause problems for retailers.
It's not illegal . . . unless you're leveraging it illegally.
Gaming consoles regularly sell below costs with the intention of making up profits with game sales.

[Fife]

All true.

I was just laying out the basics of why selling below costs can cause problems for retailers.
It's not illegal . . . unless you're leveraging it illegally.
Gaming consoles regularly sell below costs with the intention of making up profits with game sales.

Remember Kindle vs. Nook? Bezos basically gave away Kindle readers to capture the content market.

It doesn't always work out for Bezos, there are significant risks involved. Member the "iPhone killer" Amazon Fire Phone? I member, but if you blinked you missed it.

People spend their entire professional careers thinking about crafty ways to maximize share and revenue through creative pricing. http://www.economicshelp.org/blog/1021/ ... trategies/

Anyway, who's the victim of low prices? Not us hungry hungry hippos wanting to consume stuff. Bring on the free booze and cheap buffet at the casino, I say! :goteam: :drunk:

EDIT: I was thinking there was probably some smart guy that had a listing of current grocery loss-leader sales, which would be cool. Sure enough, I immediately turned up https://www.mygrocerydeals.com. It turns out the Walgreen's around the corner from the Casa de Fife has 18-packs of Natty going out the door for $9.95. #winning

[SuburbanFarmer]

It doesn't always work out for Bezos, there are significant risks involved. Member the "iPhone killer" Amazon Fire Phone? I member, but if you blinked you missed it.

I lol'd when that thing hit the market. Their stock spiked, then tanked, when everyone realized how bad it was.

[DBTrek]

Bezos had no reason *not* to be overconfident. His Kindle Fire damn near unseated the iPad for #1 selling tablet back when the iPad looked unassailable. Then he whooped Apple's ass in a lawsuit over eBooks. Then he gobbled up all sorts of their eBook and digital music market share. Amazon's track record against Apple ain't half bad.