Ok.
"3rd parties come in to capture the value that Nike otherwise left on the table"
I disagree that all value would be gone though. People value things differently, the 'scalpers' are a mechanism to get the goods to those who value it most highly. I personally don't value these trainers for what Nike is asking, so I don't buy them. Should Nike be required to sell them to me for what I value them at? Or should people be able to set their own price, and others buy if that price is worth it to them? If you actually cared about happiness, liberty, etc, I don't see how a pair of trainers, expensive of otherwise is going to change that, but if it does become an issue, just don't by the sodding trainers then!
I don't see why a lottery is 'fairer'. the shortage is entirely synthetic, created by Nike. I'm not big on adding morality into business transactions, but all this stems directly from Nike's decision to create scarcity. The 'fairest' thing would be for Nike to satisfy demand. 'scalpers' are a just symptom of that.
I don't get why 'scalpers' are only deemed to be a problem when the scarcity in question is synthetic. If there's a corn shortage are farmers scalping? Are oil traders scalping when the price goes up? What about when the price of $stock goes up? Are the sellers scalpers? This is how free markets work. You could at least make a moral case for the price of corn being socially bad, you can't make that case for trainers or gig tickets or whatever.
The other obvious solution is for another company to come in and solve the supply constraint that nike created. Although that too is also apparently wrong. If I bought some 'Niko' trainers from the local market, who is being harmed here? I'm not being misled, Nike aren't losing sales, so why?
1. "those who value it most highly" is a dream of economists that has never ever been true. Personal value is relative to wealth and income. I might value something at one full month's salary, but an average CEO could outbid me with a few work days at most.
2. "prices go up when demand is high" makes sense to incentivize more production and reward those that produce thing we need the most. A farmer getting more for their corn during a shortage makes sense, because we'd be hungry if it weren't for them.
A scalper, on the other hand, does not create any value. Neither does a stock trader when they buy low and sell high for that matter.
Even artificial scarcity of luxury items can be interpreted as creating some value - owning a limited edition shoe that they can brag about to their friends is valuable to some people. But buying something before others get to it, just to immediately sell it for a much higher price is just exploitation.
Re 1, have you got a better plan? There's communism, are you suggesting that?
>2. "prices go up when demand is high" makes sense to incentivize more production and reward those that produce thing we need the most
Precisely, so why isn't Nike producing more? That is the issue. Again, scalpers are a symptom.
>A farmer getting more for their corn during a shortage makes sense, because we'd be hungry if it weren't for them.
One doesn't follow the other.
If a farmer gets £1 a tonne one year, why does it mean that them getting £10 a tonne the next mean that people won't go hungry. If there's a corn shortage, that implies there isn't enough, so people are going hungry. Further this seems to verging on a moral argument. If we go hungry if it isn't for farmers then that implies that the state should be stepping in to control their excesses, setting the price at £1 a tonne.
>Even artificial scarcity of luxury items can be interpreted as creating some value
And so can buying a good and selling it on for a higher price. Why does one person have the right to brag about owning a shoe, and not another, who just so happens to be willing to pay a higher price? Why is artificial scarcity acceptable, but creating a functional open market out of that not?
And a stock trader does create value. If a person can't buy stock and sell it on for a higher price, that stock is worth less, which means during an IPO a company can raise less money. It's not even clear to me if you could have PLCs at all, because eventually everyone dies, what happens to a company who is owned by a dead person(s) does it get taken over by the state?
If we were talking about actual necessities then I'd agree with you, although my solution would be to have Nike produce more, not hold people to ransom. But for trainers, a specific brand and model, let the free market function, it's the best we've got.
> Why does one person have the right to brag about owning a shoe, and not another, who just so happens to be willing to pay a higher price? Why is artificial scarcity acceptable, but creating a functional open market out of that not?
It's a luxury for poor people. Making it a market turns it into a luxury for rich people
I'm not American, I'm European and somewhat left of centre at that, as you may have detected from my use of the word trainers. the parent was suggesting moving away from a system where those who are willing to pay most, get a good. What other options are there? Socialism? But to me a socialist state that starts controlling footwear is communist anyway.
What dogma are you proposing I have? I know capitalism has its problems, I know communism has its problems, as does socialism and all the other isms. If capitalism is good at anything though, it's good at making trainers available. If youre saying it's unsuitable for that, then it's time to find something else.
It's ok saying the current system is bad, but if you're proposing to get rid of it, you need a replacement and as Churchill may have said, free market capitalism is the worst economic system, except for all the other economic systems.
So why don't you debate my position, rather than my assumed nationality, dogma and cultural baggage?
I disagree that all value would be gone though. People value things differently, the 'scalpers' are a mechanism to get the goods to those who value it most highly. I personally don't value these trainers for what Nike is asking, so I don't buy them. Should Nike be required to sell them to me for what I value them at? Or should people be able to set their own price, and others buy if that price is worth it to them? If you actually cared about happiness, liberty, etc, I don't see how a pair of trainers, expensive of otherwise is going to change that, but if it does become an issue, just don't by the sodding trainers then!
I don't see why a lottery is 'fairer'. the shortage is entirely synthetic, created by Nike. I'm not big on adding morality into business transactions, but all this stems directly from Nike's decision to create scarcity. The 'fairest' thing would be for Nike to satisfy demand. 'scalpers' are a just symptom of that.
I don't get why 'scalpers' are only deemed to be a problem when the scarcity in question is synthetic. If there's a corn shortage are farmers scalping? Are oil traders scalping when the price goes up? What about when the price of $stock goes up? Are the sellers scalpers? This is how free markets work. You could at least make a moral case for the price of corn being socially bad, you can't make that case for trainers or gig tickets or whatever.
The other obvious solution is for another company to come in and solve the supply constraint that nike created. Although that too is also apparently wrong. If I bought some 'Niko' trainers from the local market, who is being harmed here? I'm not being misled, Nike aren't losing sales, so why?