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Dishonest Gain

kiwidan said:
You have wisdom WIP. I cannot anwser you.

One thing I do find amazing is how pathetic things are valued in the world.

For example, water is a need, it has value, yet a small stone, like a diamond, is 'value' a million dollars, but it has absolutaly no use and is good for nothing, its just a shiny stone that does nothing.

I think a apple has more value than a dimond because you get something out of an apple, but a dimond is useless, I can lok at the stars if I want to see dimonds.
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Interesting point. Those things that are most needed (water, air, food) have the least monetary value.
 
JohnDB said:
No...not really.
The bulk of diamonds never make the jewelry market because of color or clarity..these ones are what is used in cutting bits.
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...until they learned how to make them in a lab. Now, it's something on the order of, 95 to 98% of the synthetic diamonds all go to the bits and abrasives market. Not many real diamonds are used at all anymore.
 
Edward said:
...until they learned how to make them in a lab. Now, it's something on the order of, 95 to 98% of the synthetic diamonds all go to the bits and abrasives market. Not many real diamonds are used at all anymore.
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Synthetic carbon is still carbon.they use coal and heat and pressure it to form the diamond.
 
Here is a good example;
In Florida Home depot will have many things on the shelf at normal price. A hurricane is now headed to shore and the price more than doubles. a hurricane does not stay long in one area; most likely home depot will not need to reorder
during the hurricane and the items they are selling at outrageous prices were purchased during good weather at low prices.
 
Roro1972 said:
Here is a good example;
In Florida Home depot will have many things on the shelf at normal price. A hurricane is now headed to shore and the price more than doubles. a hurricane does not stay long in one area; most likely home depot will not need to reorder
during the hurricane and the items they are selling at outrageous prices were purchased during good weather at low prices.
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Generators, wood and don't forget the storm damage charges in power bills
 
Roro1972 said:
Here is a good example;
In Florida Home depot will have many things on the shelf at normal price. A hurricane is now headed to shore and the price more than doubles. a hurricane does not stay long in one area; most likely home depot will not need to reorder
during the hurricane and the items they are selling at outrageous prices were purchased during good weather at low prices.
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I expect you're talking about things like plywood for covering windows and such. The buyer is still not required to make the purchase at that time unless they did not prepare for what is a part of life in the area.

Similar thing happens around here. Right now I could probably pick up a snowblower for a bargain compared to what it may cost the day before an impending major blizzard. So am I being presumptuous and lazy by not preparing ahead of time for what is an inevitable event?

Consider our own careers. If we could obtain some knowledge that our ability or skill is unique and essentially we could name our salary, how many of us would be willing to sell out to the lowest bidder?
 
WIP said:
I expect you're talking about things like plywood for covering windows and such. The buyer is still not required to make the purchase at that time unless they did not prepare for what is a part of life in the area.

Similar thing happens around here. Right now I could probably pick up a snowblower for a bargain compared to what it may cost the day before an impending major blizzard. So am I being presumptuous and lazy by not preparing ahead of time for what is an inevitable event?

Consider our own careers. If we could obtain some knowledge that our ability or skill is unique and essentially we could name our salary, how many of us would be willing to sell out to the lowest bidder?
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Wood costs prior to hurricane Andrew weren't as high.they never went down.they do that here on all things.so I do have a choice in not fixing my home? They take advantage of the sudden increase of material demand.yes I get the law of supply and demand.but to sell a generator for 500 bucks before a storm then 2000 after it hits and not in the recovery after the power is restored is a bit off.shipping routes are cleared first and airports and power to the essential .I disagree on the choice option here.it often rains for days and we'll I'm sure you wouldn't putting me up for even longer in a fema trailer or camp.in my state you must be licenses to repair a home other then yours.snowbirds cane down and carpet bagged my state after the 4 hurricanes.
 
It's only when the storm hits not during any hurricane season do they do this. I could use that argument to charge 10 bucks a gallon of gas better buy barrels of gas .you might not have power for months.and yes that has happened.
 
I'd always heard they had laws against price gouging in situations like natural disasters, etc? I guess that's not true, then? Or the laws don't work for some reason?
 
Obadiah said:
I'd always heard they had laws against price gouging in situations like natural disasters, etc? I guess that's not true, then? Or the laws don't work for some reason?
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I think some states have such laws. They only apply if an emergency has been declared, however.
 
They have done the same thing here when Nashville has been hit by tornadoes or flooding.

A $500 generator sells for $1100 and other materials go through the roof
They are quick to offer you a credit card application? Speedy approval too.

Lowe's was different... They never raised their prices. (Owned by Walmart). They sold at normal prices till they ran out.

So where I'm not a Walmart fan...they were either more honest or more lazy. Unsure at the moment.
 
JohnDB said:
They have done the same thing here when Nashville has been hit by tornadoes or flooding.

A $500 generator sells for $1100 and other materials go through the roof
They are quick to offer you a credit card application? Speedy approval too.

Lowe's was different... They never raised their prices. (Owned by Walmart). They sold at normal prices till they ran out.

So where I'm not a Walmart fan...they were either more honest or more lazy. Unsure at the moment.
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And I suppose those gouging businesses are the same ones that when there's no disaster are advertising to "buy local" and "support your local businesses." Right, we're all supposed to support them, but when the local people need help they take advantage of an opportunity to price gouge.
 
jasonc said:
but to sell a generator for 500 bucks before a storm then 2000 after it hits and not in the recovery after the power is restored is a bit off.
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I notice you said "sell a generator" not "price a generator." The only way they can sell a generator at those prices is if people are willing to pay that much for them. If power has been restored as you said, why is it so important for the people to pay that much for them? Let them have their generator at that price and they'll lower it or have a lot of them collecting dust.
 
WIP said:
I notice you said "sell a generator" not "price a generator." The only way they can sell a generator at those prices is if people are willing to pay that much for them. If power has been restored as you said, why is it so important for the people to pay that much for them? Let them have their generator at that price and they'll lower it or have a lot of them collecting dust.
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How does one keep food if you don't have power fir months?.I can use the on city water,or county.gotta pay to keep the generators running.some do that to run for food.you cant stock up fir months on gas,nor ice.you would have to live here to see it.some homes use cng generators thar are tied in and are permanent and kick on when the power fails. Those are expensive.a 2kw portable generator need not be raked.surely you would complain if your power bill doubled or tripled during a blizzard and after.thar is what I'm getting at.I paid into power fir the city who charged me for repairs even though I wasn't at that place fir the storms.sane with my home,fpl hit me after 3 years after when my home wasn't even a cleared lot.

Why would it be wrong for the utilities to charge,you have a generator fire it up and solar power ,wells do wonders. ?
 
The premise of this thread doesn't seem logical. Sellers are unlikely to take less than buyers are willing to pay. Part of this is market driven (supply & demand) and part is driven by our own perceived value. As an individual, I can't impact the market value of a product or service, but I can determine what the value is to me.

Unless someone dishonestly represents the product or service, I don't know how anyone can make the case that they are stealing by taking any amount of money that consumers are willing to pay. This is given the assumption that there are alternative sellers OR that the thing being sold must be purchased. If one of these two are true, then it's probably me setting the value.
 
Mike said:
The premise of this thread doesn't seem logical. Sellers are unlikely to take less than buyers are willing to pay. Part of this is market driven (supply & demand) and part is driven by our own perceived value. As an individual, I can't impact the market value of a product or service, but I can determine what the value is to me.

Unless someone dishonestly represents the product or service, I don't know how anyone can make the case that they are stealing by taking any amount of money that consumers are willing to pay. This is given the assumption that there are alternative sellers OR that the thing being sold must be purchased. If one of these two are true, then it's probably me setting the value.
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In most areas of business there is a standard range of mark-up to products and services.
Food in a restaurant is usually marked up as much as 500% of food cost.

Most of your retail goods are "keystone". Or double the cost they paid to a wholesaler. Especially when it comes to big box stores.

So when someone steps outside of those prices when there's an exceptional high demand because of a crisis... Well that's dishonest gain. Sure the " customer " is willing to pay... But it's unethical to charge those prices.
 
JohnDB said:
In most areas of business there is a standard range of mark-up to products and services.
Food in a restaurant is usually marked up as much as 500% of food cost.

Most of your retail goods are "keystone". Or double the cost they paid to a wholesaler. Especially when it comes to big box stores.

So when someone steps outside of those prices when there's an exceptional high demand because of a crisis... Well that's dishonest gain. Sure the " customer " is willing to pay... But it's unethical to charge those prices.
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I won't go there with dealership and parts mark up.I can buy radiators at the third of the cost they sell at parts stores.
 
JohnDB said:
So when someone steps outside of those prices when there's an exceptional high demand because of a crisis... Well that's dishonest gain. Sure the " customer " is willing to pay... But it's unethical to charge those prices.
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You said when someone steps outside those prices... This sounds like a singular seller who will (and should) realize a reduction in volume by the marketplace while its competitors gain from their loss. We see gas prices make big jumps during "crisis" situations where a refinery shuts down or there is an event in the Middle East. Gas prices are complicated, but you could make the argument for dishonest gain, because we generally cannot do without gasoline.
 
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