Artisan Archive

I agree with you that buying something and then reselling it at a profitisn't wrong and isn't the same as price fixing. You're right in that the person selling it originally got what they wanted, and you resold it and got what you wanted for it--everyone is happy. If you can buy something for 200 and resell it for 990, more power to you.

I have ,however,read a number of posts in various crafting forums of people complaining that others are 'underselling' the market and thus ruining it for them (this seems to be especially prevelant for architects). They talk about working together to create what is in effect the 'correct price'--i.e. price fixing. In that sense, price fixing is doomed to failure because there will always be someone there to underbid you if there is too much supply releative to demand.

My point about the 990 price vs. 500 price is that the potential market size will grow as you lower the price. The trick is finding the equilibrium point between supply and demand. You can get away with selling a half dozen repair kits for 990 because that's all you make (or all that you can find on the market to resell at a higher price). But this doesn't necessarily mean that everyone in the market for a repair tool is willing to pay 990. Theoritically speaking, you could vastly increase profits by selling more units for less. This assumes the ability, and desire,to mass produce a large number repair tools, of course.

Slim Vargo, Corbantis, Mos Eisley