From: Ronald W. Heiby (heiby_at_falkor.chi.il.us)
Date: Sun Apr 23 2000 - 19:29:41 EDT
Sunday, April 23, 2000, 7:32:29 PM, William wrote:
WVT> The point is that there are certain items that the demand
WVT> for drives the price to ridiculous levels.
I do not understand your use of the word "ridiculous". One of the key
aspects of a free market is that the price of goods rises and falls
according to the supply and demand. If there are three power adapters
available and fifty people who want them, then (in a perfect market)
the three of those fifty people who wanted the adapter the most (by
virtue of being willing to pay the most) would get them at the
"ridiculous" prices.
WVT> Thinkpad adapters go for around $50. I only paid $70 for my 755C.
Non sequitor. It doesn't matter what you or anyone else paid for your
computer when it comes to how much you might need to spend on a power
adapter.
WVT> It is simply supply and demand.
Yes, exactly.
WVT> So by increasing the supply sources the price usually goes
WVT> down. There are other adapters that can be used.
Sounds good. Of course, if the knowledge of those "other adapters that
can be used" is kept tightly held by just a few, then it has no real
impact on the market.
Even if (for example) you were to tell everyone on this list what
other adapters can be used, and where they can be found, and for what
price(s), you still will find that there is a floor to the price of a
given item.
Let's take an example. Let's say that I have a 16Meg memory card that
works perfectly well in the 750C and 755CE ThinkPads. Let's say that
you would like to have it, but since you paid only $70 for your whole
TP, you are reluctant to spend more than (say) $10 on the memory card.
Well, even if I count my time as being totally valueless, the cost of
a box, some tape, some packing material, and shipping will come
awfully close to that $10. So, where's the incentive to me to go to
all the trouble to box the thing up and send it to you, take a chance
that your check might not be good, and take a chance that you won't be
willing to set your BIOS properly to use it and send it back, asking
for your $10 back plus your return postage? Frankly, I'd rather toss
it in the trash.
Same goes for the spare power adapter that I have for the 75x family,
except that since I still have the 755CE, there is *some* value in
actually having the spare on hand.
So, to think that parts and accessories drop in price by the same
percentage as the base system is "ridiculous" thinking. One may as
well expect the seller of such a power adapter to pay *you* for the
honor of taking it off his hands.
I know someone who bought a car built in the 1950s. I am certain that
the amount he has paid for all of the various components required to
get it running again have far exceeded the amount he paid for the
entire car to begin with. This did not surprise him. It goes with the
territory.
WVT> But then I guess you have money falling out of your pockets.
WVT> Not all of us do.
Not often. And when it happens, I bend over and pick it up.
However, I would not make the mistake of devoting my entire computer
acquisition budget to a major (though incomplete) component. I would
seek to understand what costs would be involved in acquiring the
missing pieces to complete the system.
Ron.
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