"Free" items for sale

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xpd

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#250868 29-May-2019 07:52

Probably gonna be bit of a touchy topic for some but I'm curious on peoples thoughts...

You purchase product A for $1000 and get product B thrown in for "free" - value of $600.

You don't require/want product "B".

So you put it up for sale for $500.

Are you being greedy considering 1) you don't want "B" and 2) it didn't cost you anything ?

Why not offer it for $300 - you still make on the deal and someone gets a good deal and is happy.

Just nature of "something for nothing" ?

I'll admit I've been guilty of buying something on special for $200 (RRP was $700), then 18 months later selling it for $130 even after the manufacturer was tossing them in the bin...... but someone took it anyway... so more fool them ?

But the whole "free" item then sell it sort of peeves me - probably just jealous I missed out doing it myself ;)

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#2247476 29-May-2019 07:58

Is the true value of item A actually $1000 though? Or is it possible to purchase item A by itself cheaper from a different shop?

Item B is never actually free. As you are required to purchase item A to obtain it.

gcorgnet

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#2247478 29-May-2019 08:01

In those case, I'd usually think "let's cut the benefit in half and share it equally". This would mean selling the "free" item for 1/2 the price it can be purchased brand new.

Naturally, if you;re a seller and someone is prepared to pay more, why not?

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#2247482 29-May-2019 08:07

I guess I’m not against people taking a risk (by having to ‘invest some money at least) and trying to make a profit, that’s economics 101.

The market will decide soon enough whether their listed sell price is right.

At the same time, I can very much understand why people feel aggrieved ( and I do as well at times) when said item was of limited supply and they missed out, while others try to profit from it, e.g. the recent S10 offer from NL and even more so when it comes to ticket scalping. Those who intend to ‘make a quick buck’ need to be pretty thick-skinned and prepared to ignore the emotive flak they’ll receive.

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Nate001

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#2247486 29-May-2019 08:15

Its all smoke and mirrors. The illusion of a discount by jacking up the original price and throwing in free items makes you think its a good deal.

Was item A and B really ever worth $1000 and $600? As others said, the item would naturally sell for market rate which I would deem to be the fair price.

Geektastic

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#2247491 29-May-2019 08:23

There is no such thing as being greedy. The market requires a willing seller and a willing buyer. If you put B up for sale at $500 and someone is happy to pay you for what is your property, then that is absolutely fine.

jonb

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#2247546 29-May-2019 09:38

I quite fancy a Huawei GT watch, previously I would guess the market value would be $300+, now with everyone selling them on tradeMe they are sub $200, Is the value officially $400 as the 'free' gift?

elpenguino

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#2247883 29-May-2019 18:12

Geektastic:

There is no such thing as being greedy. The market requires a willing seller and a willing buyer. If you put B up for sale at $500 and someone is happy to pay you for what is your property, then that is absolutely fine.

Economics doesn't exist in a ethics-less vacuum though. There once was a guy who had a hot product and thought he should charge much more for it.

Meet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli

He's currently serving time and you could argue it's because he was greedy.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

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#2247889 29-May-2019 18:27

If someone gets a good deal, isn't that just the free market? Why are they compelled to 'share' their good fortune with others by offering a cut throat deal? If I inherit a house, should I sell it at a bargain price just because I didn't pay for it? I think not.

It's a mute argument usually put forward by those who feel aggrieved at missing out. Its not greed, its jealousy.

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Brumfondl

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#2247930 29-May-2019 18:49

elpenguino:

Geektastic:

There is no such thing as being greedy. The market requires a willing seller and a willing buyer. If you put B up for sale at $500 and someone is happy to pay you for what is your property, then that is absolutely fine.

Economics doesn't exist in a ethics-less vacuum though. There once was a guy who had a hot product and thought he should charge much more for it.

Meet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli

He's currently serving time and you could argue it's because he was greedy.

Bad example is bad. The companies that own the drugs that he upped the prices on have never lowered them and he went to jail for completely unrelated offences.

A product is worth what someone will pay for it.

nunz

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#2247935 29-May-2019 19:05

I was always told never price something, especially your services, for what you think they are worth but what they are worth to the client.

Now there is being a greedy bugger - but if you are offering value to your buyer isn't that a good thing?

On the other hand:

There is the story of the factory whose machine went bung costing them 10's of thousands every day it was down. After three days of unsuccessfully trying to get their in house engineers to fix it they called in an expert.

He turned up, spent 10 minutes looking at the machine, listened to a couple of areas then drew a chalk circle on part of it and said the problem is here - leaving the in house engineers to open the panel, fix the fault and have it running 30 minutes later.

The bill came in from the engineer at 10k. The management was appalled and asked him to explain. He replied, $10 for my time onsite, $9,990 for the life long experience that allowed me to fix it.

I've always been a bit unsure how I think re this. The external guy saved them 10's of thousands, after all they lost 30k before they called him in. But 10k is a lot of money. Was it worth it? Yes. Did the external engineer need compensating? Yes. But was he excessive?

He was value for money. He saved the company a ton. But how much is too much.

I know for myself people try to under pay and I am certainly under pressure to accept lower compensation for my expertise regularly - unless I stand firm.

I think The answer above - everything is worth what someone is prepared to pay. As long as both sides feel they got a good deal and no one felt ripped off (because thy were not because they are penny pinching).

nunz

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#2247936 29-May-2019 19:06

Brumfondl:

elpenguino:

Geektastic:

There is no such thing as being greedy. The market requires a willing seller and a willing buyer. If you put B up for sale at $500 and someone is happy to pay you for what is your property, then that is absolutely fine.

Economics doesn't exist in a ethics-less vacuum though. There once was a guy who had a hot product and thought he should charge much more for it.

Meet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli

He's currently serving time and you could argue it's because he was greedy.

Bad example is bad. The companies that own the drugs that he upped the prices on have never lowered them and he went to jail for completely unrelated offences.

A product is worth what someone will pay for it.

A product is worth what someone will pay for it - as long as there is no serious power imbalance. Drugs companys charging hundreds for pills that cost cents is unethical - when you consider their profit lines. Apple ditto.

Brumfondl

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#2247945 29-May-2019 19:37

nunz:

A product is worth what someone will pay for it - as long as there is no serious power imbalance. Drugs companys charging hundreds for pills that cost cents is unethical - when you consider their profit lines. Apple ditto.

People need various drugs to survive. The do not need anything that Apple sell. The two are not comparable.

For true capitalism you WANT there to be a serious power imbalance as it will drive the price up. You want those who can't pay to die off because they are worthless to you at best and a drain at worst. This is what the US is moving towards. The rich get richer and the poor stop getting healthcare...

Before anyone gets truly upset at me, I in no way think this is a good idea or the way the world should run.

Geektastic

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#2248064 29-May-2019 22:47

elpenguino:

Geektastic:

There is no such thing as being greedy. The market requires a willing seller and a willing buyer. If you put B up for sale at $500 and someone is happy to pay you for what is your property, then that is absolutely fine.

Economics doesn't exist in a ethics-less vacuum though. There once was a guy who had a hot product and thought he should charge much more for it.

Meet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Shkreli

He's currently serving time and you could argue it's because he was greedy.

Of course it does. Economics is economics. Not ethics. Ethics is a human overlay which some people subscribe to more than others. Unless your economic activity is actually against a law, ethics pertain solely to people individually. Person B may think selling it for $500 is unethical, Person C may not and Person D just won't care one way or the other.

Economics, however, certainly does not care. If you plot supply and demand on a graph, there isn't an ethics axis.

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#2248068 29-May-2019 23:02

xpd:

Probably gonna be bit of a touchy topic for some but I'm curious on peoples thoughts...

You purchase product A for $1000 and get product B thrown in for "free" - value of $600.

You don't require/want product "B".

So you put it up for sale for $500.

Are you being greedy considering 1) you don't want "B" and 2) it didn't cost you anything ?

Why not offer it for $300 - you still make on the deal and someone gets a good deal and is happy.

Just nature of "something for nothing" ?

I'll admit I've been guilty of buying something on special for $200 (RRP was $700), then 18 months later selling it for $130 even after the manufacturer was tossing them in the bin...... but someone took it anyway... so more fool them ?

But the whole "free" item then sell it sort of peeves me - probably just jealous I missed out doing it myself ;)

when you sell your house, call me. i'll give you what you paid for it!

muppet

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#2248123 30-May-2019 05:47

If I ever receive anything "free" like this, I set fire to it and bury the remains in the backyard. Free things like this are always Government spying devices that will listen in to everything you say and do and report them back to the IRD for tax purposes.

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