Channel: Foundation for Economic Education

Category: Education

Tags: jingle all the waymilton friedmanps5 scalpers rantplaystation 5ps5 restock walmartarnold schwarzeneggerplaystation 5 restockps5 scalpers called outps5 resellersps5scalpers ps5gaming newsout of frameps5 stockps5 restock newsprice gougingfoundation for economic educationps5 scalpingps5 scalpersscalpersfee out of framexbox series xscalpers rantps5 restockresalei hate ps5 scalpersscalpers getting caughtps5 scalping problem

Description: Support Out of Frame on Patreon: patreon.com/OutofFrameShow Watch our newest video, "The 1970s are back. Yaaaayyyy.": youtu.be/pYnpnB0dj5s Check out our podcast, Out of Frame: Behind the Scenes: youtube.com/channel/UCiS5rEmhnLwo1IG9bgr19Og As we enter peak holiday season, most people have their shopping done by now, but as always, many are scrambling last-minute for their purchases. And if you aren’t one of those early-birds fortunate enough to procure a PS5 or Xbox Series X, you might not be able to find one unless you’re willing to pay $1,200 to a dreaded "scalper". For a lot of us, that's frustrating. How is it fair for people to buy up the consoles at $500 and sell for nearly double or triple the cost? “There ought to be a law” against that kind of thing — right? Well, in short, there’s not only nothing wrong with scalping (assuming there's no fraud or theft involved of course) and a lot of benefits to letting resellers on the margins test the boundaries of what people are willing to pay. Scarcity is real and so is time-preference. Scalpers (even ones who use bots to get their orders placed early) show that demand for some goods is so high that people are willing to pay several times the list price. And even though scalpers represent a tiny fraction of total sales (around 0.6% by current estimates), their actions can actually provide a lot of information to Sony and Microsoft on how many consoles to produce and where to ship them. But... Everybody hates them anyway. Manufacturers can also factor this information into their future plans, so there are fewer problems with availability in the future. They could also eliminate incentives for scalpers if they allowed retail stores to set their own prices. Sound economic theory often leads to conclusions that a lot of people don't like to hear, and this is definitely one of those times so we thought it was worth talking about on this short edition of Out of Frame. ______________________________ CREDITS: Produced by Sean W. Malone Written by Jen Maffessanti & Sean W. Malone Edited by Paul Nelson Asst. Edited by Jason Reinhardt ______________________________ LINKS: -- PS5/XBSX Scalping -- screenrant.com/ps5-xbox-series-x-scalpers-sales-profit-launch gamesradar.com/ps5-and-xbox-series-x-scalpers-resold-over-60000-consoles-last-month consumerist.com/2014/03/15/the-competition-is-as-fake-as-the-blood-why-new-video-games-are-always-the-same-price escapistmagazine.com/v2/playstation-5-scalping-is-frustrating-millions-could-the-law-end-scalping pocket-lint.com/games/news/playstation/154820-ps5-playstation-5-reseller-scalper-interview -- Economics -- fee.org/articles/if-you-hate-empty-store-shelves-you-should-love-price-gouging investopedia.com/terms/s/scalping.asp mises.org/library/ticket-scalpers-are-hidden-heroes mises.org/wire/sellers-scarce-goods fee.org/articles/in-defense-of-scalping theconversation.com/the-economics-of-ticket-scalping-83434 reed.edu/economics/parker/f10/201/cases/scalpers.html aei.org/carpe-diem/ticket-scalping-musicians-vs-economists