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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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 Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 4:12 pm Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Gamestop nearly monopolizing used games |
1) "nearly" monopolizing? Is not a monopoly. |
It's almost as if the word "nearly" in that sentence is doing real, important work with regards to conveying meaning, isn't it?
| ontheway wrote: |
| 2) Used games clearly compete against new games and other forms of entertainment. |
This shows a poor understanding of what used game stores are. Yes, they do happen to sell a good, but first and foremost they provide a service for gamers: cost reduction. That service is what they have a near monopoly on; if I've got a load of games that I no longer want and wish to recoup some of the price of, Gamestop is my best and often my only real option in terms of businesses. The fact that Best Buy is out there selling new games doesn't qualify them as a competitor with regards to the services I want.
A company doesn't have to be a 100% monopoly with an iron grip over every single transaction in its field in order to potentially manifest the problems with a monopoly; if a fellow in blahblahville Kansas has 20 games he wants to recoup some of the cost on, it's very likely Gamestop will be his only real recourse, and the fact that three or four cities away some tiny video rental shop that's probably about to go out of business might consider buying one or two of them off of him is irrelevant.
Far better for Libertarians to take Sergio's more intelligent approach: stop denying the idea of natural monopolies, and instead just shrug about them and insist that anyone condemning them show why they're a bad thing. In the case of Gamestop, it's not: they eliminated their competition by providing better service, and if they stop providing better service, other businesses will get involved again at a greater rate.
| ontheway wrote: |
| The low prices of used games is a result of a high level of real competition. You have to look at the whole picture and the whole marketplace. |
There's very little real competition out there for Gamestop, and what's left is mostly a holdover that's not going to last much longer; with regards to the service of helping gamers recoup some of the costs of previously purchased games, they've got the market virtually cornered. That's not a bad thing, because they only have said market cornered because they do provide the service well. Perhaps you can say high potential competition forces Gamestop to keep their prices at a level favorable to consumers, but in terms of real competition, there's almost none and the holdouts are closing up shop every day. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 10:33 am Post subject: |
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You can buy and sell anything on e-bay.
You are living in a cloud of fog of your own making.
There is no monopoly and nothing close in the game market. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:31 pm Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| You can buy and sell anything on e-bay. |
I can buy or sell anything anywhere I can find someone willing to sell or buy it. That doesn't mean I can find someone willing to provide the specific service Gamestop provides. In fact, as soon as I go around trying to sell the games I wish to recoup some of the value on myself, I've all ready given up the service in question, subjecting myself to more hassle for what will likely amount to less money, and less certainty of a successful transaction to top it all off.
| ontheway wrote: |
| You are living in a cloud of fog of your own making. |
So now I'm personally responsible for the economic world view which causes people to recognize Gamestop as a service provider which nearly monopolizes its field? I must be quite an authority. |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 7:53 am Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| ontheway wrote: |
| You can buy and sell anything on e-bay. |
I can buy or sell anything anywhere I can find someone willing to sell or buy it. That doesn't mean I can find someone willing to provide the specific service Gamestop provides. In fact, as soon as I go around trying to sell the games I wish to recoup some of the value on myself, I've all ready given up the service in question, subjecting myself to more hassle for what will likely amount to less money, and less certainty of a successful transaction to top it all off.
| ontheway wrote: |
| You are living in a cloud of fog of your own making. |
So now I'm personally responsible for the economic world view which causes people to recognize Gamestop as a service provider which nearly monopolizes its field? I must be quite an authority. |
Inside your cloud, where you live, quite alone in a world of igonorance and delusion, yes you are the expert.
Outside your cloud, you are a ranting loon.
Prices are set at the margin.
Less than 1% of any market determines the final price, so unless a business controls over 99% of the market they are not even close to a monopoly.
Markets include all substitute options, so for games, the market includes all forms of entertainment.
If a business is so good that you are not willing to contemplate other options, then it is obviously quite competitive and not a monopoly in any way.
If you are trying to sell something, you have every option from door-to-door sales, telephone sales, ebay and numerous other websites, newspaper ads, garage sales, and setting up on a street corner. If none of those appeals to you, it is obvious that the company you prefer to use is your best option - this is the sign of a perfectly competitive market place - the exact opposite of a monopoly.
And of course, if they were a monopoly, then you could open up a competive business, since there are no barriers to entry in this industry other than government taxation and regulation that applies to all businesses including Game Stop. If they are a monopoly in an open market then you can make quite a profit operating under their umbrella. Of course, they are not and you could not open a profitable business based on operating in the inflated price climate of the shade of a monopoly business.
The fact is, there is not and never has been a monopoly without using government power to create and maintain that monopoly. Go ahead and look, there are no examples. In every case of a monopoly, or anything even close, you can find a government body or government power (or king, ruler, dictator etc) behind it.
OK. You can stay in your cloud and deny all of this. But, in the real world the proof is in and you have no argument or facts whatsoever on your side. |
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Gwangjuboy
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England
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| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 12:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Sergio Stefanuto wrote: |
| In general, I don't think I'm being at all unfair by saying that government regulation and ownership cost us a fortune, produce very little that we really need and often do us direct harm. It's time to regulate every single thing that government does. |
What do you think of Hong Kong? Milton Friedman hailed it as the greatest testament to laissez faire capitalism yet the government owns most of the housing stock, education is provided largely by the goverment to tertiary level, spending on welfare as a percentage of GDP is over 10%, public transportation is mostly owned by the state, and military costs were covered by the British tax payer - now of course the PRC. |
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Gwangjuboy
Joined: 08 Jul 2003
Location: England
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| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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| visitorq wrote: |
| Regardless, dumb people certainly don't need to be 'protected' by the government. On the contrary, the government basically does everything it can to make the public dumb (easier to control and make people dependent on it). Why else do they brainwash children in public schools, and lie to us constantly in the media? Not to mention the FDA approving and subsidizing the mass drugging of society (in addition to the CIA shipping in illegal drugs from Afghanistan and elsewhere, on record), putting fluoride in the water (they're now proposing adding lithium to the water too), giving us shots with mercury, etc. etc. |
It is not the state in itself which is inherently corrupt; it is only as effective as the individuals who run it. Abusive governance is an affront to the sanctity of the state, but it is not necessarily a reason for dismantling it. The above examples are evidence that state power is being misused, but if the potential of the state is to be embraced, the onus is on the electorate to organize itself and overcome these nefarious influences - especially with respect to the media.
From the tone of your post, we probably agree on what the problems are; in terms of how we would respond however, a divergence of opinion would doubtless emerge (please correct me if I am wrong, but I guess that you don't see any potential in the state to do good). |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2010 5:49 pm Post subject: |
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| ontheway wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| ontheway wrote: |
| You can buy and sell anything on e-bay. |
I can buy or sell anything anywhere I can find someone willing to sell or buy it. That doesn't mean I can find someone willing to provide the specific service Gamestop provides. In fact, as soon as I go around trying to sell the games I wish to recoup some of the value on myself, I've all ready given up the service in question, subjecting myself to more hassle for what will likely amount to less money, and less certainty of a successful transaction to top it all off.
| ontheway wrote: |
| You are living in a cloud of fog of your own making. |
So now I'm personally responsible for the economic world view which causes people to recognize Gamestop as a service provider which nearly monopolizes its field? I must be quite an authority. |
Inside your cloud, where you live, quite alone in a world of igonorance and delusion, yes you are the expert.
Outside your cloud, you are a ranting loon.
Prices are set at the margin.
Less than 1% of any market determines the final price, so unless a business controls over 99% of the market they are not even close to a monopoly.
Markets include all substitute options, so for games, the market includes all forms of entertainment.
If a business is so good that you are not willing to contemplate other options, then it is obviously quite competitive and not a monopoly in any way.
If you are trying to sell something, you have every option from door-to-door sales, telephone sales, ebay and numerous other websites, newspaper ads, garage sales, and setting up on a street corner. If none of those appeals to you, it is obvious that the company you prefer to use is your best option - this is the sign of a perfectly competitive market place - the exact opposite of a monopoly.
And of course, if they were a monopoly, then you could open up a competive business, since there are no barriers to entry in this industry other than government taxation and regulation that applies to all businesses including Game Stop. If they are a monopoly in an open market then you can make quite a profit operating under their umbrella. Of course, they are not and you could not open a profitable business based on operating in the inflated price climate of the shade of a monopoly business.
The fact is, there is not and never has been a monopoly without using government power to create and maintain that monopoly. Go ahead and look, there are no examples. In every case of a monopoly, or anything even close, you can find a government body or government power (or king, ruler, dictator etc) behind it.
OK. You can stay in your cloud and deny all of this. But, in the real world the proof is in and you have no argument or facts whatsoever on your side. |
You're not even reading what I'm writing, and to be honest, I simply don't have the interest in your frankly boring, fanatical, and false world world view (which is predicated almost entirely on misuse of the English language) to keep repeating myself, ontheway. I only responded to you at all because you seemed confused about what I had said; given it's now clear you are and were willfully misunderstanding in an attempt to emotionally validate your silly views, I just don't care. |
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