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Re:Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant un... by drdeca on Thursday September 30, 2021 @08:52PM (#28713178)
Ok, but like, would their overall reputation be higher if they were to directly put some proportion of their inventory up for auction (like, each item individually, not like one auction for a bundle of a very large number of GPUs) instead?
Re:Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant un... by birdyrooster on Thursday September 30, 2021 @11:41PM (#28714211)
No, but at least they are being enriched to invest in research and development instead of some arbitraging trolls that will spend it on hookers and blow.
Re:Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant un... by jhanschoo on Thursday September 30, 2021 @11:17PM (#28714089)
No, the prices will still be comparable to scalper prices, and the cost-conscious consumer market will remember the company's price gouging when they make their next-generation purchase
Re:Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant un... by drdeca on Friday October 01, 2021 @12:55PM (#28720827)
This response was initially confusing to me, but thinking about it, I think it led me to realize that complaints about things like this are, essentially, an attempt at coordination among consumers, in order to collectively get a better deal.

If there were only a single consumer, a monopsony, they would have a large degree of influence on the price.

Building a public consensus on what prices are reasonable and what prices are "too high" allows for exerting similar pressures on the price, as if there were an organization which represented a large portion of the consumers and which would make a single decision for all of that portion (like, a purchasing union thing).

I hadn't realized this.