Re:A Dragnet for Pee-Wee
by Camillo on Tuesday October 16, 2012 @03:51PM
(#4661523)
Let's say a bike would normally last you ten years, but it gets stolen every two. Each time you buy a new one. Therefore, there are now five as many bikes as needed. But then, why isn't the market saturated? How can it sustain such a high churn rate? It seems to me that bike thieves need a way to get bikes out of the market, too. They can do it in two ways: by hoarding bikes (http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y171/FORDSVTPARTS/Bikes/bik...) or by destroying them. Couldn't something be done about that side of the equation? Reporting people who have abnormal numbers of bikes, or who sell hundreds of old bikes for scraps?
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You are ignoring the high demand for used bikes. I imagine a lot of people buy cheap used bikes because they now that there is a high likelihood of their bike getting stolen. Ironically, this behavior fuels the demand for the very same bikes that are getting stolen.
"Reporting people who have abnormal numbers of bikes"
There are a few well none spots in the bay area where most stolen bikes end up. The problem is it's hard to prove that these are the guys that steal the bikes, and the police don't really care that much.
Re:A Dragnet for Pee-Wee
by streptomycin on Tuesday October 16, 2012 @04:34PM
(#4661689)
But then, why isn't the market saturated?
Because the price isn't fixed. If you dump a whole bunch of bikes on the market, you'll have to lower your prices to sell them.
Also, people need new bikes. Bikes break, people want a new bike, people stop riding and just store their bikes, and people whose bikes are stolen need new bikes. Neither supply nor demand is absolutely fixed.