Of course we're better economically. The previous situation -- where the price of the couch was vague and hard to discern -- had worse inefficiencies and waste, it's just that it was harder to get a grasp of all the willing couch-surfers you were screwing out of an opportunity.

Learning about waste != creating waste, any more than learning about employee theft is responsible for draining the company's resources.

Btw, you're being generous (or not) in both cases; the only question is just to whom you're being generous: the friend, or the strangers ready to put significant money down for the scarce resource.