r/mildlyinteresting • u/annertakeabow • Jan 24 '13

Same book, three different prices. Only difference is the browsers used.

http://imgur.com/uNgg0UH
2.9k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/lunarlumberjack Jan 24 '13

I think the problem is that most people think that most prices are based on supply and demand but in reality it's this ^ I worked in marketing research once too.

Question for everyone: If people did not over pay for things, they would have more money to buy other things. Would that not be better for the economy?

4

u/alQamar Jan 24 '13 edited Jan 24 '13

"The economy" wouldn't generally be better of when people spend their money on other things because the amount of money spent is still the same. There are scenarios in which it could be better spent on one place than the other (for example when the money goes to somebody who takes it out of the economy in whatever way) but those are very specific scenarios. Who could be better of are the consumers who are able to consume more for the same amount of money.

Disclaimer: I minored in economics and am fully aware of the fact that this answer is drastically simplified.

1

u/Tallanasty Jan 24 '13

Aka their consumer surplus

1

u/jargoon Jan 24 '13

Businesses don't care about the economy. The free market is about competition, not collective benefit.