Reply to thread

Message

<blockquote data-quote="Steve Hurt" data-source="post: 17809" data-attributes="member: 311">Re: Working for CheapTree view vs flat view again? ... sigh ... noted.yes, all your examples exhibit monopolistic behavior.-------------------If you&#039;re talking vehicle repair and &#039;&#039;bottom feeders&#039;&#039; then think about one or 2 man repair shops, not dealerships.&nbsp; Dealerships, whether they be Ford, Chevy, or Harley, are part of vertical monopolies.&nbsp; If the dealer doesn&#039;t &#039;&#039;play ball&#039;&#039; on the pricing structure set by the brand, the brand will pull their dealership, and quickly too.&nbsp; This is monopolistic behavior.--------------------Real estate - Realtors use the MLS listing service to control real estate commissions.&nbsp; If you list below what they want you to list at, they won&#039;t let you list on the MLS.&nbsp; It is most definitely a monopoly (which will be broken soon by internet listings)&nbsp; --------------------Dental (anything medical for that matter) exists in a highly regulated environment which is not at all free market.&nbsp; This market although not a literal monopoly, exhibits behavior much closer to monopolistic behavior than it does free market behavior so it doesn&#039;t fit the bottom feeder discussion.-------------------- Leaving these other professions , my point is that, sound providers at the lower levels, operate in (or as close to as you can get) the free marketPricing is set by supply and demand in the free market.&#039;&#039;Guidelines&#039;&#039; are artificial constraints.&nbsp; If you get together with other companies / individuals / etc and agree to pricing guidelines, you are price fixing.&nbsp; And that is illegal.&nbsp; (Doesn&#039;t mean it&#039;s not done, but it is illegal)I can see this being hard to understand if you&#039;ve worked in a union environment, because it&#039;s legal for unions to fix prices.&nbsp; It is not legal for non union organizations to do that.---------------------So I repeat, if the amount of shows is a fixed number, and you don&#039;t like where the going rates are, you have 3 options on how to drive up prices:&nbsp;1) unionize and artificially restrict access to the trade (drive supply down), increasing what suppliers can charge (thus driving demand/prices up), or2) Guidelines / Price fixing (requires participation by all or it doesn&#039;t work - and it&#039;s illegal), or3) Find a way to sell yourself as being worth more.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Steve Hurt, post: 17809, member: 311"] Re: Working for Cheap Tree view vs flat view again? ... sigh ... noted. yes, all your examples exhibit monopolistic behavior. ------------------- If you're talking vehicle repair and ''bottom feeders'' then think about one or 2 man repair shops, not dealerships. Dealerships, whether they be Ford, Chevy, or Harley, are part of vertical monopolies. If the dealer doesn't ''play ball'' on the pricing structure set by the brand, the brand will pull their dealership, and quickly too. This is monopolistic behavior. -------------------- Real estate - Realtors use the MLS listing service to control real estate commissions. If you list below what they want you to list at, they won't let you list on the MLS. It is most definitely a monopoly (which will be broken soon by internet listings) -------------------- Dental (anything medical for that matter) exists in a highly regulated environment which is not at all free market. This market although not a literal monopoly, exhibits behavior much closer to monopolistic behavior than it does free market behavior so it doesn't fit the bottom feeder discussion. -------------------- Leaving these other professions , my point is that, sound providers at the lower levels, operate in (or as close to as you can get) the free market Pricing is set by supply and demand in the free market. ''Guidelines'' are artificial constraints. If you get together with other companies / individuals / etc and agree to pricing guidelines, you are price fixing. And that is illegal. (Doesn't mean it's not done, but it is illegal) I can see this being hard to understand if you've worked in a union environment, because it's legal for unions to fix prices. It is not legal for non union organizations to do that. --------------------- So I repeat, if the amount of shows is a fixed number, and you don't like where the going rates are, you have 3 options on how to drive up prices: 1) unionize and artificially restrict access to the trade (drive supply down), increasing what suppliers can charge (thus driving demand/prices up), or 2) Guidelines / Price fixing (requires participation by all or it doesn't work - and it's illegal), or 3) Find a way to sell yourself as being worth more. [/QUOTE]

Verification