Nov 14, 01:57 AM

Quit Bitching about Bundle Prices

Okay, so there has been a minor stir caused among people on blogs/forums for the past week or so about the practice of retailers bundling next-gen consoles with games and accessories resulting in a much higher price, such as the $700 Wii Bundle.

To these people, I say:

CRY MORE, NOOBS. THAT’S ECONOMICS. THAT’S CAPITALISM. SHUT THE FUCK UP.

No one is forcing you to buy this stuff. Did a Gamespot sales associate come up to your door, shove a pistol in your face, and demand that you give them $700 for a Wii? No, they didn’t. Are you a mindless drone, with no control over your own purchasing decisions? I don’t think so.

You see, this is how supply and demand works. If you think it is too expensive, THEN DON’T BUY IT. It’s simple as that. Vote with your wallet. If you don’t think it’s worth the money, then don’t buy it. If you do, then do buy it.

If no one wanted these bundles, then no one would buy them. But apparently people do want these bundles because they sell. And so retailers continue the practice. The Wii bundle sold out in a matter of minutes.

Furthermore, quit bitching about the price of the PS3. If it was too expensive, then why will it sell out this weekend? Economics tells us that a rational business will raise the price for a product until supply equals demand. With a $600 price point, the number of PS3s demanded are much higher than the number of PS3s available. If anything, Sony should up the price of the system so that only 400,000 people in the country will be willing to buy one, exactly the number that will be available at launch.

I have a new idea: Instead of having a fixed price for consoles, put every single one of them on eBay. People will pay exactly what they the systems are worth to them. Check eBay right now. PS3 pre-orders are going for $1200-$1600. That’s the efficient market price.

If you don’t like the prices, there are plenty of other people out there who think it’s worth it, and are willing to pay the price. So QQ.

-Jon
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