Maelochs

Fist off .... when you say stuff about degrees and political parties you are proving that however smart you might be in other aspects, in that one respect your idiotic bias makes you one of the stupidest life forms to ooze across the face of the planet. I don't care it it is democrat, socialist, GOP, green, whatever .... "Partyism" is just as prejudicial as racism, and just as stupid and offensive.

Just saying .....

Also saying, the "appeal to authority" argument ... yeah, it was a scientist who "invented" the idea of human races which has since been rejected by the scientific community .... Kepler vs Copernicus? A lot of scientists have been entirely wrong, or simply mistaken.

As for the "elastic" and "inelastic" stuff .... I don't know the terms but some of what you says is described accurately ... there is indeed a different pricing method for necessities and luxury goods, which I perhaps mistakenly described a "discretionary income purchases." There is an even different pricing system for "Conspicuous Consumption" items, where often the items sell better with higher prices because people want the exclusivity and the bragging rights.

But as I think most of us realize, people pricing bikes aren't doing it based on cost, but on ... . "what the market will bear." People who want to own the Latest and Greatest, simply because someone told them it is the latest and greatest.

Here is another bit of data --- real-world data.

I sometimes buy houses ... not as quick as bikes, but I don't need a Fahgedaboutit lock when I leave it either. And I have gone into a development when it is just starting to build out, and priced houses, then returned a few times, deciding whether to buy or not ... and the prices go up as the development fills out.

To clarify: When there is nothing but a sign, some pvc pipes sticking up and some wooden stakes with ribbons marking where the utilities will be, the base prices are low. When a few houses are built, the base prices go up a few thousand dollars. Every month or two, depending on how fast the units sell (including unbuilt lots) the prices go up another couple thousand. Six months in, the homes you could have bought for a $195,000 now cost $210,000 or $225,000.

Same houses, same lots, same build quality .... and it isn't "supply and demand" because there are still a lot of lots left, and in one or more cases, the same builder has a whole new neighborhood planned for right next door. It is what people will pay when they see a fledgling neighborhood instead of a barren field with stakes and pipes. it is the lack of imagination which forces sellers to start low, and the appeal of pretty landscapes let them raise the prices for the exact same products later.

And if there are real estate forums .... I don't imagine anyone is posting "So Unfair!! Outrageous price increases! The manufacturers are robbing us!"

Bike buyers, however ......