Subject:
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part pricing theory and practice
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Fri, 30 Mar 2001 16:40:03 GMT
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Viewed:
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508 times
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I was thinking about buying some white plates from Brickbay, and came up with this comparison (viewing in a monospaced font is a
good idea):
Brickbay Baylit S@H #5320
Lo Avg Hi
1x1 10 12 17 20 6 x8=48
1x2 8 10 16 15 5 x8=40
1x3 8 12 20 12 5 x4=20
1x4 10 12 20 15 6 x8=48
1x6 9 12 20 20 7 x4=28
1x8 16 18 23 40 8 x4=32
1x10 20 21 25 40 10 x2=20
2x2 7 9 15 10 4 x8=32
2x3 9 11 12 20 5 x4=20
2x4 10 13 15 15 6 x8=48
2x6 13 14 16 20 7 x2=14
2x8 16 20 25 40 8 x2=16
2x10 20 30 40 50 10 x2=20
2x2-L 10 14 15 20 6 x2=12
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=398 (actual price for #5320 is 3.99)
Prices are in US cents, and I threw out used parts on Brickbay (although they would have sometimes skewed the price higher); I
didn't throw out the high and the low, although maybe I should have, and I eyeballed the average.
It sure looks to me like service pack $5320 is a real bargain compared with BrickBay. The average prices are 2x S@H's, so unless I
plan to never use fully half the parts, I'm better off going direct to Lego.
Which brings me to my theory question: What is setting the price on Brickbay?
Inertia? As bulk packs become available, Brickbay prices are slow to come down. White 2x4 plates are available by the hundred for
$6.99, yet the lowest price on Brickbay is well above that.
Greed? Hardly seems likely, since no one is earning their livelihood by parting out Lego. And Baylit's elevated prices are explained
by Jon as limiting the work he has to do, which seems entirely reasonable.
Return on investment? In the Lego world, it's common practice to buy, part out, sell the unneeded bits, and recoup the initial
investment. But if the sets are bought at deep discount, the price per part should seldom exceed 5 cents. I understand marking up
the parts, but there's no way it can pay for the sorting work involved and sufficiently compensate the seller for the time involved.
Demand? Most likely. But it is curious that buyers are willing to value Brickbay Lego, which is sometimes of questionable quality,
as much as parts guaranteed new from S@H.
Value? Maybe Lego enthusiasts actually value parts more than LDI does. How else does one explain why used Lego commands a great a
price as it does?
Thoughts?
Cary
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Message has 3 Replies:
 | | Re: part pricing theory and practice
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| I'm certain to open a few discussions, and there is probably a economist out there to correct me. Price is merely a function of supply and demand in a perfect market. For many AFOLs the market is nearly perfect, they understand the potential supply (...) (24 years ago, 30-Mar-01, to lugnet.market.theory)
| | | Re: part pricing theory and practice
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| (...) ..{snip,snip}.. (...) For a seller on Brickbay, mechanisms exist that track all previous sales and provide pricing information. When listing a specific part of a particular color, data is available that shows how many times that element has (...) (24 years ago, 30-Mar-01, to lugnet.market.theory)
| | | Re: part pricing theory and practice
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| In lugnet.market.theory, Cary Clark writes: <snip> (...) Individual sellers. Buyers either decide it is a good price, or pass if they choose to wait. Lego makes a large variety of parts (and colors), to get the exact combinations (assuming you (...) (24 years ago, 30-Mar-01, to lugnet.market.theory)
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