It´s normal nowadays to see printers with expensive cartridges. Why is that so? Is there anywhere where someone made a free market look at the situation? All i get is that the companys are an oligopoly that is ripping off the consumer and the government is doing nothing about it.
if they are ripping people off, and its so damn profitable, why isn’t there a boom in manufacturing of cartriges by entrepenuers and other competition?
Thats what i asking.
I don’t see much reason that they’d be able to keep an oligopoly. Printers are pretty easy to make, and there aren’t any real barriers to entry there. There is absolutely nothing to keep you from selling your own printer with cheap cartridges if you want. My guess is that companies have found out when buying a printer very few people give a crap about the cost of ink replacements, instead worrying about that when they have to buy them, at which point it’s too late. As soon as market demands cheaper cartridges instead of other features, someone will supply it.
who is judging this?
Many hardware websites and many people that work in the area.
Compared to what? What alternative is cheaper than it?
I don’t know. It don’t seem that so little ink costs so much, also the cartridges break very fast. You never had problems with this?
You can look at google. Anti free-market people love to bring the cartridge problem to attack capitalism. Maybe i expressed myself wrong here, i not like throwing a challenge here, i thought some of you people could elaborate more on the problem.
But it’s only the anti-capitalist mentality assumes that this is a problem. Capitalism creates comparative advantages for all parties involved. These cartridges offer a comparative advantage to the consumer over other messages of printing and replicating images and texts. That is why the consumer purchases them warts and all. Does anyone have another explanation?
I wonder if the paper printing of the FED has any effect on the price of ink cartridges? More State tyranny I proclaim!
There’s nothing to compare the prices of printer cartidges with, its a impossible analysis.
read my post again slowly, and think about it
if people allege that it could be profitable to produce less-expensive cartdiges, but that its not happening because the people who are currently doing the producing dont want to change their ways, the best response is to challenge them to prove it by starting up a business in the industry and outcompeting the laggards.
I know that… that’s what i thinking, and that’s why i came to this forum… But i thought someone could have made a more profound analyses of the situation. So, you are saying that the print and cartridge market is just perfect? People will just answer you back with some: well, now you see that those theories about the free market are good at theory but at the real world it just don’t work like that.
I no expert on the situation, far from it, i just curious about it, why so many people complain about it? I myself had already many problem with cartridges breaking a lot, been very expensive.
Nothing is perfect, the market strives constantly for equilibrium between supply and demand, but it’s impossible to actually achieve because everything is constantly changing.
I think perhaps one of your premises is wrong here. You’re argument would go something like this.
Austrian economics says that supply will rise to meet demand if it is possible. (I’m not actually sure if this one is true)
People are demanding cheaper printer cartridges, it is possible to produce them, yet the market isn’t providing them, therefore, austrian economics is wrong.
Several of these assumptions are impossible to measure.
read my post again, and think about it. its not the same question you are asking if you can read into context
The thing is that you see complains about the cartridge sector everywhere. The European regulators are considering to pass laws to regulate more this market (i don’t know if they passed already some law, or what is happening right now). The position that if the profits were so high someone would enter and compete with them don’t work very well with outside people (you don’t need to sell me this argument). The questions are, why does it seems that the prices are still so high? Are they really high? If yes, why didn’t someone entered to compete? Is there something really wrong about it or people are just bitching about it? Could there be laws that are keeping the prices high, like patent laws? I thought someone here would indicate me to some link where there is a free market analyses about the situation. I couldn’t find one, only cartridge monopoly, and government must protect the consumer talk without much real research.
And why is that the cartridge market isn’t getting any better? If it is, isn’t there some research about it to show it and rebute the monopoly claims people are making? Or is the market very profitable but it don’t face competition because of existing laws?
Gotcha, and I have zero idea if anyone has analyzed this specifically.
While “Austrians” consistently claim to that human freedom to act solves many economic problems, printing cartridges is of course an exception! Of course! EVERYONE at the Mises Institute understands that exactly these specific items can only be efficiently manufactured by slaves in certain kolchos-Anstalts located near villages with soon-to-have very historic names in Poland…
However, I personally happens to have bought two printers the last decade, without using it long enough to ever having to change the cartridge. So at least I have made a profit from this deal with “high cartridge prices subsidising low printer prices”-tactic. Otherwise, I actually think that there are expensive printers with cheap cartridges around, if you search (or ask the resellers for a package printer+cartridges deal if you want! who’s stopping you ?)
Ha ha !
Well, our sovEUt politicians are ALWAYS considering regulating ALL industries, and for NO REASON!
That’s no news, and it definately doesn’t refer to any economic argument, but as always only to the argument of our overlords fighting your freedom in order to increas their own power.