4w ago

Scalper economy

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Arbitrage is a practice as old as the world. I don't see where is the problem in that
- People with lots of money shouldn't be allowed to make other people suffer.
  If I punched you in the face, I'd be in trouble. But if I drive up housing process so you become homeless, well that's your fault.
  
  What the hell does that have to do with luxury goods? The house is the only thing you Might not consider a luxury good because you need housing but, owning your own property and not sharing walls with a neighbor is in fact, a luxury.
  
  Shelter is a basic right. And private landlords have been disastrous for the price of housing.
  
  A home is 1 form of shelter. The luxury form. Much in the way a Ferrari is a form of transport vs a bike. The meme doesn't show shelter in the context of a basic right. It's showing a luxury good among other luxury goods.
  
  Rent goes up too as property prices go up, because they know they can get away with it. And those are basically your 2 options unless you're lucky enough to know people willing to house you for free (buy then they're still struggling with prices).
  I'm lucky enough that I have the option to fall back on my parents right now, but I need to leave Florida for safety reasons and wherever I go I will not know anybody and hence not get that 3rd option.
  
  Maybe I missed it, but I think the OP is about how home "investors" are also scalpers. So the topic is home investors.
  
  If them buying it denied other legitimate buyers with the same purchasing power from doing so, then yes. A home is too unique a purchase to be scalped though. It's like art in that the house is the only 1 one available exactly like it. The same exact house built on a corner or further in on the block have different values.
  2 pairs of the exact same sneaker treated the same from the same production run are practically identical. Market manipulation through scalping is the only method to raise it's price at the time of market sale.
  Tickets have a limited duration they hold ANY value so their prices can be manipulated through scalping too.
  Houses just shouldn't be in the same conversation.
  
  This take only makes sense when there's more houses than needed she people can be picky. That's not this world.
  
  There are as many houses as people want but not all the the quality or location they want. Manufactured homes can be dropped on lots for a fraction of the price. People live in the central valley and commute so they can have a home for much less. The world will never have everything everyone wants the way they want it. Thats not this world.
  
  This world also usually requires you physically reach your place of work, which is typically inside cities. Long commutes cost lots of money and waste a large chunk of your life. And hey, if those cheap houses were available in cities, people would buy them, but they're not. You can't blame buyers for a supply shortage.
  I think you fundamentally don't understand the issue. The issue is land, not the houses built on top of them. Land is limited, and the investors scalp the land first and foremost. There's usually enough land to house people well, but scalpers prefer scarcity so they can profit. Also, a lot of land is used very stupidly, just look at American-style suburbs.
  
  Dreamland.
- Lots of practices are as old as the world. Doesn't make them right

103 comments