Originally Posted by
hromberg
Soap box warning
Um..... I don't want to be an ECON 101 professor, but the whole concept of "predatory pricing" is complete and utter BS. You and everyone else out there offer your goods and services at the best price you think you can get, and negotiate where you think you have to, and you get what you get. It's that simple.
All a price is, is a number at which the buyer would rather have the stuff and the seller would rather have the cash. Anyone who tells you different is scamming you.
As for "preying on" your competition, that's just horse crap. They didn't force Boat US out of the running. They BOUGHT their stores. You run your business the best you can, and if you thrive that's fine. If you're so good or so big that nobody can compete, GREAT! Excellence is a good thing, and in business it means people get more for less. That kicks butt. You might even end up being the only game in town......until you try to cash in on that. As soon as you start jacking up your prices to do so, you create a profit opportunity for new competition to enter or re-enter the market. With several billion people out there looking for a way to make a buck it won't be long before somebody snags that opportunity.
We got sold a complete bill of goods when they cannonized the whole "monopolies are evil and must be destroyed" mantra. The ONLY way you can simultaneously keep a monopoly and profit from having it is if you have the ability to forcibly keep competitors out of the market. That doesn't happen without help from Big Brother.
You don't like company X, don't buy from em. Just don't delude yourself into thinking that it's somehow evil to run a business well and grow it into a powerhouse. People doing that are what feed, clothe and house us, and do just about everything else of value in this world. Your coffee this morning didn't appear because the grower, processor, shippers, and all the other millions of people involved in putting it in your cup love you and want you to have a great morning. They all got up and went to work because they were looking for a way to make a buck. Good old harnessed greed. Don't be ashamed of it.
End soap box section.