Kierkegaard and OOTS

[Schmacky]

Has anyone noticed how OOTS strip 135 "Potionomics" is a lot like a certain section of Soren Kierkegaard's Attack on Christendom?

'It is said that [an inkeeper] sold his beer by the bottle for a cent less than he paid for it; and when a certain man said to him, "How does that balance the account? That means to spend money," he replied, "No, my friend, it's the big number that does it"...For there can be no doubt that this innkeeper knew very well that one bottle of beer which he sold for 3 cents meant a loss of 1 cent when it cost him 4...But 100,000 bottles! Here the big number stirs the imagination, the round number runs away with it, and the innkeeper becomees dazed--it's a profit, says he, for the big number does it.' from Attack on Christendom by Kierkegaard

I find much of the writings of old theologians and philosophers hilarious and intellectually stimulating. What a delight. :smallsmile:

[Nerdanel]

I know a similar example from real life.

1. Buy candy from the most expensive place reachable because it's close by.
2. Sell at a discount to gain customers.
3. Give automatic extra discounts to friends.
4. ???
5. Profit? Look, the other children gave us cash!!!

Real names withhold to protect the entrepeneurs.

[ThisIsNotDan]

I've heard the same basic scenario presented in economics classes, followed by a bunch of graphed curves that prove mathematically why there is no profit.

[Optimystik]

It reminded me of my parents burning $10 more gas to get to the supermarket where they could save $5 with their coupon.

Or my nephew buying a hot dog and coke with a $20 I gave him and telling me there was no change.

...I'm going to start calling instances like that "Potionomics."

[MickJay]

They main reason for selling stuff at a loss is to attract customers to the shop where they would buy other, normally priced/overpriced, goods. V made a point about this (that the shop was selling nothing but potions and, indeed, had no way of getting profit).

There's a medium-sized food store near where I live, they sell some of the fizzy drinks at less then half RPP, while many of the other unhealthy foods are a often 10-30% more expensive than in the other shops in the area.

What about the weapon shop with no weapons? That had to be a total waste of time (and money) as well.

[JVWest]

I loved the weapon shop nod to Monty Python.

Great observation about Kierkegaard.

[Optimystik]

What about the weapon shop with no weapons? That had to be a total waste of time (and money) as well.

One could argue that the reason he has no weapons is that he's been wildly successful. :smallbiggrin: