Compact fluorescent light bulbs !
Not normally associated with the above term. But there's more to the subject than just a better light bulb, which, like the proverbial improved mouse-trap, should have people queueing to buy it.
So why don't they? Several reasons:
The light is less clear, and not so good for reading.
The bulb takes a few seconds to light up with full brightness.
They are larger and less decorative for ambience.
But: they should last longer and save many times the cost during the lifetime.
And they are being recommended by teh EU, which will make them compulsory.
Now, when a good idea is made obligatory, arhter than letting the market decide, one must smell a rat.
Epecially when the product they are recommending is subject to a taxon imports. The government in Brussels wants us to buy itk, but not enough to lift the tax to make them cheap.
So why do they tax these bulbs? To keep out cheap Indian and Chinese bulbs.
Who benefits? The German company Siemens, who make them in Europe and now have a 450m market to itself.
Showing posts with label Rip-off. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rip-off. Show all posts
Tuesday, 24 April 2007
Wednesday, 4 April 2007
Capitalist rip-off
The first of an occasional series.
Fair trade coffee. Not what you'd expect to see so described. But it is when sold in a cup by Starbucks or any other major chain.
So you choose to pay (say) 10 cents extra in order to help the poor people of the world.
But the poor farmer only gets 2 cents of that. The other 8 cents go to the retailer. All other costs are identical.
Of course he does this knowingly. His aim is to split his customers into those who are price-driven, and pay the basic, and those for whom a different choice will be attractive - a flavour, or an ethical choice.
There's also a paradox. If the retailer realised this and chose not to mark-up the fair trade coffee, there would only be a 2 cents differential. Customers would sniff - not very generous, is it? The difference has to be enough for the customer to think he's helping. So the profit soars. The retailer increases both sales and his profit margin by increasing the price.
Of course it does help the poor farmer in Africa. But not by as much as it helps the coffee shop
Fair trade coffee. Not what you'd expect to see so described. But it is when sold in a cup by Starbucks or any other major chain.
So you choose to pay (say) 10 cents extra in order to help the poor people of the world.
But the poor farmer only gets 2 cents of that. The other 8 cents go to the retailer. All other costs are identical.
Of course he does this knowingly. His aim is to split his customers into those who are price-driven, and pay the basic, and those for whom a different choice will be attractive - a flavour, or an ethical choice.
There's also a paradox. If the retailer realised this and chose not to mark-up the fair trade coffee, there would only be a 2 cents differential. Customers would sniff - not very generous, is it? The difference has to be enough for the customer to think he's helping. So the profit soars. The retailer increases both sales and his profit margin by increasing the price.
Of course it does help the poor farmer in Africa. But not by as much as it helps the coffee shop
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