If they are actively ATTEMPTING to manipulate the price, they are already failing since the market price they are selling seems to be too low considering how many people are ready to pay for one.
People are only willing to pay more because of a limited supply. People can deal with paying exorbitant prices if something is rare. Winning One Pocket for $300.00... Prolly a fair price, because the people like me who have copies, have no interest in selling them. I bought mine for $50.00 when they were selling new, and I thought it was slightly expensive at the time.
BUT... I don't think Predator can raise the price, even if the supply is limited, whether legitimately, or manipulated. People already complain to the high heavens about the retail price Predator is charging now. If they tried to raise it to say, $600.00, it would piss off a lot of people, and build a lot of ill will real fast. The current price is the knife edge of what people can justify paying the actual
manufacturer, at $500.00.
It's kind of a weird dichotomy. People will pay secondhand prices that they would never pay directly to the manufacturer. They inherently know that the manufacturer could produce more, so if a product is so rare that the manufacturer raises prices to far above the "just high enough to be slightly uncomfortable" level, then people know that the manufacturer is simply taking advantage of them.
A good corollary example is if the Rolling Stones went on tour. Tickets are set by the promoter at $200.00 a seat. Shows sell out. Scalpers get $400.00 a ticket, and the people paying that price are perfectly happy to pay it, since it's the only way they can get a ticket, and they appreciate the scalper for allowing them to buy a product they might not have been able to get otherwise.
Now... If the PROMOTER tried to set the price at $400.00 a ticket. The fans would go batshit crazy, as that would be seen as pure greed by the single controller of a resource.
And so, that's basically what we have with the Revo situation. Semi-rare commodity whose price has been set at the very upper end of what the market will bear. And people will certainly pay more.... to a third party, but not to the manufacturer...
Short Bus Russ
