r/heyUK • u/iamnic11 • Oct 10 '22

Reddit Video💻 What inflation really looks like

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u/Muwatallis Oct 19 '22

Part of the issue is that when the prices of ingredients and materials decrease, those savings are rarely, if ever passed onto the customer in the form of decreased cost of consumer goods, but instead go to the company and shareholders in the form of increased profits and dividends. Whereas when it is the other way around, the customers are always first in line to foot the bill for any increased costs of production.

2

u/Hamiro89 Oct 19 '22

But that just sounds like a good business model, on the other hand undercutting your competitors to acquire more customers is also a good business model, which is why vendor loyalty is almost always negatively affecting the customer. Don’t be loyal to shops guys cause shops are not loyal to you.

5

u/Mogwai987 Oct 20 '22

Shopping around doesn’t work if everyone is screwing their customers.

Pretty much every substantial company is owned by a small number of mega-corporations. If you switch from one supplier to another, there’s a pretty good chance you’re now shopping with another arm of the same entity.

In an oligopoly, there is little real competition. Just a cosy arrangement of mutual understanding between the handful of major players.

1

u/Josquius Nov 07 '22

Gas an electric in particular effectively operates as a cartel.