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No tariffs...
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this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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Yes, but... There are consequences. Used goods will also have price increase if new ones are more expensive.
Buying 2nd hand reduces demand for new goods, which reduces prices in the broad sense.
That's not what happened when demand for used cars skyrocketed a few years ago
Demand for new vehicles didn't drop, supply for new vehicles stopped.
Also, demand for cars can't drop because Americans don't have basic freedoms like access to quality public transit, walkable cities, or infrastructure to protect bikes from car drivers who watch movies on their phones while they drive
Yup, the US has managed to turn cars from a luxury item to what's essentially a necessary good.
Like there aren't cars outside of the US.
You know full goddamn well that's not what I mean. If you're going to argue in pithy whataboutisms then take that shit back to Reddit.
Check your attitude. And no, I have no idea what your point is. Lots of non-US places are auto dependent and cannot be served by transit.
There are over 1.4 billion cars in the world, and less than 1/5 are in the US. Most vehicle sales are outside of the US.
Do you even travel??
Okay, first, go fuck yourself with this holier-than-thou attitude. You started this shit, not me.
Second, my attitude comes from smarmy little fucks like you who I thought to god I left behind when I left Reddit.
Third, I very much doubt you need an explanation as I believe you are not arguing in good faith, but I'll humor you anyway, for posterity. Your comment is what's know as a whataboutism. This is essentially an argument which ignores the accusation at hand (the overreliance of the US on cars) and instead makes an unrelated accusation (that I deny overreliance elsewhere).
Now, I ask you, where did I state that nowhere else in the world is there a country overreliant on cars? I can't find it. As a matter of fact, I can't seem to find anywhere on this post about tariffs in the United States, in this thread about used goods in the United States, in the comment I replied to discussing more specifically used cars in the United States, where anyone has said one goddamn thing about a country other than the United States. You make arguments in your head then ascribe them to me. I have said nothing about the state of cars elsewhere in the world, because it is several times removed from the subject at hand.
Fourth, yes I travel. Most of my family lives abroad. It is through my travels that I know there are better ways of doing things than the US is doing now. (Oh, and as long as we're talking about logical fallacies, that's an Ad Hominem). This point has especially stuck in my craw. Don't act like you know anything about me you shitstain.
Finally, if it seems like I'm being harsh or overaggressive, it's because I'm well sick of this shit from the days of Reddit, and I won't tolerate it here. If I see someone using shitty tactics to start shit online, I will do my best to nip it in the bud. Frankly I probably wouldn't be this irrationally angry if you hadn't not only doubled down on your shit take, but try to drag me down in the process as well. Now, do us both a favor and cut that shit out.
Your reading comprehension is disturbingly poor.
People with cars a couple years old were being asked to trade for a new one just to bolster used inventory. Don’t understand the economics but I know two people who traded their 3ish year old cars for brand new ones (and a little cash on top) at the behest of the dealer during that time.
I bought right after the lockdown. Six months later I was being offered more for my car used than I paid for it new. I'm still driving it, and it's been paid off for quite awhile, three year loan.
I don't know the economics either but I bought a used truck in Dec 20 and after 6months or a year the dealer started calling me every month or so with an offer to buy it back at more than I bought it for. It was really crazy.
My parents bought a their car when their lease was up then sold it back for a profit around the same time. Just to add to the anecdotes.
You mean when carvana started overpaying for used cars to build inventory to test their product and inadvertently crashed the used car market (from a buyers perspective)?
How complicated economics is!
But increases demand for used goods means the price increases for them, which means the deal isn't as good so buying new becomes more interesting...
I think we just invented economics
And we just realized how silly it is!
Only those that are uneducated in the miserable science think it is silly.
There's alternatives to the capitalist system that leads to the situation we're in right now.
And those systems use economists too. There are whole economic departments in universities in socialist economies studying economics. The science does not change just because the system you use to allocate goods changes.
Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize this. I say as I wait for my econ 101 class to start.
The only clothing item I buy for durability is boots. All the rest of my clothes are the cheapest possible shit I can find, because it doesn't matter.
No one on earth can convince me a $60 pair of jeans is worth $60.
$60 has the same buying power thar $30 did just 15 years ago so it might be more helpful to think in living wage hours (where 50 hours of work pays for rent).
In 2025 average rent is $1650. So a living wage after taxes would be $33. In 2010 it was $890 which means a living wage was $17.
There isn't one living wage. It varies greatly by location, and so do wages. However, there isn't any location that consistently pays living wages.
$60 on used denim will go much further.
Learn to identify higher quality vintage denim and you've begun profiting. Old selvedge will last a lifetime properly cared for, newer denin barely lasts me a couple years with all the spandex in it.
Frankly, just learn to identify vintage denim at all. People have the mistaken idea that everything used to be better quality than now, and that was never true, there has always been bad and good quality stuff. BUT, the thing about buying older stuff (vintage clothing, antique furniture, old tools, etc.) is that if it was bad quality stuff that wouldn't last, it wouldn't be here now to begin with.
And eventually , all of the used goods will wear out necessitating new goods.
Entropies a bitch
Matter Replicator When?
Thrift stores are expensive now anyway. Resale shops are worse. Garage sale season is coming up.
Yeah I've seen goodwill selling things for more than they cost at Walmart.
Anecdotally, my local thrift store used to sell men's shirts for $2 to $5 mostly. Now shirts are 15 to 25. That's crazy. Why spend 25 on a collar button down if a new one is 28 at JCPenney.
They already did, but for different reason.
Second-Hand clothing was trendy not too long ago and the prices went up to the point where the used wares almost cost more than new ones.
Just keep in mind that everything is a business and will exploit it's current popuarity to the fullest.
Depending on the type of product there may be several times the necessary amount already laying around.
Unfortunately places like goodwill will jack up prices. eBay prices tend to go up as well. Other places not as much since they don't usually do market research.
In my country, a lot/most of the second hand selling is done by normal people
That is good. Unfortunately many Americans "just don't want to mess with it" themselves. They could easily give it away directly or recycle it, but instead give stuff to phony charities like goodwill.
There's also a massive trend of reselling where people either shop thrift to sell at a markup or people trying to sell their stuff for close to new prices
I don't really see an issue with reselling niche items. The people looking for them aren't going to every thrift store weekly to find that exact item. They can conveniently go online and have it shipped to their door. It has caused goodwill to jack up prices and cherry pick all the good stuff for their own auction site.
I've bought and resold before as well as redold my old stuff on ebay but the margins can be thin unless you have a huge difference in price bought vs sold.
There's a big difference between resellimg and scalping.
My problem isn't with reselling but the trend of overpricing, I suppose scalping is an appropriate term.
They can try all they want. I see that occasionally on the websites people sell their stuff on. But usually even those people are willing to sell for a reasonable offer if their ad has been up for a long time.
D:
that's just capitalism