On Ebay there is a clack factory keycap with a buy it now price of $1000 US.
A resin plastic keycap only has about a 1.00 worth of material (not counting labor)..
How in the sweet name of Jesus is this possible, am I missing something? Why are artisans selling keycaps for 30-70 bucks, and then the same keycaps are going for a grand on Ebay?
Are they made of ground up unicorn hooves or something?
Best way I can explain it seriously is by drawing comparisons to any niche hobby that has a collector's component. What is the cost of material for a single stamp or coin? Astronomically low, and yet rare ones are worth hundreds, or thousands to the right person. Or how about any form of trading card game, especially Magic the Gathering? Same thing. The reason it's so high compared to contemporary prices is because rare things that people enjoy collecting have a tendency to appreciate over time.
you payin' for prestige not product
I definitely see what you are saying, but still, that means that clacks, of all things, have proportionately one of the highest profit margins of nearly any product on planet earth.. Not only is this 'rare' clack worth more than what it retailed for, it proportionately is worth more than nearly any item ever made by man...
Rare cars, even the highest selling ones dont see these kinds of margins...
Im obviously in the wrong business... lol
A little over a year ago, the painting below sold for almost $300,000,000. $300 million dollars, for something that was made by an artist who no one even cared about until he died. I'm sure the cost of materials as well as the retail price of it were less than a couple hundred dollars even adjusted for inflation, yet it sold for probably a
million times what the so-called "actual" value should be.
Another one, a biscuit supposedly from the Titanic sold less than a year ago for almost $25,000. A ****ing biscuit. I imagine the retail price for a single biscuit is probably less than a couple cents, and yet it sold for an absolutely stupid amount.
My point is that people pay stupid amounts of money for things that they deem collectible, be it model trains, paintings, MTG cards, comic books, china dolls, or even keycaps. Clacks sell for a stupidly high amount because of rarity, prestige, and of course hype. Does that mean you have to buy them? No. Does it mean most people that are into keyboards will buy them? Probably not. But some people will and if people will pay $50, then the next person selling decides to try for $75, and the next person tries $100, well, then it just climbs from there.
