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so today I went and got my hair cut costing £16.00 and the place was cash only to boot !

pre pandemic I was paying £9.00 at the same place and there were 3 barbers in the town now there are 11 barbers to choose from and they are all £15 to £20.00

The economics theory of supply and demand would suggest that more competition would bring prices down but that doesn't happen so I am wondering if this idea is just an illusion and in reality business works by pushing prices as high as they'll go and your competitors will do the same.

Is this perhaps why supermarket food prices have skyrocketted but farmers say it isn't filtering down to them ?

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i have clippers

15 years of number 2, saved me thousands

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Cost of labour has risen, but more important is the cost of energy.

At the church my mate goes to, pre-Urkraine war, the fuel bill was about £2,000 a quarter. Now it's over £20,000.

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IDFIMH

dont barbers use scissors now still?

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

Yes, but they also need to eat, to live somewhere, and to keep warm during winter.

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IDFIMH

not at my expense im glad to say

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

the barbers thing was just an illustration the point that I was making is that there is lots of anecdotal evidence of supermarkets and other businesses all collectively boosting profits hence the title

I personally believe there is no such thing as competition any more and in most business areas prices will stay high or rise further because of that

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even airport "transfers"?


(what exactly are they? anything like a taxi to an airport?)

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most

once I sold my business airport transfer prices locally went up by 50 to 60 percent as every single local operator "unilaterally" upped their prices quite sharply

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Maybe you were doing them too bloody cheap then.

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IDFIMH

a little but we tried putting ours up and they all kept theirs below us followed by some of the drivers started moaning why aren't we getting airports it was not until the peterborough asians got 95 % control of the local trade that prices went up

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theres always one who undercuts

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Competition does lower prices and that is an economic law that cannot be broken.

There could be some dynamics at play that are not common anywhere else.

I was paying £12 per hair cut pre pandemic and the price is still the same so don't why yours has gone up so much and with many barbers in the area too. It's very pecilauir considering there much more than only a few years ago. Prices should definitely have come down.

A few theories as to why yours has risen so high.

1) All the barbers operating in your area have had their rents increased and so those costs have been passed on to customers as is always the case

2) They have all raised prices gradually over the last 3 years and the customers have so far accepted the price increases. If customers do not cut demand when prices are raised then businesses will keep rising prices until the market decides to cut demand due to a too high price.

3) There has been a significant population increase due to an influx of new citizens

4) Some other reason where the cost of doing business for barbers has increased. There are many possibilities that could cause this. An increase in council rates or workers (barbers) demanding pay rises due to cost of living crisis etc.

I would need some more information before I can help you get to the bottom of this situation.

It is very peculiar and from what you are saying does not seem to make economic sense.

Is this perhaps why supermarket food prices have skyrocketted but farmers say it isn't filtering down to them ?[/quote]

There has been some corporations/companies price gouging since Covid-19 lockdowns and the high inflation.

It's been happening in the US as well as here.

Some meat producers in America put their prices up to ridiculous levels and they have actually lost a lot of business due to buyers going with competitors with cheaper prices.

That will cost those price gouging companies dearly. It's a dangerous game to play for any business. Some can get away with it if the rises are not too drastic but if you push it too far then the market will notice and there will be severe consequences if it does assuming there is competition.

In the long run only monopolies can get away with prices above the market rate.

Not sure if the supermarkets are doing it as there is reasonable competition in the UK.

ASDA, LIDL, ALDI, Morrisons, Sainsbury's and Waitrose are just some in a fairly healthy market.

If any 1 or 2 supermarkets raise prices to levels way above the market rate then customers will go elsewhere as the other supermarkets will keep prices at the market rate to take customers away from their competitors.

Most major towns and cities have ample choice of companies all withing reasonable distances so customers have options to go elsewhere without any major inconvenience.

The barbers thing has me puzzled though.

some people shouldnt be allowed to trade for thier own safety and sakes...

a local owner driver rang me, could i cover a BHX, she had double booked herself (i think she just wanted a longer job, she was going to Manchester...

she asked what id want off her, I said £75

silence...................so i pointed out it was a 3am bank holiday job....

she replied "ive quoted £45, i didnt check the date".....

so, i did the BHX, took £45 off the passenger and Miss OD paid me £30

The 2 funny bits are..... Id quoted the passenger £60 myself 3 weeks before and Miss OD charged £70 to Manchester - and i got £30 of that so she was minted......lol

she said more than once "i go in cheap then quote higher next time they ring me...." PMSL

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Of all the things ive lost, i miss my mind the most