On SingleBarbed.com, Keith Barton reveals months' worth of research into the discount selling of fly rods, noting that the resellers of fly rods on EBay are feeding the need for low-priced rods and in the process, he suggests, punishing those traditional fly shops who play by the rules. Still, without EBay, even small fly shops would lose a channel for growing revenues from discounted goods. Read Part I and Part II for some clever research into the phenomenon.
I find myself asking somewhat different questions after reading Barton's data. If resellers can move so many discounted rods while manufacturers continue to sell a significant number of rods at full price, isn't that the picture of a healthy industry? Indeed can any industry survive with a large interest in products that are not quite new?
(Thanks to reader Paul Bruun for this link.)
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