RE: Is there really a problem?
You were able to get what you wanted each time, so clearly
you think there isn't...
But if you were one of the many other TF customers who hammer away on the site trying to get a watch and leave with nothing but wasted time, repeatedly, then you might feel differently.
If your theory is right and most watches are
not being churned for profit, then that just means it is a lottery for the lucky TF customers as to who get one, and who does not. While a lottery may seem fair on the face of it, there is probably some unfairness baked in, like who has the faster internet, faster computer, geographically closer to the server, faster fingers, etc.
Price is obviously not "right"
While it might satisfy those who manage to get a watch, because comparatively Eddie's prices
are low for a quality product vs. other decent micros, simple economics would dictate that the price should rise. Since it isn't, we see (some) flippers in the market.
While I'm sure this diagram isn't perfect, Eddie has deliberately limited his sales output to the # of units he can personally handle shipping in X days - Q1 units. So even if we offered him mega- dollars, he can only sell Q1 units. But instead of charging P2 dollars (pounds) for each of them, he charges the lower P1. And at that lower price, people demand more units than he can deliver. The number of units that go unsold is Q2-Q1. Some of people who missed out will buy from flippers, who can sell them for up to P2. The number of flippers may be low because the returns are relatively low.
I just see the situation getting worse and worse as the backlog grows and grows...
e.g.
With the soft release of Gilt & Commando, improvements to the PRS-25, backlog of orders for the currently unavailable Navigator, and anything else that may show up in the pipe between now and next market day, I foresee even more people coming next time. Add in additional social media coverage, like ID guy and it just gets worse.
PS.
This might be a better example of what I was trying to show
https://demonstrations.wolfram.com/S...tyRestriction/