Local Source for DDR Memory

[John Whitfield]

 >> Memory prices fluctuate daily. A bricks-n-mortar store needs to order
 >> the RAM at a particular price ...

 > Why do memory prices fluctuate daily whereas others do not? 

Probably because it is pretty much a pure commodity at this point, so it's more responsive to supply and demand issues.  I remember a while back when a couple of big plants were taken out by an earthquake.  Supplies were suddenly cut off and the price shot up for a while until supply could be ramped up to meet the demand again.

Also, one of the reasons bricks-n-mortar stores charge more for the chips is that someone has to pay for the bricks-n-morter (and displays and cashiers and store managers et cetera).  They also have to deal with the fact that unsold merchandise is tying up capital.  That's balanced by the extra cost of shipping single units directly to consumers rather than by the truckload to stores.  If something's really cheap (like gum) or expensive to ship (like furniture) the cost of shipping becomes a more significant part of the transaction cost.  Chips are perfect for shipping because they're relatively expensive and very light, so the cost of shipping is very small relative the to cost of the item.

Can you tell I've spent a lot of time working for retailers?  :-)

John Whitfield
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