This is a rewrite from scratch of something I posted a year or two ago to the City of Heroes forums. It was a sort of affirmation of the basic free-market principles I myself was rediscovering from following the threads there, particularly threads regarding flipping, or buying items that had been listed on the global market at less than their going value and immediately relisting them at a higher price oneself.
The Customer was hungry. It was lunchtime, and time for his sandwich. The Customer liked sandwiches, which was good, since he worked on a street full of sandwich shops. These shops ran up one side and down the other, all right there on the Customer's block, all within easy walking distance. And they all sold all their sandwiches for four dollars, each and every day.
So the Customer was surprised to see a six-dollar price tag one day, not just on one sandwich but on every sandwich on every shelf in one particular shop. The Customer called the Shopkeeper over. "Is this a mistake?" he asked. "Why do these cost more?"
"Oh, it's no mistake. I charge more because of the special service I provide," replied the Shopkeeper.
Now the Customer was polite, and since he didn't wish to wear out his welcome, he bid the Shopkeeper good afternoon, walked to the shop next door, and bought a four-dollar sandwich.
But the Customer was also curious. "Special service?" he wondered as he ate his sandwich on the walk back to his office. What special service? That shop was no closer than any of the others, or at least not closer by enough to matter. Neither was it any larger, nor any cleaner, or any more attractive or brightly lit. Their sandwiches were all the same size, on the same style bread, with the same meats and cheeses and slathered with the same brands and amounts of condiments. The Customer dug further into its business practices yet still could not discern what set that one store apart. All the shops paid the same rent. They all used the same amounts of electricity and water and gas, supplied by all the same utility companies. They all had the same number of employees and paid them the same wages.
Defeated, the Customer returned to that one store the next day. "Excuse me," he said to the Shopkeeper, "but what you said yesterday confuses me still. I've looked at your sandwiches, and I've looked at your shop, and I've looked at your business. I simply do not see what sets yours apart. If you don't mind my asking, exactly what is this special service of yours?"
The Shopkeeper leaned back and smiled. "Ah. That. It's actually quite simple. The special service I provide is that my store still has sandwiches for sale when everyone else is out."
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