Letter: Hard to understand merchant prices

Richard W. Fee

After many years of living on Guam there are still so many things that I just do not understand. One of the big ones is how merchants determine prices. You would think that since everything comes on the same boat, prices might be similar.

Well, that is what our oil companies tell us when we question why all our gas prices are the same.

Now, I know this is not one of the things men usually notice or even care about. If I am asked to buy something, I pick a store, any store that is close, go in, grab the item and rarely even look at the price. My wife, of course, would make this a six=store, four-hour journey and still complain she could have gotten a better deal.

Richard Fee

That was until the other day. I recently bought a new laser printer because they tend to give quality copies at a low price. When it was time to get my first cartridge, I popped in a nearby store, asked for the cartridge and paid, but something bothered me. It seemed like, wow, that was a lot of money.

Then I did something which my wife and the rest of Guam always does before buying, I checked My local cartridge was $149. The average price on Amazon with free shipping was $73. How can the same thing jump $76? I will be getting all my future cartridges on Amazon from now on.

Back in 1973, the first governor, Carlos Camacho, wrote a column in the local paper. He was concerned about the high price of goods in the stores. He asked a question which was never answered: A 50-pound bag of rice lands at the Port with a declared value of $1 and travels 10 miles to the store and then promptly sold for $5. The historical currency converter shows that 1973 money would be equivalent of $5.69 to $28.46. I wonder if that is still the difference?

There are laws against price gouging during typhoons and earthquakes, but not during the regular times.

Let’s look at something that is closer to my heart than the occasional printer cartridge: Diet Coke. Yes, I admit my addition to the stuff. Take the standard 16 oz. bottle of caffeinated joy. I have no idea what stores pay for it, but it must not be much considering the variety of prices that us desperate consumers pay for it. If I go to the local convenience stores, I can pay anywhere between $1.25 to $1.69, and it has nothing to do with the niceness or grunginess of the place.

Now, let’s travel to the airport. As we enter the airport ready for that nice nine-hour trip without food, they strip us of all liquids. We then have to purchase drinks before we board the plane. The cheapest place charges a minimum of $3 while one place actually charges $6. This is all for the same $1.25 16oz bottle of Diet Coke where the owner has already made a reasonable profit.

The big grocery stores also have imaginative pricing where a case of 12 cans can go for $5.99 to $8.99. I know this Diet Coke obsession is not healthy, but it highlights the insanity and yes, avarice of some of our stores.

This makes it sound like I am in favor of some kind of socialistic price control. I’m not. We live on an island in the middle of the Pacific where things actually have to be shipped in and prices will never match small-town America. I am saying that even us husbands need to wake up to fact that there are places here besides the gas stations who have no qualms about charging you whatever they feel like.

We all want to support local merchants, but it is getting tougher to choose the ones who are simply trying to make an honest living from those who are paying for their kids’ Harvard educations. I now understand why many folks who want to help local merchants also do not hesitate to order things online if there is enough savings.

Richard W. Fee, Ph.D., is a retired associate professor of education and retired judicial educator.