It seems the electronics industry is now letting etailers establish pre-order sales as a way to produce just enough devices to meet anticipated needs.
As someone who is an early adopter, and who likes being first, this would appear on the surface to be something meaningful. Except, as someone who has been around the wine world for many years it's easy to see where the problems lie in what they call "futures."
The futures market is based on the merchant you are buying your prized wine from getting access to all that they order. The wine forum sites are littered with stories of someone who didn't get their order because somewhere along the way from winemaker to retailer the full allocation never made it to the end of the line customer. This usually happens when a particular wine or winery sells via distributors or negociants who then write orders, wait to get paid and then deliver the wine. But, as with anything that is a commodity shrinkage occurs. A case is broken, exposed to the elements, damaged or simply lost. Someone gets the short end of the stick and then their is disillusionment followed by frustration to try and find the wine at the markedly lower futures price, possibly purchased with a stronger dollar than what it is at the time of anticipated deliver.
Currency fluctuation also comes into play. The merchant who thought the wine was going to be 100 dollars a bottle often times finds themselves paying more, and sometimes can't cover the net difference. The importer or distributor sells them what they paid for, not what the final invoice is for and again, someone is shorted. Once again the merchant scrambles to find the products.
I write this because I'm sensing there will be the same shortage mentality on some high end consumer electronics soon, all of which will drive the commodity based market known as eBay.
Just in Time ordering is good when the products and raw materials exist, but I have a funny feeling that what's made is made and everyone else has to wait or pay more.
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