Conformity puzzling phenomenon

link Robert Arrowsmith

Publisher

I’m sorry, but I have to write about this. It was one of the things I noticed last time I was here, and it is blatantly obvious again, but this time in a different form.

What is up with all the white SUVs/Crossovers? Last time I was here everyone had a Jeep. Now it is the copycat Ford/Lexus/Honda … every company has a white one on the street.

I counted nine of them at Cripple Creek on Thursday morning. I counted 37 of them between Walgreens and Something Different just on Prince Street.

I was once told the reason for purchasing a white crossover was resale value. How much resale value do you think five years from now will be added because the crossover was white instead of say … navy blue? Will it be in the thousands of dollars? If it is officially that much, kudos to you for securing that information for your bank. But in reality there really is more to think about.

Basic supply and demand suggests that as demand goes up, so does cost. So what you did was buy high due to the immediate demand. But what do you think is going to happen in five years? All of you are going to be selling, which will flood the market, creating excessive supply, which in turn? Right; lowers the price of the vehicle. Supply high, price low.

Needless to say then, you bought high, and sold low, most likely more than enough to offset that gain from the resale value of your vehicle just because it was white.

Those in the investment industry have to love you.

Social media, the Internet, and overall immediate awareness has resulted in faster and faster changes in trends. Remember the color-cased iPhones from just last year? How about QR codes as the new mode of advertising?

The truth of the matter is no one knows what will be in or out five years from now. With the way things change so much, the cycle might change twice in five years. You actually have a chance the white cycle comes back in the time you own your vehicle that it will be in demand again.

Marquis De Sade was quoted as saying: “Man’s natural character is to imitate; that of the sensitive man is to resemble as closely as possible the person whom he loves. It is only by imitating the vices of others that I have earned my misfortunes.”

Those in the investment industry have to love you.

Yes I am mocking only one form of conformity. While I have used white SUVs/Crossovers in this column it could easily apply to all clickish things.

Buy low, sell high. Do your homework. Know a sales pitch from fact. When dollars are involved you are going to hear everything you want to hear. Understand what is being said to you. Don’t follow just because everyone else is doing it.

Robert Arrowsmith is publisher of Clovis Media Inc. Contact him at:

[email protected]