Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Markets in Everything: Butter on eBay for Norway

Here's an eBay listing for 1.5 kg of butter (about 3.3 pounds) to be shipped from Germany to Norway for $67 plus $21.50 shipping.  Buyer is responsible for Norway's import duty of about $4.25 per kg. ($6.38 total), for a total cost of about $95 for 3.3 pounds of butter, or about $29 per pound.  And shipping takes 7-8 days, so the Norwegians better order soon to get their German butter in time for holiday baking.  

Here's another listing, this one is from the Netherlands offering to ship 1.5 kg of butter to Norway for $70, plus $21.50 for shipping. 

And here's a price-gouging American who wants $85 per pound!

HT: Don

14 Comments:

At 12/14/2011 1:38 PM, Blogger Methinks said...

My bet is that the American is Morganovich :)

 
At 12/14/2011 1:52 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

methinks-

i am currently on a submarine full of butter in the middle of oslofjord, so my internet may be a little slow. we dock tonight.

-m

 
At 12/14/2011 2:05 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

This comment has been removed by the author.

 
At 12/14/2011 2:10 PM, Blogger Ron H. said...

morganovich: "i am currently on a submarine full of butter in the middle of oslofjord, so my internet may be a little slow. we dock tonight."

I assume you have taken orders from Danish customers for hard to get Norwegian products, so you won't have to return with an empty sub.

Or maybe there won't be any room left after you load those barrels of money.

 
At 12/14/2011 2:46 PM, Blogger Hydra said...

Is this a great country, or what?

 
At 12/14/2011 2:59 PM, Blogger Buddy R Pacifico said...

From the English version of the Oslo Yasureubetcha on-line evening edition:

"A U.S. hedge fund manager is the innocent victim of commoidties scam. Reportedly, the poor soul came into oslofjord in his undersea yacht for the holidays. His only comment to the press was 'I can't believe this is not real butter'"

 
At 12/14/2011 3:10 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

buddy-

give me some credit for due diligence ability.

margarine. yeech.

i'd rather eat paste.

 
At 12/14/2011 3:17 PM, Blogger Tim Worstall said...

Import duty has been reduced to 4 NOK per kg for December.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2011/12/14/the-great-norwegian-butter-famine/

 
At 12/14/2011 3:43 PM, Blogger Methinks said...

I knew Morganovich would be all over a good deal! Smooth sailing (?) to the butter sub.

 
At 12/14/2011 3:50 PM, Blogger morganovich said...

yellow submarine?

 
At 12/15/2011 10:43 AM, Blogger Nathanael D Snow said...

Are they importing only the good apples (butter)? (Alchian-Allen Theorem) Is there a measurable difference in the quality of butter being consumed in Norway? How much has the price of lard changed? Bacon? Other fats/ butter substitutes? Can a butter substitute be made from fish oil?

 
At 12/15/2011 9:20 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Treating butter as a super valued asset? This is a perfect example of the off-the-wall markets that can emerge from a simple misfortune. Taking butter to online auctioning shows just how far people will go to try to make a dollar.

 
At 12/15/2011 9:33 PM, Blogger Don said...

Import duty has been reduced to 4 NOK per kg for December

So, it's a good idea to drive the cost of commodities up until it becomes high enough, quickly enough, that your constituents sit up and take notice.

I'm (sorta) glad to hear that the US Government does not have the "market cornered" on stupidity and lack of reason.

Oh, and Morganovich, are you still taking investors in the submarine venture?

 
At 12/17/2011 5:58 PM, Blogger Free2Choose said...

"Taking butter to online auctioning shows just how far people will go to try to make a dollar."

And I bet the butter consumers in Norway greatly appreciate it.

 

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