To a Fifth Floor Apartment

(Market Structure #1)

I spent Christmas on the upper West side of New York City, where Christmas trees were sold at nearly every street corner.  These Christmas trees, which fall under the oligopoly mark structure, were about three to five feet tall and easy to drag down West 79^th to a fifth floor apartment.

My brother’s distress over not being home for the holidays, which led to a search for a small Christmas tree that would not be viewed as a fire hazard to the hotel staff, allowed me to observe the consistent pricing of Christmas trees on the Upper West Side. Nearly every vendor sold their trees for $35. Therefore, I believe that the few sellers colluded and established the price to allow all vendors to sell their inventory.

Although Christmas tree sellers did not have individual commercials encouraging New Yorkers to walk six blocks when they could buy one two blocks from their apartment, some vendors provided a delivery service, so one would not have to drag it down West 79^th to a fifth floor apartment.