Law of Scarcity

The Law of Scarcity is stated within the book, “that the more scarce an item becomes, the more the item increases in value, and the greater the urge is to own it. Scarcity drives people to action, making us act quickly for fear of missing out on an opportunity.” In my own words, it is when there is a low quantity of an item that is projected to sell fast, there is more of an urge or emphasis to acquire it right away. I think this law is indeed effective because if there is a product that someone wants to buy but is at a small quantity, they may be pressured into getting it right away without waiting because that product may be gone or the deal may go away.

My first example of the law of scarcity is Black Friday shopping. During Black Friday, many shoppers have quick triggers when it comes to buying products because the quantity is small and the discount will only be there for that day. It is not a time to think over the purchase and hope that if you leave it, it’ll still be there later for purchase.

My next example is this store Billiards in my hometown of Pewaukee. This store had many entertainment couches, tables, and overall a lot of nice things to help fill out an apartment or house. For a while they were running well and then they had a going out of business sign and everything must go banner across their store. Now they actually had this banner taken up and down a few times before officially going out of business. By having the going out of business sign and everything must go banner, it shows customer that their quantity items are beginning to decrease at a discounted price and that they should act soon before something that they may want is gone.

My last example is when I tried getting an apartment with some friends for next year. For next year, myself and others wanted to live in Coventry. There were only a few openings left so we had an urgency to act quickly before someone else gained interested and would begin leasing. We were going to sign it but due to poor communication and not having enough people, the idea of living as a group in Coventry faded.

Today, I can be seen continuing to be effect by this law whenever there are sales or a limited quantity of a product being present. In addition, I will try and find a way to incorporate this law into my workplace to potentially drive in more sales and to not leave clients empty handed when leaving my store.