Going to the Poors to Buy That Used iPhone?

[Nice Squirrel]

New study says you probably won't.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/04/01/1414139112.abstract

To test for the effects of neighborhood stigma on economic transactions, an experimental audit of an online classified market was conducted in 2013–2014. In this market, advertisements were placed for used iPhones in which the neighborhood of the seller was randomly manipulated. Advertisements identifying the seller as a resident of a disadvantaged neighborhood received significantly fewer responses than advertisements identifying the seller as a resident of an advantaged neighborhood. The results provide strong evidence for an effect of neighborhood stigma on economic transactions, suggesting that individuals carry the stigma of their neighborhood with them as they take part in economic exchanges.

 

[bilby]

I would read the full article, but they want me to pay for it; and looking at the neighbourhood in which it is being sold, and how cheap it is, I am guessing it is hot.

 

[ksen]

You'll probably also get beaten by the internet cops for being in that area because obviously you're just there to buy drugs or get a cheap blowjob.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

I would read the full article, but they want me to pay for it; and looking at the neighbourhood in which it is being sold, and how cheap it is, I am guessing it is hot.

Will this get you in?
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/04/01/1414139112.full.pdf

 

[Nice Squirrel]

Table 2. Neighborhood advantage and disadvantage, by city City Neighborhood Classification Poverty rate,* % Selected racial composition,* % Observations†

Atlanta:

• Midtown Advantaged 9.1 70.2 white 32
• Oakland City Disadvantaged black 35.4 87.5 black 25

Baltimore:

• Canton Advantaged 11.8 75.4 white 27
• West Baltimore Disadvantaged black 37.9 83.7 black 27

Boston:

• Back Bay Advantaged 9.7 86.0 white 26
• Dorchester Disadvantaged black 18.8 45.8 black 28

Chicago

• Lincoln Park Advantaged 11.6 82.5 white 34
• North Lawndale Disadvantaged black 41.8 91.7 black 23

Los Angeles:

• Century City Advantaged 9.7 76.8 white 28
• Crenshaw Disadvantaged black 25.3 68.9 black 24

NY Brooklyn:

• Cobble Hill Advantaged 4.3 71.2 white 28
• Bedford-Stuyvesant Disadvantaged black 29.6 77.3 black 28

NYC:

• Manhattan Upper East Side Advantaged 6.0 81.2 white 28
• East Harlem Disadvantaged Latino 35.5 56.6 Latino 24

Philadelphia:

• Fox Chase Advantaged 8.9 78.9 white 25
• Nicetown Disadvantaged black 32.2 93.8 black 14
• Juniata Disadvantaged Latino 39.3 52.1 Latino 18

Phoenix:

• Ahwatukee Foothills Advantaged 6.1 73.3 white 32
• Central City Disadvantaged Latino 44.2 64.4 Latino 23

San Antonio:

• North Central Advantaged 3.8 74.0 white 29
• Southwest San Antonio Disadvantaged Latino 38.8 92.2 Latino 28

Seattle:

• Madrona Advantaged 4.4 74.8 white 17
• Leschi Disadvantaged black 18.1 36.2 black 27
• International District Disadvantaged Asian 43.1 49.0 Asian 12

Washington, DC:

• Dupont Circle Advantaged 11.1 73.6 white 28
• Anacostia Disadvantaged black 31.6 97.1 black 29

*Source: Authors’ compilation, derived from Zillow neighborhood boundaries and aggregated 2007–2011 American Community Survey tract-level data. †
Forty-nine posts were flagged for removal, and were not included in the main regression analysis in Table 1.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

I would read the full article, but they want me to pay for it; and looking at the neighbourhood in which it is being sold, and how cheap it is, I am guessing it is hot.

Or that it's in some other fashion an inferior good. (Say, it doesn't work reliably.)

In a poor neighborhood I would expect there to be very few cases of people upgrading an iPhone and thus having a used one to sell. Thus it's either hot or a lemon.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

In a poor neighborhood I would expect there to be very few cases of people upgrading an iPhone and thus having a used one to sell. Thus it's either hot or a lemon.

You do know people who aren't poor live in poor neighborhoods and that people in poor neighborhoods do buy consumer products?

 

[ksen]

I would read the full article, but they want me to pay for it; and looking at the neighbourhood in which it is being sold, and how cheap it is, I am guessing it is hot.

Or that it's in some other fashion an inferior good. (Say, it doesn't work reliably.)

In a poor neighborhood I would expect there to be very few cases of people upgrading an iPhone and thus having a used one to sell. Thus it's either hot or a lemon.

Oh look, the PNAS article in action!

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I wouldn't trust anyone selling a used iPhone.

 

[ZiprHead]

I suspect it's just a matter of people having the perception of poor areas being high crime and not wanting to go there.

I live in Saginaw, MI, a place with about average crime rates for its size. I personally have never been accosted by anyone (not including the neighborhood bully when I was a kid mumble-mumble years ago). Yet I go up north where retirees like to end up and I've had many people say they would never come here. People go with their perceptions.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

But white people commit crimes too. There was this one white guy, who sold investments and used the initial buy-ins to pay people who earlier bought into the system. Stole billions of dollars. Oddly enough, not shot by the cops when he got arrested.

Another white guy, literally billions of American dollars disappear in Iraq. Not even charged!

 

[Loren Pechtel]

In a poor neighborhood I would expect there to be very few cases of people upgrading an iPhone and thus having a used one to sell. Thus it's either hot or a lemon.

You do know people who aren't poor live in poor neighborhoods and that people in poor neighborhoods do buy consumer products?

Sure they do--but they're not likely to upgrade a working phone to a newer model.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

You do know people who aren't poor live in poor neighborhoods and that people in poor neighborhoods do buy consumer products?

Sure they do--but they're not likely to upgrade a working phone to a newer model.

Why not? Upgrades are usually not that expensive if you extend your contract.

 

[Axulus]

New study says you probably won't.

http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/04/01/1414139112.abstract

To test for the effects of neighborhood stigma on economic transactions, an experimental audit of an online classified market was conducted in 2013–2014. In this market, advertisements were placed for used iPhones in which the neighborhood of the seller was randomly manipulated. Advertisements identifying the seller as a resident of a disadvantaged neighborhood received significantly fewer responses than advertisements identifying the seller as a resident of an advantaged neighborhood. The results provide strong evidence for an effect of neighborhood stigma on economic transactions, suggesting that individuals carry the stigma of their neighborhood with them as they take part in economic exchanges.

Hmmm, perhaps used iphones should be required to carry a label about which neighborhood they come from since it effects decision making and providing such information makes the market more efficient. At least, that's the position of some people here, so why not for used iphones?

 

[Frikki]

I would read the full article, but they want me to pay for it; and looking at the neighbourhood in which it is being sold, and how cheap it is, I am guessing it is hot.

Or that it's in some other fashion an inferior good. (Say, it doesn't work reliably.)

In a poor neighborhood I would expect there to be very few cases of people upgrading an iPhone and thus having a used one to sell. Thus it's either hot or a lemon.

Yes those urban youths are always trying to pull one over on you.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Sure they do--but they're not likely to upgrade a working phone to a newer model.

Why not? Upgrades are usually not that expensive if you extend your contract.

Only if you're stupid. You're paying for the phone whether you do so all at once or over time.

 

[Togo]

Why not? Upgrades are usually not that expensive if you extend your contract.

Only if you're stupid. You're paying for the phone whether you do so all at once or over time.

I used to think that, until I went shopping for a new phone, and found that several models were more expensive bought outright than they were in conjunction with a contract. In other words (Sim only contract)+(phone outright purchase price) cost more than (contract with a new phone) over the lifetime of the contract. I'm not sure why that would be?

 

[rousseau]

Doing online transactions is risky business, you don't know who you're buying from. People who are lower on the socio-economic scale have much more to gain by robbing and murdering you than someone who is higher on the socio-economic scale.. and so these results.

I always find I have an easy time selling stuff online simply because I can string a few sentences together, so people trust me.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Only if you're stupid. You're paying for the phone whether you do so all at once or over time.

I used to think that, until I went shopping for a new phone, and found that several models were more expensive bought outright than they were in conjunction with a contract. In other words (Sim only contract)+(phone outright purchase price) cost more than (contract with a new phone) over the lifetime of the contract. I'm not sure why that would be?

Locking you in for two years is of some value to them so the price is a bit lower. You still pay most of the price of the phone, though.

 

[rousseau]

I used to think that, until I went shopping for a new phone, and found that several models were more expensive bought outright than they were in conjunction with a contract. In other words (Sim only contract)+(phone outright purchase price) cost more than (contract with a new phone) over the lifetime of the contract. I'm not sure why that would be?

Locking you in for two years is of some value to them so the price is a bit lower. You still pay most of the price of the phone, though.

And if you're off contract and don't renew at all there's a good chance your provider will lop off the phone subsidy from your rate. That's something I had to ask my provider for, though.