Demand for Rarity: Evidence from a Collectible Good

Markets for art, coins and other collectibles, culinary delicacies and eco‐tourism suggest that consumers value the rarity of many goods. While empirical evidence supports higher prices for rare goods, isolating the value of rarity has proven difficult. I analyze prices for a collectible card game a...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Journal of industrial economics Vol. 70; no. 1; pp. 147 - 167
Main Author Hughes, Jonathan E.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.03.2022
Subjects
Consumers
Ecotourism
Endangered
Endangered species
Markets
Prices
Scarcity
Tourism
Value
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Summary:Markets for art, coins and other collectibles, culinary delicacies and eco‐tourism suggest that consumers value the rarity of many goods. While empirical evidence supports higher prices for rare goods, isolating the value of rarity has proven difficult. I analyze prices for a collectible card game and show goods that are designated as rare trade at higher prices than functionally equivalent substitutes. Importantly, I use novel features of this market to account for scarcity, observed and unobserved product characteristics and separately identify rarity effects. These results have important implications for markets ranging from luxury goods to conservation of endangered species.
Bibliography:The author thanks the Editor, two anonymous referees, employees at Gamer’s Guild in Boulder, Colorado, Matthew Butner, Kevin Starnes and seminar participants at the University of Colorado, Boulder, for helpful comments. Samuel Hughes provided excellent research assistance.
ISSN:0022-1821
1467-6451
DOI:10.1111/joie.12262