←back to thread

689 points taubek | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
aimor ◴[] No.43633841[source]
Trying to summarize the summary for myself

From a $100 shoe that sells for $76:

- $24 goes overseas (22 cost, 2 freight)

- $8 goes to the US gov't (3 import, 2 Nike tax, 3 Footlocker tax)

- $33 goes to US employees or businesses (5 Nike marketing, 11 Nike expenses, 17 Footlocker expenses)

- $5 goes to Nike (11% return)

- $6 goes to Footlocker (8% return)

But now with 100% tariffs, it's a $100 shoe that sells for $100 (or a $132 shoe that sells for $100) and:

- $24 goes overseas (22 cost, 2 freight)

- $29 goes to the US gov't (22 import, 3 Nike tax, 4 Footlocker tax)

- $33 goes to US employees or businesses (5 Nike marketing, 11 Nike expenses, 17 Footlocker expenses)

- $7 goes to Nike (11% return, 7.15 exactly)

- $7 goes to Footlocker (8% return, 7.45 exactly)

And if a US shoemaker wanted to undercut the import, a Made in USA shoe that sells for $100:

- $7+ goes to the US gov't (? shoemaker tax, 3 Nike tax, 4 Footlocker tax)

- $79 goes to US employees or businesses (46 to shoemaker, 5 Nike marketing, 11 Nike expenses, 17 Footlocker expenses)

- $7 goes to Nike (11% return, 7.15 exactly)

- $7 goes to Footlocker (8% return, 7.45 exactly)

replies(5): >>43633989 #>>43634855 #>>43634868 #>>43639490 #>>43645462 #
1. nearbuy ◴[] No.43639490[source]
This isn't what it says in the thread. It's saying Nike and retailers need to maintain their markup rate on their unit cost.

> And if Footlocker purchases Nike shoes for $75, then they retail them for $150. Everyone needs to fixed percentages to avoid losses.

The problem with your breakdown is you're mixing unit costs and net profit in a way that doesn't work. For example, say after increasing the price in accordance with your summary, the volume of sales halved (just to pick an easy number). Then the $17 marked as "Footlocker expenses" increases, likely to around $34, and Footlocker's profit becomes -$10. The absolute expenses haven't changed. They're still paying the same amount for their employees and storefronts. But with half as many shoes sold, the expense per shoe is doubled.

It's not just sales volume that affects the $17. Other costs like credit card fees or shrink scale with the unit cost as well.