Economies and Economics of a Sort in High School(and/or school in general)

[Chanku]

Alright so while this is a general topic for talking about and explaining possible Economics in High school(or school in general), that occur.

Something that I've found is that in my school, food has a value and is somewhat equal to that of a currency, and also the creation of a barter like system. For example people who get cafeteria food from one line, might not have known that something they liked more than what they got was in another line(or found out, but was too late), therefor they may trade foods with other students to try and get that item. Students will also try and give away food they don't like, or food that friends might want. Also sometimes food will exchange hands for money as well(although this is less of an occurrence within the student body from what I've observed). Food also has a general property of equivalence within the Student Body for some foods, such as candy like Shockerz, or Doritos, or even soda. For example Blue Shockerz are the most valuable and having one(or more of them) seem to give you a better ground than others(although this does vary person to person, and as such it will vary). However it seems food from the Cafeteria itself seems to have a lower value than other foods.


I find it interesting to see how this will evolve next year with the removal of all junk food, and the replacement of healthy food. Although this would most likely create a market by the students, which I plan to try and get into although my plans for that are for a different topic at a different time. However with the Student Market of Junk Food(also known as the Junk Food Cartel/Candy Cartel by some members on here, whom get it as a joke), the Values of certain foods are more than likely going to change a lot with the shift of prices, due to the fact the supply of the Food will be less, due to it being supplied by students, and the cost of the food which won't be bought in Bulk(at least for a while) thus increasing costs for a period of time.

[thewake]

If I were you I'd bring in candy and other stuff people like, so you can make some extra cash. The removal of all junk food will create a lower supply, and if demand stays the same you should be able to get a higher price than before for the same amount of product.

All other things being equal, of course. It's possible that some kids won't have the same amount of buying power for junk food provided on the underground market because their parents subsidized or outright paid for the food from the school, but they won't have this subsidy when buying food you bring.

Personally, I think it's a golden opportunity. If you go into business, don't get caught and guard your stash from thieves.

[brainiac3397]

Me and some friends did something like this in school.

We grabbed an unused locker in a blind zone of the school(no camera view and very rarely traveled by teachers or admins), put a lock on it, and unofficially made it known we were selling junk food and soda from it.

We used the earnings to pay for our ski trip, and then for dinner.

[Chanku]

Actually I do plan to do that Wes. I'm not sure how to distribute it yet though.

[thewake]

You'll make a killing, I wish I could invest.

[Chanku]

Yeah. I mean I'll start small at first, maybe only a few sodas, chips, candy, gum, ect. then I get more business I'll expand. I know I'm not the only one in the school with this idea and it will occur to others(hopefully either that or idiots are at my school), I just need to figure out how to distribute.

[thewake]

You need to get in there early and make a name for yourself. Be the best.

[Chanku]

True, but getting word out is tricky.

[Zo]

(05-20-2014 02:05 PM)brainiac3397 Wrote:  Me and some friends did something like this in school.

We grabbed an unused locker in a blind zone of the school(no camera view and very rarely traveled by teachers or admins), put a lock on it, and unofficially made it known we were selling junk food and soda from it.

We used the earnings to pay for our ski trip, and then for dinner.

This is brilliant. How did you get the locker? Did it belong to one of you, or was it one of those broken ones without a lock that you just claimed?

[brainiac3397]

It was on the lowest floor in the corner of the school where there was no real hallway activity(there was the computer class but it was locked when there was no class, and we generally operated during lunch or after-school). It was kinda banged up and the lever was a bit off(after screwing around with it a little, we learned that giving it a nice kick before trying to open it helped a lot). Our school lockers didn't come with locks, we had to supply our own

During this time I wasn't using a locker(sharing just the top shelf of a friends locker because that's all I really needed), so I had a spare lock. We just used that, and all my friends involved in the operation knew the code.

We in fact once used club money to make our purchase of goods to sell.

Come to think of it, my class was probably the master of cheating, deception and fraud. At least the males. We'd steal tests(my friend broke into one teacher's drawer once, and we always had access afterward to those tests), sneak in homework, make adjustments to things before they were graded. I never really relied on the cheating(I did supply the answers though, and I did take a look at the questions to just figure out what we'd be asked) but I can't say it didn't help simplify life.

We'd make great corporate capitalists ya know?