Why Do Prices Go Up When Everyone Buys the Same Thing?

Imagine you're at a candy store with all your friends. If only one of you wants to buy candy, the shopkeeper can give you as much as you want. But if everyone wants candy, there’s not enough to go around, and that means each person has to pay more for it! This is like supply and demand: when lots of people want something, the price goes up.

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Examples

You want the last chocolate bar at the store, but your friend wants it too, and now it costs twice as much.
All your classmates are buying the same phone, so its price goes up before the school year starts.
Everyone wants to buy tickets for a concert, and suddenly they’re ten times more expensive.

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Categories: Economics · supply and demand,economics basics,price changes