Economics Challenge Series 2024 – Challenge 5: Buying and Selling Game Results

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the Economics Challenge Series for 2024. For July and August, I am running an economics challenge series. The series consists of seven challenges. All the challenges will commence in July and early August. I will publish and announce the results in August.

Six of the seven challenges from last year's Challenge Series are returning. The Tax Game from 2022 is replacing the business version of the Buying and Selling Game. Below is the list of challenges.

Each challenge could reward winners with as much as 60 Hive Power. The value of the prize will depend on the level of participation. For each new participant, the prize will increase by 5 Hive Power. This will continue until 60 Hive Power is reached (12 participants). The first 12 participants will also receive a 50% upvote from this account.

In addition to the prize money, the top few participants will be given points. These points will be used to determine the overall challenge series winner. This winner may receive as much as 80 Hive Power. The value of the prize will equal the sum of the number of participants across all challenges. This will continue until 80 Hive Power is reached.

For more information on the challenge series, I recommend that you read my post from last year. This year’s Challenge Series is run the same way as last year’s.

Results

Welcome to the results post for the Buying and Selling Game Challenge. This post contains the results as well as how they were generated using a Microsoft Excel model.

Winner Determined in this Video

▶️ Watch on 3Speak

What is the Buying and Selling Game?

For the benefit of those who have not entered this challenge nor the previously held monthly contests, here is a brief explanation of how the challenge is played.

Participants are required to buy goods with an allocated amount of money. They are given a choice of 6 goods, and all these goods are available on any of the 5 planets in the challenge. The buying prices of all goods are provided in the question.

The participants are then required to sell all of their goods at a later date at the same or different location. The selling prices for all goods on all planets are not provided. Instead, the question provides a triangle distribution for the selling price of each good on each planet. For the triangle distribution, the minimum, maximum, and mode values are provided.

The participant who has the highest profit after selling all of his or her goods is the winner.

Responses to the challenge are made in the comments section of the challenge post. If several participants make the same profit, the person who entered (commented) first wins. The total prize for this challenge could reach as high as 60 Hive Power. The number of participants determines the value of the prize. For every entry, the prize is increased by 5 Hive Power (e.g., if the challenge has 9 participants, the prize will be 45 Hive Power (5 × 9)). The winner will receive 2/3 of the prize, and second place will receive 1/3. In addition to the prize in Hive Power, the winner receives 30 points, second place 15 points, and third place 5 points; these points contribute to determining the overall challenge series winner. The most profitable buying and selling price combination is also calculated. If the prize is below 60 Hive Power and the winner adopts this strategy, he or she will receive an additional 5 Hive Power.

The format of the required entry is explained in detail in the challenge itself.

For a more detailed explanation, you can access the challenge post using the following link.

Results of the Buying and Selling Game Challenge

The prize for this challenge is 60 Hive Power as there were 12 participants.

Table 1 contains the selling prices generated by the ‘Buying and Selling’ Game model for each type of exercise equipment on each planet.

Table 1: Selling Prices of All Exercise Equipment on Each Planet

Table 2 contains responses and the profit made by each participant.

Table 2: Participant Responses and Profit

The winner of the challenge is @seki1. @seki1 wins 40 Hive Power (60 × 2/3) and 30 points. In second place is @emeka4. @emeka4 wins 20 Hive Power (60 × 1/3) and 15 points. In third place is @oskarl21, who is awarded 5 points.

@seki1 won by buying 130 treadmills, 259 rowing machines, and 200 all-in-one fitness machines for $780, $340, and $1500 each, respectively, on Fierce Planet for a total of $489,460. Then went on to sell the treadmills, rowing machines, and all-in-one fitness machines on Proud Planet for $932.28, $333.64, and $2,141.67 each, respectively, earning a revenue of $635,943. Therefore, made a profit of $146,483 ($635,943 – $489,460).

Highest Possible Profit

@seki1 did not manage to obtain the maximum possible profit. To maximise profits, a participant would have needed to buy 333 all-in-fitness machines from Fierce and then have sold them on Proud. This would have generated a profit of $213,676. This could have been boosted slightly higher by buying a couple of spin bikes.

Table 3: Lowest Buying Price and Highest Selling Price

Race to Become the Challenge Series Champion

After five challenges, the overall scores for the Challenge Series are as follows:

Position	Participants	Points
1	Emeka4	85
2	Oskarl21	45
3	Urrirru	35
4	Bereal47	35
5	Seki1	30
6	Theringmaster	15
7	Micheal87	10
8	Adese	5

This table will be updated in every results post.

Tips for Future Games

To achieve the best chance of winning the game (i.e., earning the highest profit). Participants need to make the best use of the information they are given. The participant should buy from the place that sells the good at the lowest price and sell at the place that will offer the highest price.

To inform the decision further, participants should also consider the mean and median prices for each good in each place. The mean and median for a triangle distribution can be calculated using the following formulae:

Mean = (Minimum + Maximum + Mode)/3

Median when Mode ≥ (maximum – minimum)/2 (i.e., mode closer to maximum)
Minimum + (((maximum – minimum) × (mode – minimum))/2)^0.5

Median when Mode ≤ (maximum – minimum)/2 (i.e., mode closer to minimum)
Maximum - (((maximum – minimum) × (maximum – mode))/2)^0.5

Proof Median

My New Book, Sapien Loop

I have published an ebook on Amazon; it is titled ‘Sapien Loop: End of an Era’. The book is fiction. I do not normally write fiction. However, I felt it was appropriate considering what is happening in the world today. Freedom is the most important thing we have, but we are gradually losing it. I have covered this in many of my posts.

In the story, most citizens do not understand the concept of freedom because they have never really experienced it. In essence, the story is about an alien world that might represent our not-so-distant future. There are many other elements to the story that are an abstract and exaggerated version of our reality. I believe this book to be an important read, and I believe it has the potential to change the way you think.

Brief Summary of Sapien Lopp

This story is based on the fictional planet Sapia and its sole country, Sapey. Sapey is portrayed as a form of utopia for all its citizens. No poverty. No war. Almost no crime. Opportunities for all.

This was enough for most citizens, but not all. In one of the small regions, some of the citizens had become discontent. They felt something important was missing in their lives. Their discontent did not go unnoticed. Some of the Sapey elite wanted to weaponise this discontent to gain more power. This created more chaos than they anticipated. This led to further widespread social unrest.

On top of the chaos, ambition and greed provoked another enemy. This enemy was on a mission to settle both new and old scores.

If you want to buy a copy of the book, below are links to the relevant Amazon websites for each country it is available in. The book is priced at approximately US$5.08.

I am also running monthly contests where participants are required to answer questions based on the book. The prize is 30 Hive Power plus upvotes for the first twelve entries. You can recover the cost of the book with just one win.