Yeah, we don't discourage scalping as a community, but what exactly do you want us to do? Show up at Wall-Mart or TRU at eight in the morning angry mob style to burn them at the stake?

 

Best plan I've heard so far... :tfgrin

FYI BBTS gets their stuff from retail stores as well. Why do you think they were charging $100 for Walscream?

 

To address the "we're all to blame" thing: I wouldn't have as much of a problem with scalping (though I would still have a problem with it) if they started their auctions at $0.99 with no reserve and didn't have ridiculous starting/BIN prices. If people want to pay a bunch of money for something, then more power to them. But the free market, not what some scalping douche wants to profit from a toy, should decide its value.

 

And FYI I agree 100% with Glue, and even doing what I mentioned above won't alleviate the problem he points out.

FYI BBTS gets their stuff from retail stores as well. Why do you think they were charging $100 for Walscream?

 

To address the "we're all to blame" thing: I wouldn't have as much of a problem with scalping (though I would still have a problem with it) if they started their auctions at $0.99 with no reserve and didn't have ridiculous starting/BIN prices. If people want to pay a bunch of money for something, then more power to them. But the free market, not what some scalping douche wants to profit from a toy, should decide its value.

 

And FYI I agree 100% with Glue, and even doing what I mentioned above won't alleviate the problem he points out.

But the free market can decide. If the starting price is higher than anyone is willing to pay, or if the final bid doesn't match the reserve, no one buys it and the seller is stuck with unsold product which he can (a) hold on to the product in the hopes that his stock (whether its 2 days, 2 months, or 2 years) with eventually appreciate in value or (b) reduce the starting price on the item and hopes it sells this time.

 

If people are willing to pay $40 for an '08 Bumblebee it its going to sell for that much, it doesn't matter if the starting price on it is .99 cents or $29.99. In fact, I daresay that a higher reserve and starting prices possibly prevents scalpers from hording the stuff being sold on ebay in addition to product at retail.

 

I always use the analogy of a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread costs about $2-$3 nowadays. Wouldn't it be great if a loaf of bread cost .50? Not really, because what would end up happening is people, realizing bread is very cheap, end up buying more than they need. Or worse, some unscrupulous person would be going to grocery stores and buying 12 loaves of bread with what it used to cost to buy two (not everyone would do this, of course, but someone would). This decreases the supply of bread, which makes bread an "in demand item." Families can't get enough bread, people start stockpiling bread and selling it for obscene profits....sound familiar? Of course, bread is an item people can't really do without, whereas little plastic toys...

 

Scalpers still suck, though.

I always use the analogy of a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread costs about $2-$3 nowadays. Wouldn't it be great if a loaf of bread cost .50? Not really, because what would end up happening is people, realizing bread is very cheap, end up buying more than they need. Or worse, some unscrupulous person would be going to grocery stores and buying 12 loaves of bread with what it used to cost to buy two (not everyone would do this, of course, but someone would). This decreases the supply of bread, which makes bread an "in demand item." Families can't get enough bread, people start stockpiling bread and selling it for obscene profits....sound familiar? Of course, bread is an item people can't really do without, whereas little plastic toys...

Exactly. It's also perishable so you couldn't really stockpile it, not to mention resell it. And there would be no point anyway since bread is always readily available. You can also get cheaper bread if you want the Wal-Mart brand or whatever. And some people buy that, but others don't because quality is a variable with foodstuffs as well. Point is, it's a fairly poor analogy. :)

 

What we're talking about here are luxury items. By definition they are unnecessary. So from the get-go you're talking about spending money on something you don't need. Once you start down the dark path acknowledge that, then it becomes simply a matter of how wasteful you are willing to be with your money -- the question of whether or not you should waste money in the first place becomes moot.

 

What scalpers do is take advantage of people's lack of financial discipline in order to make money. It's akin to drug dealers who rely upon addiction to fuel their sales. Is there blame to be placed on the shoulders of those who support this system? Definitely. But there is also plenty of blame to direct at those who would prey upon others' weaknesses for their own profit.

 

And make no mistake, it is weakness to pay 500% of retail cost for any product, simply because you must have it.

I always use the analogy of a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread costs about $2-$3 nowadays. Wouldn't it be great if a loaf of bread cost .50? Not really, because what would end up happening is people, realizing bread is very cheap, end up buying more than they need. Or worse, some unscrupulous person would be going to grocery stores and buying 12 loaves of bread with what it used to cost to buy two (not everyone would do this, of course, but someone would). This decreases the supply of bread, which makes bread an "in demand item." Families can't get enough bread, people start stockpiling bread and selling it for obscene profits....sound familiar? Of course, bread is an item people can't really do without, whereas little plastic toys...

Exactly. It's also perishable so you couldn't really stockpile it, not to mention resell it. And there would be no point anyway since bread is always readily available. You can also get cheaper bread if you want the Wal-Mart brand or whatever. And some people buy that, but others don't because quality is a variable with foodstuffs as well. Point is, it's a fairly poor analogy. :)

 

What we're talking about here are luxury items. By definition they are unnecessary. So from the get-go you're talking about spending money on something you don't need. Once you start down the dark path acknowledge that, then it becomes simply a matter of how wasteful you are willing to be with your money -- the question of whether or not you should waste money in the first place becomes moot.

 

What scalpers do is take advantage of people's lack of financial discipline in order to make money. It's akin to drug dealers who rely upon addiction to fuel their sales. Is there blame to be placed on the shoulders of those who support this system? Definitely. But there is also plenty of blame to direct at those who would prey upon others' weaknesses for their own profit.

 

And make no mistake, it is weakness to pay 500% of retail cost for any product, simply because you must have it.

Yup.

My point being that the bottom line often seems to be "what we want". We scalp because we want to make money. We buy scalped toys because we want them. We pay ridiculous amounts of money for toys because we can't live without whatever toy of the week it is. It all comes down to selfishness and obsession, and what makes it worse is that all of this is completely unnecessary.

Which was really the gist of my original point, we can't 100% blame the fact that I had to pay $77 for a MP Starscream on JUST scalpers. Its everyone's fault. Yours, theirs, siburke's, I.S.T.'s, mine. Well, not really my fault, but everyone else's fault, fo sho.

 

*Has only bought TFs online from TFans members*

 

:P

I always use the analogy of a loaf of bread. A loaf of bread costs about $2-$3 nowadays. Wouldn't it be great if a loaf of bread cost .50? Not really, because what would end up happening is people, realizing bread is very cheap, end up buying more than they need. Or worse, some unscrupulous person would be going to grocery stores and buying 12 loaves of bread with what it used to cost to buy two (not everyone would do this, of course, but someone would). This decreases the supply of bread, which makes bread an "in demand item." Families can't get enough bread, people start stockpiling bread and selling it for obscene profits....sound familiar? Of course, bread is an item people can't really do without, whereas little plastic toys...

Exactly. It's also perishable so you couldn't really stockpile it, not to mention resell it. And there would be no point anyway since bread is always readily available. You can also get cheaper bread if you want the Wal-Mart brand or whatever. And some people buy that, but others don't because quality is a variable with foodstuffs as well. Point is, it's a fairly poor analogy. :)

 

What we're talking about here are luxury items. By definition they are unnecessary. So from the get-go you're talking about spending money on something you don't need. Once you start down the dark path acknowledge that, then it becomes simply a matter of how wasteful you are willing to be with your money -- the question of whether or not you should waste money in the first place becomes moot.

 

What scalpers do is take advantage of people's lack of financial discipline in order to make money. It's akin to drug dealers who rely upon addiction to fuel their sales. Is there blame to be placed on the shoulders of those who support this system? Definitely. But there is also plenty of blame to direct at those who would prey upon others' weaknesses for their own profit.

 

And make no mistake, it is weakness to pay 500% of retail cost for any product, simply because you must have it.

You're focusing on the product and not the concept. How about bottled water instead? If a hurricane was a-coming and grocery stores were selling bottled water for 50 cents a case, we'd all be in favor of it, until you realize that some clown is going to walk into said grocery store intent on buying $20 worth of bottled water and instead realizes that $20 is going to buy WAY more than he thought it would and decides to buy more than he needs. Higher prices on items tend to prevent people from buying more than they need, and I think higher prices on places like ebay, etc. can help prevent people out there from hoarding stuff more than they already do. Bottled water is not perishable, and in cases like hurricanes and other natural disasters, is not always readily available (I live in Baton Rouge and after Katrina and Rita, there was no bottled water in most stores for about 3 weeks after Rita), but isn't necessarily a necessity. But we'd all be the first to condemn that store down on the corner selling bottled water for $5.00 a pop.

 

BOLD = Truer words have never been spoken.

But again, it isn't really the same because hoarding luxury items =/= hoarding basic necessities.

 

Although it does actually reinforce your point, because nobody would blame someone for paying $$$ for water if they needed it, and all the blame would be on the assmunch who sold it at a premium.

Stuff.

I'm not going to lower myself to your level. You're wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start! :tfgrin

Stuff.

I'm not going to lower myself to your level. You're wrong on so many levels that I don't know where to start! :tfgrin

Good to know.