I'm going to try and convey my stance on this and I hope it makes sense.

When one gouges on Water or Food or Gas during an emergency, I agree that it is immoral and poor form.

But to do so with a piece of PURE entertainment, I couldn't care less. If it costs 1000$ you can either pay it or wait. No one will die or suffer from not getting a PS5 this year.

I do notice that people tend to complain about price gouging in this respect when it affects them.

Nobody is going out crusading against price gouging on something they DONT want. I don't suppose that matters but it makes me have less sympathy.

In the end it does suck but we're complaining about some real first world problems here. "Everyone bought up all the PlayStation and now I can't find one for $500 for my kids"

Not to single you out, just as an example I have a hard time not just shrugging my shoulders and going about my business.

Yes, I understand this is "Pitch your Bitch"

Being a so called capitalist and an asshole are not mutually exclusive. I have no respect for scalpers and would not shed a tear if one took a bullet from a pissed off customer some day.

I would argue that they aren’t capitalists as they don’t really provide any value add to society or production.

Sorry prefontaine, but what ottosig said above. I agree scalpers seem like scum in their business practices, but it’s purely supply & demand whether someone else doesn’t like it or feel its “fair” (another way of expecting that philosophy of equal outcomes). The forum can disallow it because it’s a private network with rules agreed to by all members. And it’s toys we’re discussing, not some life-altering need!

Where is the line?
Are guns, ammo, and reloading supplies necessities or luxury items?

For that matter, how are you posting if you're without all these non-essential things that allow you to post? Did you happily pay scalped prices for all of it?

We aren't plants that only need to sit still and gather sunshine and rain. That seems to be the logical end point to the "it isn't a necessity" argument.

Dude has a right to be pissed IMO.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Goddamn free market capitalists.

That's weak tea, JHE.

It's one thing when manufacturers, and even authorized/legitimate/what-have-you retailers raise prices in response to supply and demand. It's quite another when scalpers create an artificial shortage and then up the price sky-high to take advantage of the shortage they created--or at least exacerbated.

Nonsense. They are just arbitraging the low supply and high demand when the manufacturers are not. They are not creating shortage but are just taking advantage of it.

You would be right only if there were plenty of PS5s and scalpers bought them all and released them slowly.

quote:

Originally posted by OttoSig:
Not to single you out, just as an example I have a hard time not just shrugging my shoulders and going about my business.

Yes, I understand this is "Pitch your Bitch"

And yet you did single him out and you couldn't just go about your business. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I'm curious though, how many posts have you made in the other. shortage threads be it pickles, toilet paper, ammo, primers, guns, etc.?

Just a quick perusal of "Anyone else done paying inflated gun/ammo prices?" I see a significant lack of the folks that have choose to post in this thread with their interjection of politics in an apolitical thread, lessons of supply and demand, parenting advice etc. in that thread. But, post about a gaming system and suddenly everyone is smarter, better educated, and better parents than the OP. You guys pulling this rank right up there with the guy that doesn't eat fast food in the fast food thread, the Apple guy in the Windows thread, the Android guy in the iPhone thread, etc. Get over yourselves. You aren't smarter, wiser, more clever, more worldly or whatever it is you think you are.

Ronin, I'm sorry. I was just going to leave this with my "I'm right there with you" post.

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:
Being a so called capitalist and an asshole are not mutually exclusive. I have no respect for scalpers and would not shed a tear if one took a bullet from a pissed off customer some day.

I would argue that they aren’t capitalists as they don’t really provide any value add to society or production.

That isn't the definition of capitalism.

As bcereuss pointed out earlier, at least part of the current PS5 shortage is due to organizations using bots to buy them up before regular people even get a chance. This article from Tom's Guide is one of many on the topic.
https://www.tomsguide.com/news...-console-launch-ever

At least scalpers in the old days had to put forth a little effort for the initial purchases. Legal or not, capitalism or not, I have no respect for these people.

There was a time I stopped “pitching my bitch“ in this thread because I rarely got the “sympathy“ I wanted and instead got pushback and told that my “bitch was not righteous.

I’m over all that now; it’s fine. I got to vent a little bit, a few people agreed with me, a few people disagreed with me, although I still believe that some of the people who disagree do so more because they enjoy being a contrarian, but hey, whatever floats your boat.

Best Buy and other retailers should place limits on hot items. Many online firearms and accessory dealers are putting limits on orders to ensure people or other retailers don't buy them out and resell. They actually care about their individual customers and are helping themselves too, because if they are stocked out of the major item, you won't buy the other stuff that goes with it.

That wouldn't stop scalpers from having a bunch of different accounts with different shipping addresses to get more than the limit, but it would make things more difficult. Certainly there are ways to stop bots too, I am seeing a lot more of those "select the pictures with traffic lights" things lately.

so, keeping in mind I am not a gamer so have no idea of the draw or desire to own this stuff (and not belittling anyone who does)

are this games/devices offered up on ebay at a ridiculous buy it now price, and in a store type setup on ebay,

or is it someone running a true auction? as in start at purchase price, and let the market (bidders) decide?


the first (high BiN) could be considered fishing, or scalping , depending on one's outlook

the other is pure capitalism,

Just because you can, does not mean you should.
You want to sell your gaming system for a grand? Go for it.

But to buy up “all” the gaming systems, the moment they are available, and a month before Christmas? That might be Capitalism in a technical way, but it’s douchebaggary in my books.

This is not billionaires cornering the market on soy and then selling back to other billionaires; this is greedy fucks using technology to prevent parents from purchasing a prized Christmas gift unless they are willing/capable of spending 3-4x the retail price.

That might be capitalism, but it’s also bad karma in my books.

My local Walmart got in 300+ of each, limit one per person. Most everyone i saw bought one of each.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Goddamn free market capitalists.

That's weak tea, JHE.

It's also introducing politics into an apolitical thread is it not?

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Goddamn free market capitalists.

That's weak tea, JHE.

It's also introducing politics into an apolitical thread is it not?

I'd argue its introducing economics rather than politics. That's kind of how this works.

Supply and demand. Don't be mad at the people charging that price, be mad at the idiots paying it.

If a guy had 3 Swiss P210's sitting around charging 3x what he paid for them no one would say a word, supply and demand. He may have even set out buying 3 of them purely as an investment for resale. Is he any different than the guy getting a quick return rather than a slow return? You'd respect the guy who bought 3 guns and waited 20 years. You bag the person who does the same thing in 20 days.

Again, it sucks you can't get what you want no matter what it is, that in itself is always frustrating and I understand. However, we are talking about a PS5, not water after a Hurricane.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: OttoSig,

Sorry. That analogy doesn’t work for me. One is a collector. The other is a parasite on normal society. There may be a pedantic definition of capitalism that applies here. But it certainly isn’t in the spirit. But whatever. I don’t care. There are much worse things these days that people rationalize as acceptable behavior. Capitalists or not, scalpers are assholes. Prove me wrong.

There was a guy selling a PS5 for $2500 on a musicians forum I'm on. Honestly, this is just like the concert ticket racket. The insane prices are for the people who just have to have it now on day one. If you're patient, you can pay face value on the day of the show. It's not the manufacturer's or free market's fault that this just happens to be around Xmas. I've almost never paid over face value for concert tix and rarely had worse than 7th row floor. But I'm willing to wait until the last minute, as in a minute before the show starts and the scalpers' tix become worthless. They're not going to stop making PS5s anytime soon. So just wait it out and teach your kids that patience is power.

Don't reward the scalpers.

Just wait. Check the usual websites daily.
don't forget to check places like bhphotovideo, kohls, lenovo, etc. places you'd think wouldn't stock it.

It could be effectively argued that scalpers destroy interest in an item and thereby damage (or destroy) the underlying market in question.

I used to collect a certain item until it became popular. Once it did, the scalpers ALWAYS got the goods before the public did. I dropped out of the hobby because of it and I'm sure others did as well.

It's in the manufacturer's interest to place limits on such activities. You don't want your customers struggling with three or four layers of "mark ups".

V.

quote:

Originally posted by White Phosphorus:
It could be effectively argued that scalpers destroy interest in an item and thereby damage (or destroy) the underlying market in question.

I used to collect a certain item until it became popular. Once it did, the scalpers ALWAYS got the goods before the public did. I dropped out of the hobby because of it and I'm sure others did as well.

It's in the manufacturer's interest to place limits on such activities. You don't want your customers struggling with three or four layers of "mark ups".

V.

Exactly what I have done several times with these “games”. Nintendo released that little system that had all the old school games on it. Mike Tyson Punch Out, RBI Baseball, brought back fond memories. It was scarce, a PITA to acquire and I just said fuck it. Same happened the last time Sony released a game system. I said fuck all this nonsense. So I haven’t bought one since, I think, 2006 when the PS3 released. If it’s too much hassle, I end up saying fuck it for good.