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.

I don't know about that. Ever try to buy a stainless steel Rolex sport model from a authorized dealer? They never have them, but they grow on trees with the grey market dealers. Rolex has to know this is going on, that their dealers' set retail prices are way below actual grey market and that the grey market dealers are somehow flush with inventory the authorized dealers can't get. I think manufacturers are just fine with the scalpers and the panic buying.

Silliness abounds from intelligent people. Again. It is not cognitive dissonance to agree with a free market and abhor scalping. If you have such an issue I’m not sure why any of you frequent this board where the owner/operator has made his stance quite clear in this matter. Go peddle your 200 dollar 239 mags elsewhere.

Scalpers suck. It’s not free market it’s free market manipulation. You hate market caps? Well, this kind of free range capitalism is exactly what leads to limits on purchase. One box only. Two rolls of tp per customer. That is the downside of capitalism. The seller puts caps in place to avoid pissing off the consumer. Vicious cycle 101. Scalpers, gouges are a blight. And I love capitalism. You can say both without being intellectually incorrect. It’s a side effect of the free market. If they market a pill that cures cancer but gives you uncontrollable bowel movements you can say you don’t like the side effect without triggering a logical fallacy.

My dumb kid sat 14 hours in the cold to get his. I thought it was dumb but he insisted he wouldn’t get one otherwise. He was right, I was wrong.

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:
I don't know about that. Ever try to buy a stainless steel Rolex sport model from a authorized dealer? They never have them, but they grow on trees with the grey market dealers. Rolex has to know this is going on, that their dealers' set retail prices are way below actual grey market and that the grey market dealers are somehow flush with inventory the authorized dealers can't get. I think manufacturers are just fine with the scalpers and the panic buying.

A Rolex is a little different than a toy, sitting on a retail shelf.

Still, if you approve of the circumstances, continue buying. I'm dropping anything that becomes a PITA.

That's capitalism.

V.

There store where I work had to raise prices on 9mm ammo and impose a 1 box limit. We saw customers re-selling it in the parking lot.

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?

It is inherently a political/social/economic/policy thread. Unless you just want to gripe, but that is sort of pointless, isn't it?

quote:

Originally posted by Rick Lee:

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.

I don't know about that. Ever try to buy a stainless steel Rolex sport model from a authorized dealer? They never have them, but they grow on trees with the grey market dealers. Rolex has to know this is going on, that their dealers' set retail prices are way below actual grey market and that the grey market dealers are somehow flush with inventory the authorized dealers can't get. I think manufacturers are just fine with the scalpers and the panic buying.

Rolex's pricing and distribution practices are especially opaque and hard to understand. They try to exert extremely strong control over their dealers and sell only through authorized dealers, but, as you note, lots of watches escape the dealer network and get sold on the gray market.

I think using Rolex as a model is not helpful as their practices are very odd. Also, a Rolex watch may be, in many cases, a Veblen good, which is one that can see increases in demand as the price rises, in contravention of the normal rules (snob appeal, if you will). That also makes Rolex inapposite in this conversation.

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.

I take it you are stuck with a bunch of Beanie Babies.

Man’s wife sells his PlayStation 5 after she discovers he lied and said it was an air purifier

(NewsNation Now) — A Taiwanese man was lucky enough to score the newest Playstation 5, but his time with the device was short-lived because his wife sold the console when she found out it wasn’t an air purifier like he’d told her.

The buyer, Jin Wu, shared the experience on Facebook. Wu said he arranged to meet up with the seller in person and even called to verify the purchase, but was met by a female voice, who he said didn’t sound like she was much of a gamer.

Pennsylvania teen gifts PlayStation 5 to 10-year-old neighbor battling cancer
Wu added that the “price is also the cheapest to find on the day.”

When Wu met the seller to claim his new PS5, he was greeted by a sad husband instead of his wife.

After a short exchange about where the device was purchased, the husband admitted that he tricked his wife into thinking the game console was an air purifier.

“It’s my wife who wants to sell it,” the Facebook post read. “I went silent after seeing the look in his eyes. I could feel his pain.”

“Seems like women can still tell the difference between a PS5 console and an air purifier,” the post concluded.
https://wgntv.com/

quote:

Originally posted by White Phosphorus:
A Rolex is a little different than a toy, sitting on a retail shelf.

Still, if you approve of the circumstances, continue buying. I'm dropping anything that becomes a PITA.

That's capitalism.

V.

I wouldn't complain as much if the PS5 were actually on a shelf as I think I'd have had a better chance of getting one. Most of it has been online only and whatever the scalpers are doing has been better than my efforts.

On a side note, my local mall made the national news as people plowed each other over to get the 2 units GameStop had. I wasn't one of them. If I had thought they had 100 of them, I would have been there.

quote:

On a side note, my local mall made the national news as people plowed each other over to get the 2 units GameStop had. I wasn't one of them. If I had thought they had 100 of them, I would have been there.

I worked retail long ago and I remember folks literally trampling each out for whatever hotness or deal of the day was, especially Black Fridays. There were many occasions paramedics were needed. To this day I shake my head in disdain.

If you need to trample somebody for a deal on a TV or PS5 or Cabbage Patch Kid etc. etc. you really need to re-evaluate your life. Look I am a consumer's consumer. I love buying stuff. I love "toys" etc. but I will be damned if I am going to go all aggro for any of it. I will either pay the going rate, wait for the crazy to die down or forget about it.

I've said it before and I will say it again. Humanity would be so much more awesome without all the humans.

Big props to the air purifier ruse. Golfers clap sir. That is even better then "I got this box full of gun parts today and I am going to see if I can make a gun out of it."

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
“Seems like women can still tell the difference between a PS5 console and an air purifier,” the post concluded.

That a sideways way of saying, "The PS5 stinks?"

Don't have a dog in this hunt, PC-only gamer here. But the companies:

1) put out superheated publicity,
2) don't produce enough stock before they start selling, and
3) don't charge a premium when the beasties are the hottest things on the planet.

This trifecta is what causes the phenomenon - the 'scalpers' are just along for the ride. Absent all three of the above, the scalpers would be back to their usual deal, buying at estate sales and selling at flea markets.

TL: DR - The companies create superheated demand and can't fill it, creating a hot aftermarket they can't control.