Why all the reseller hate? (+Poll)

[Luke]

The chodes who don't collect/play and are in it solely to make dough I generally refer to as "flippers"

So what?

Who doesn't want to make money? What fact does "liking a thing" have any influence on making money?

Flip/bullshitters, if a dude gets $100 for a stained copy of a five pin Kung-Fu cart who cares?

The DUDE SOLD IT. That's pretty awesome.

To sell crap at outrageous prices hurts no one. No one.

People in sales are in the biz for sales, the product can be poop. but who cares if you can sell poop for $100 a cart?

Earthbound could sell for $1 Gazillion, and it doesn't change a thing. Either someone buy sit or they don't. It's up to the buyer to buy, or not.

This is another joke thread, isn't it?

[Hazerd]

^

Agreed. I'm just waiting for the bubble to burst on them, like it did with Baseball Cards and Comic Books.

Then i can finally swoop in and take all the SNES/Genesis game spoils!

[MrPopo]

The chodes who don't collect/play and are in it solely to make dough I generally refer to as "flippers"

So what?

Who doesn't want to make money? What fact does "liking a thing" have any influence on making money?

Flip/bullshitters, if a dude gets $100 for a stained copy of a five pin Kung-Fu cart who cares?

The DUDE SOLD IT. That's pretty awesome.

To sell crap at outrageous prices hurts no one. No one.

People in sales are in the biz for sales, the product can be poop. but who cares if you can sell poop for $100 a cart?

Earthbound could sell for $1 Gazillion, and it doesn't change a thing. Either someone buy sit or they don't. It's up to the buyer to buy, or not.

This is another joke thread, isn't it?

I think you don't seem to realize that everyone else at this site but you has never gone near sales as a job, so to them the sales mentality is evil.

[TSTR]

@Luke - This isn't a joke thread, I'm just trying to understand some of the sentiment I've seen expressed recently.

[Jmustang1968]

Salesmen can be slimy people sometimes. Car salesman? The worst. I dont typically get pissed at these guys, mild irritation at times, I just ignore the ridiculous.

[Ivo]

I understand people upset with rude people, with dishonest people, and so on. All the reasonable examples posted in the thread were cases were the flippers were basically jerks. You are not upset at them for being flippers, but because they were jerks. That makes sense.

I agree with the OP though, there are some people which actually do dislike "flippers" even if the flipper is polite and honest. That is irrational. At worst the flipper got the deal you wanted, but it makes no difference to you if that person is a flipper or not: you still didn't get the deal because you arrived later or because you were not willing to pay as much. Meaning, don't blame the flipper.

If the flipper then goes on and sells it for more, that is because there was some buyer that paid for it. Once again don't blame the flipper, which somehow got that arbitrage either from advertising the item better/to a wider audience, making the product more presentable, being more patient (which has opportunity costs) or whatever else - all of these could/should count as providing a service to the eventual buyer, which is why there is often money to be made in flipping.

[nightrnr]

Only time it really bugs me is when a seller sets the highest common denominator for a game's price. Like when someone sees a game go for, let's say $100 (which was probably in absolutely pristine condition and the result of a bidding war), and he wants to get just as much for his (above average condition) copy.

I knew of a game shop that was kind of like that. I eventually stopped going there altogether (unsurprisingly, I noticed the same overpriced games sitting there each visit).

Otherwise, I just get annoyed with "bounty hunters" making it even harder to find games for everyone else that actually want to collect and play the games. There are enough middle men in our society.

Maybe it's a catch-22 though. Would the real gamers be able to find what they are looking for if it weren't for opportunists selling them online?

[flex wood]

I think you don't seem to realize that everyone else at this site but you has never gone near sales as a job, so to them the sales mentality is evil.

But that's because it is though. It is extremely toxic and just bad. Look at what Luke just wrote,

Flip/bullshitters, if a dude gets $100 for a stained copy of a five pin Kung-Fu cart who cares?

The DUDE SOLD IT. That's pretty awesome.

No that's not awesome. Selling a broken cart? That would have had to been some dishonest bait and switch that would have ended up with the buyer opening a claim with Ebay. Yes I know it's hypothetical. How about another hypothetical?

Let's swap out that cart for a car with a book value of $2000 getting sold for $4000 that won't make it another 1000 miles without replacing a cylinder, which is going to run at the very least $5000.

That still awesome? Yes because someone made money!

[Ivo]

Otherwise, I just get annoyed with "bounty hunters" making it even harder to find games for everyone else that actually want to collect and play the games. There are enough middle men in our society.

Maybe it's a catch-22 though. Would the real gamers be able to find what they are looking for if it weren't for opportunists selling them online?

You can not have your cake and eat it.

If you don't like middle men, don't blame the middle men, but blame the rules of society that not only allow them but encourage them to exist.

Middle men exist for a reason (or more than one).

I'm all for gradually eliminating the reason and making markets more efficient, which on the long term I believe ends up being better for everyone (even the middle men, which can go and do other kinds of jobs). For example, I'm glad about stuff like digital distribution (of books, games, etc.), which eliminates one of the big reasons for middle men - having to actual stock the product and such.

When it comes to physical products, there is at the very least the question of location. If the flipper got the game cheap it most likely was because the flipper paid a price in convenience (like going to a flea market, sorting through stacks of games or so on).

All the other buyers on ebay willing to pay more for that game are unwilling or unable to go through that inconvenience. The flipper is providing the final buyer with that service, in much the same way that physical (local) stores allow you to not have to drive many miles to go buy some product at a central warehouse.

Flea markets and such places are expected to provide a discount because they are inconvenient. Sellers in flea markets are unwilling or unable to provide the extra convenience to the buyers themselves. The flipper is providing the initial seller with that service of actually going to them and buying it... Just as there are some outlets (in not so easy accessible locations) selling stuff with discounts compared to local stores - they pay less rent and so on.

[Exhuminator]

That depends: Did you hassle some collector out of it? Did you snag it at a garage sale (or similar) and then after you paid for it you told the person how big of a mistake they made? Did you use some form of force and or general "ass-holery" to aquire the game in the first place?

Ha ha, no none of that. I was dating a girl at the time who owned said game. She gave it to me to sell because she didn't want it.

I still think ultimately all of this boils down to simple supply and demand, and nothing else.

For example, if one dude in the world magically acquired every Earthbound cart in existence, and then tried to sell them at $1,000,000 a pop, that's his choice. Then it's the choice of those who are willing to buy them at that price. If no one buys the games, the seller has no choice but to lower the price. Eventually the price will be lowered to whatever the highest price is that the market will bear. And that price is completely dictated by what the market is willing to spend, end of story. So in reality the people that are making rare games expensive are not the opportunistic resellers, but rather the higher income buyers bidding against one another. That's the power of a global resale market connected via the internet. Sure it's unfortunate that lower income average Joes can't complete in the more expensive horse race, but it's still just simple economics.

Ultimately resellers can only be as "evil" as people with the largest amount of disposable income are willing to pay them to be.