Why all the reseller hate? (+Poll)

[TSTR]

I've noticed a number of posters here expressing their disdain for game resellers. I don't quite understand this. Can someone explain this sentiment to me? I don't much have an opinion myself; I'm just curious.

I've also added a poll here to help gauge the general feeling regarding folks that do this type of thing.

EDIT: post #666 hail satan

[Flake]

Can we get some more context? You're talking to a crowd of people are almost all re-sellers.

[Hazerd]

Depends on the situation, and how you go about acquiring these games to resell.

[dsheinem]

Yeah, there's a lot of context unaccounted for in the question.

People with no interest in games/collecting who buy and resell just to make money for non-game related reasons? Irritating, but not unexpected.

People who buy and immediately resell as a way to fund their own specific game collecting interests? Awesome, especially if they pass at least some of those savings on to the new buyers.

People who buy a game, add it to their collection, play it, make a decision about it, and then resell it for profit? Cool beans.

[TSTR]

Here's a bit more behind what inspired me to ask this:

Mainly I'm referring to a lot of the discussion in the threads re: the upswing in prices of retro games where the rise is attributed to folks that make it a business to sell stuff on eBay marking up games and tales of missed deals at thrift stores and yard sales where someone scoops all the stuff up before the poster gets a chance to have at.

And as Flake mentioned, quite a few of us resell stuff even on this very forum (myself included). I don't see much of a difference between that and the folks that some posters are complaining about, so I'm just kinda wondering where this idea of "man, I hate these garbage resellers ruining the retrogaming scene" comes from.

[Flake]

Price/value is something that exists because we all of us agree it exists. People who don't understand that are where hate for resellers or the entire "WTF Ebay" thread comes from.

I'm ambivalent - I buy games, play games, then sell games to buy games. Since I exist on all sides of the situation, I'm cool with how things are.

[Fragems]

The only resellers I have a problem with are the ones that nickle and dime the people they buy from and sell to. Mainly the people who go into a store and price check everything or act like entitled assholes to other customers while bragging about how they are going to resell an item for (Insert price here) to the sellers face.

I also don't care much for resellers who price gouge their inventory and justify their high pricing by ranting about BIN prices on eBay/amazon. Another thing that bugs me is I don't think there is a single reseller in the area who cleans/tests their games before selling and yet they always price stuff as if it were in like new condition .


Guess the main problem is guys who resell for a living because really there isn't a lot of money to be made unless you are moving a massive amount of inventory. Most of the local reseller in my area are to lazy to move enough inventory to make an honest living so instead they try to take advantage of sellers/buyers who don't know the market.

[Hobie-wan]

The problem is the levels of tact and obnoxiousness that some resellers exhibit. On here, if you post in the finds thread that you nabbed a box of 20 SNES games for $25 and 5 minutes later they're in your trade thread for about $20 each, and you do this over and over again, I'm going to get annoyed. If you got a super deal and you're keeping stuff, I'm happy for you. If you got a super deal and you're just going to immediately sell it for 5 times the price or more here, just say you got a great deal if you post it in finds right before selling.

Likewise people at flea markets that run around the tables first thing in the morning and buy all the $3 single day garage sale NES carts just so they can immediately put them in their permanent booth at ridiculous prices where they get sun bleached because they sit there unsold for months are annoying.

As far as ebay prices, as it's been said many times that happens because people pay them. Else people are being dumb and only looking at the crazy BiN prices as opposed to what things are actually selling for.

[pvt_awol]

I hate 'em.

But I put that it's complicated. I'm all for capitalism, and making a buck. But I can tell you soooo many stories of why I hate them.


I won't tell you sooooo many stories though, instead I'll just tell you a couple. Some that I've picked at random from my experience.


1.) I'm trying to off load some Genesis and N64 dupes to fund buying a Wii U. I have them at a garage sale, and I know that they'll get more exposure if I post an ad on Craigs. There are a couple of gems to be had, and I'm not looking to make any profit. So I price them all at like $2 a pop. Thing is, I want to sell the whole lot at once, so it comes out at like $250. Still not bad, considering there is like (4) N64 consoles, (1) is complete, and (6) Genesis consoles, (1) complete, but all cleaned up and tested working. Not to mention I threw in a couple of boxed N64 games, and a boxed copy of Mario Party to help move along the sale. I figured that a re-seller could easily double their money, and I'd get to buy my WiiU.

I cannot even tell you how many DB's called me to ask if they could just come pick up Mario Party for $5 bucks, or how I was stupid to ask so much, and that I'd be lucky for them to offer me $50 for everything. Some of these guys (yup, all guys) were super rude on the phone, like they were doing me a favor if they bought my games. So now, regardless of who it is, "F" them all.



2.) I'm at a Goodwill and I show up at the same time as another fellow collector. I know that he is a reseller. We both go to the games, and I put my hand on a Master System. He pulls it out from under my hand and in shock, I cannot do anything. He scoops up the other Master System and Power Base converter that are also there. I ask, "Hey, I was gonna buy that! Can I please have it back?" To which he responds, "Hell no, this will sell for a lot on Ebay. You can buy it off of my Ebay store if you want." I suddenly felt the urge to cause thousands of dollars of damage to his car. I didn't though, likely because I was still in shock. Again, "F" them all.




Now there may be some "honest" resellers, but really it's like that thing with skateboard kids. Once some of them give a bad wrap to folks, they are all grouped in. I feel that way about resellers.

[soul_hacker]

It honestly depends on the reseller. I've met some awesome ones that are really nice and don't overcharge for their games. I got to know one at a flea market and he knew that most of the people who were buying games there were resellers, so he would keep the really good stuff in his van and sell those to people that he knew were collectors. He let me go through his van once. I came out with around 40 games, some worth well over 50 dollars. I spent 100.

I've also dealt with resellers who may have good prices, but are complete asses. I had one complain that I was buying too many of his "good games" and now nobody is going to go to his booth now.

I've also had a reseller take or sometimes attempt to take things out of my hand before. Numerous times. The one time that they succeeded, I saw them at their booth, then bragged about what he did to me then try to sell the game that they took out of my hands for 30 times what they bought it for.

I've been to a convention where I was watching a booth buy old games from people, wipe them down with rubbing alcohol then sell them for 2-10 times the amount they bought them for. They were also trying to pass off obvious reseals as original sealed games, with prices way over normal sealed prices for them.

Basically, it comes down to the attitude of the reseller. If you're a nice person, you're a nice person. If you're an ass who is trying to take advantage of people, you're an ass and I won't like you.