[Iceman]

Quote:

Originally Posted by trebleshot

Basically "scalper" and "reseller" are two sides of the same coin - just with different connotations. You can be a scalper and be a nice person who helps the consumers within your chosen market/industry. The only ones I have a beef with are the ones who actively practice price gouging. To me, that's the only type of person we should call a scalper (with all its negative connotations).

Quote:

Originally Posted by ultraman zoffy

I'd say it's more relevant to think of scalpers in terms of their actions, as opposed to the prices they are charging. Gathering up 15+ Black Widows in an attempt to corner the market is a d*ck move, no matter what you're charging (and you know it won't be retail for all the effort hoarding those figures required).

Personally a lot of it has to do with availability and demand. I basically don't include Con exclusive stuff because it's only available in one place and for a limited time. If you didn't pay all that money to attend and then wait in line when paying double Con price is to be expected unless someone is doing you a favor. There is no "retail" price for such items.

Beyond that it's mostly about what effect it has on the hobby. Buying up all the Boba Fett or Black Widow figures and doing preorders for 3X the retail price CREATES a bad situation that didn't have to be that way. Every figure you see up on ebay early on is probably one that is now missed by a collector in that area. Less demand is being met BECAUSE of such actions.

On the reverse side if a store has stock of something and it's been sitting for months (or years) but people in other locations want it then buy that stuff up and sell it. I've done that with a number of things and hooked people up at cost or just put on ebay lower than anyone else so I still made a profit. This rare case gets product out of your local store so that, hopefully, they will order more stuff that you want to buy and actually helps get it out to people that are looking for it. There is nothing wrong with doing this as it doesn't create any demand, only fills it.