3rd Party Toy Resellers on Amazon - "Price Gouging"?? Seriously??

[spacejamz]

I recently bought a toy R/C car on Amazon for our Angel Tree thing at work...

While looking at the product online, I noticed this discussion taking place in their Toy Forum.

http://www.amazon.com/forum/toys/ref...x2DYBK7J2SG3IX

Apparently, there are a lot of upset people who feel that those who scoop up the hot toys and then sell them for an inflated price are un-American evil thugs with no morals or ethics and then accuse them of 'price gouging'.

Not sure if it is funny or disgusting that they think that toys fall into the same category as food/water/gas/emergency supplies/building materials after a disaster has struck.

EVERYONE has the same access to obtain these toys at normal price IF they WANT to devout the time to shop online or stand in line to get them. If they don't want to pay the inflated price being charged, either don't buy it or find it someplace else. Your kid (if raised properly), wont die or explode if they don't get [insert HOT TOY of the YEAR here]. The only reason that the seller is inflating the cost is because there is someone out there who is willing to pay it. If not, the seller will be forced to lower their price. It is almost like the concept of Supply and Demand escapes them.

Complaining that the seller is price gouging on a luxury item is ridiculous. But then again, this is the new America where everyone is entitled to everything.

 

[Baked]

99% should all move to North Korea where everybody's equal.

 

[bignateyk]

I would double the price just to piss them off. "NO SOUP FOR YOU"

 

[spidey07]

Supply and demand, how does it work?

 

[spacejamz]

Supply and demand, how does it work?

Simple..if you don't get what you want, then everyone else is a bastard....

 

[lxskllr]

Simple..if you don't get what you want, then everyone else is a bastard....

:^D

I probably found that funnier than I should have :^)

 

[LookBehindYou]

I see nothing wrong with it. No different than when the PS3s, Wii's and Xbox 360's came out. I scooped up a couple of each on launch days when they all came out and made pretty good money on ebay. You one for retail price? Wait in line like everyone else or pre-order like everyone else.

Nothing wrong with it imo.

 

[Perknose]

It's certainly not un-American to be a piggy parasite in the supply chain who creates an artificial shortage and then profits it from it, adding ZERO intrinsic value, but I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire . . . unless of course you payed the situation-specific, 10,000% variable-pricing premium for my piss, of course.

 

[crownjules]

It is an American right to artificially inflate demand so that you can profit. This happens every Xmas with the hot toy. That being said, it's not price gouging since it's not an essential good during a civil emergency. It's just people profiting off doing nothing of value at all and making other people miserable as a result. Merry Christmas!

 

[MrChad]

Her argument about supply and demand and price gouging is deeply flawed, but profiteering on kids' toys is frustrating. Only last year I was searching Target and Toys R Us week after week trying to find a handful of Cars toys. On collector forums, people post pictures of how they buy 8 or more of the same one at a time (basically the store's entire stock) then flip them on eBay. They have every right to do it, and it's definitely a clear case of supply and demand, but I would of course prefer to pay normal retail price. It's up to the major retailers to impose limits on how many of the same item can be purchased per customer so this doesn't happen.

This has been going on forever, by the way. My mom had stories of battling other moms for Transformer toys 25 years ago.

 

[lxskllr]

I see nothing wrong with it. No different than when the PS3s, Wii's and Xbox 360's came out. I scooped up a couple of each on launch days when they all came out and made pretty good money on ebay. You one for retail price? Wait in line like everyone else or pre-order like everyone else.

Nothing wrong with it imo.

It's kind of lame though. Those people might be pissing on some kid's Xmas. For adult stuff, I don't care a bit. They should spend their energy speculating elsewhere.

 

[LookBehindYou]

piggy parasite and not pissing on someone to put out a fire seems a bit harsh...

 

[spidey07]

Simple..if you don't get what you want, then everyone else is a bastard....

If was a single entity or distributor/company that effectively bought up all the supply and then charged much higher, then maybe. But not if it's individuals or different distributors. But you're right, the price of something is solely what somebody is willing to pay.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

It's certainly not un-American to be a piggy parasite in the supply chain who creates an artificial shortage and then profits it from it, adding ZERO intrinsic value, but I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire . . . unless of course you payed the situation-specific, 10,000% variable-pricing premium for my piss, of course.

Agree 100%.

Do what you want, but it certainly is frustrating to not be able to buy a product weeks or months after launch due to folks camping out overnight to sell on eBay or ship overseas. I usually end up not buying it. I could understand buying 2 or 3 extras and selling them to recoup your cost, but people were placing orders for like 100+ TouchPads when they were on fire sale just to make a buck. Crap like that is why hot deals are going down the tubes.

 

[spacejamz]

It's certainly not un-American to be a piggy parasite in the supply chain who creates an artificial shortage and then profits it from it, adding ZERO intrinsic value, but I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire . . . unless of course you payed the situation-specific, 10,000% variable-pricing premium for my piss, of course.

"Artificial shortage" on a hot ticket item??? These toys will be sold out regardless if the 3rd party sellers buy them or not.

Maybe the government should force the manufacturers to make enough so that everyone can have one? Will that work for you?

 

[Via]

It's not illegal, but getting pissed about it isn't either. It's the American way.

The only real power consumers have is to voice their displeasure about business practices that they don't care for.

 

[spacejamz]

It's kind of lame though. Those people might be pissing on some kid's Xmas. For adult stuff, I don't care a bit. They should spend their energy speculating elsewhere.

The parents have the same access to the toy at regular price as the 3rd party seller.

 

[PsiStar]

Supply and demand, how does it work?

I agree. Brutal lesson in basic economics & capitalism maybe.

I have also noticed several times that (sometimes) browsing a particular item over a few days that the price starts going up. Even if you have it loaded in your basket the price may rise the following day if you just let it sit. This makes sense as the vendors probably get feedback about traffic to their products ... more traffic suggests more demand & can justify a price increase.

 

[etrigan420]

Maybe the government should force the manufacturers to make enough so that everyone can have one? Will that work for you?

That's not what he said...just have fun *not* being bathed in his urine when you find yourself on fire.

So now you have all the Tickle Me Elmo's, but you're on fire sans Perk-piss.

Whether that's bad or good is entirely up to you...

Having said that, people who do this are assholes.

 

[crownjules]

"Artificial shortage" on a hot ticket item??? These toys will be sold out regardless if the 3rd party sellers buy them or not.

It's artificial because they are contribute to demand with no intention of actually using the product. Their demand is solely for the purpose of increasing demand so they can charge a higher price and profit.

 

[spidey07]

That's not what he said...just have fun *not* being bathed in his urine when you find yourself on fire.

So now you have all the Tickle Me Elmo's, but you're on fire sans Perk-piss.

Whether that's bad or good is entirely up to you...

Having said that, people who do this are smart businessmen utilizing an opportunity and market conditions.

Fixed that for you. Business is rarely nice, it's a cut throat game where every advantage and opportunity should be utilized.

 

[spidey07]

It's not illegal, but getting pissed about it isn't either. It's the American way.

The only real power consumers have is to voice their displeasure about business practices that they don't care for.

Not really, the real power comes in not using or purchasing their products or services. This also ties into supply/demand, if the price is more than you want to pay, don't buy it. If enough people determine the price is too high (and as such demand goes down, supply is stagnant or high) then the price WILL come down.

 

[rivan]

It's certainly not un-American to be a piggy parasite in the supply chain who creates an artificial shortage and then profits it from it, adding ZERO intrinsic value, but I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire . . . unless of course you payed the situation-specific, 10,000% variable-pricing premium for my piss, of course.

This.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

The parents have the same access to the toy at regular price as the 3rd party seller.

While techincally true, it's kind of not. Parents have to take care of their children and work. They don't have the time to hit up stores at midnight to snag up items to resell them.

Anyone that buys an item during x-mas and turns around and resells it on CL or ebay needs to be reported to the IRS and local taxing authorities for failing to collect tax on the sale.

 

[QuantumPion]

It's certainly not un-American to be a piggy parasite in the supply chain who creates an artificial shortage and then profits it from it, adding ZERO intrinsic value, but I wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire . . . unless of course you payed the situation-specific, 10,000% variable-pricing premium for my piss, of course.

I'm surprised you've never heard of such things as the stock market, stock options, investing, banking, or interest. All of this activities add value by either absorbing risk, adding time-value, and reducing price fluctuations. This is the same deal. If you don't think these add intrinsic value then you are as silly as the OWS people.

If someone buys a bunch of items and tries to resell them at a huge markup, but people don't pay the huge markup, the reseller takes a massive loss. It's a risk.

If people do buy the higher priced items, it means there was insufficient supply to begin with and the items were undervalued. Reselling them thus allows people who are willing to pay a higher price to buy them over people who just got lucky and were the first ones to grab the item off the shelf. The resellers are thus taking a risk (overstock inventory) to provide a service (guaranteed stock at market clearing price).

This is all very basic economics people.