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[Rimon-hanit]

I would stop calling it a profession because that's just odd, and capitalism is inherently evil, I don't think you can make many distinction within.

 

[Oare]

Honestly if people are paying for it, my personal opinion is "why not?".

Picture yourself 10 years old.
The brand new Nintendo Switch you've been reading about online for months is about to hit the market. You've been eagerly expecting it for such a long time...
You're in luck, it comes out just a couple of weeks before your birthday.
So when your parents ask what kind of gift you want, you don't even hesitate for a split second: the Switch it is, of course!

Comes March 3. The timing feels so right! Your dad remembers when he got his own SNES back in the day.
$299+tax is a bit of a stretch financially speaking; your family is typical middle class, your parents aren't rich and have a few debts. Plus they have to get you Zelda along with the console.
But they know you've been making tremendous efforts at school in the past few months in order to get good grades; they promised you you'd have your Switch if you did, and you delivered. So now it's their turn, and they're happy to oblige.

They go to Walmart, their usual place to buy stuff. But no Switch. "When are you going to receive new stock?" they ask. The employee has no idea.
Your parents leave Walmart and go to a mom and pop store. "It's usually a bit more expensive", they say, "but at least he'll get his present". But alas, no luck there either.
"Let's check Amazon", your dad says. And Amazon he checks. Both your parents' faces blemish when they discover the only Switches available are marked up at least 100%.
They can't afford that.

They're left with no choice. Right after you finish your dessert that evening, they tell you : "I'm sorry dear, we can't find your game console anywhere." Your mom tears up a bit when you reply: "but you promised!"
"We know. We're sorry. We'll try to make it up to you."

Fast forward.
Christmas. The next year. You're finally there, with your Switch still wrapped in gifting paper.
In the meantime, one of your calssmates, the "rich" kid who always has everything before everybody else, managed to get one and invited you over a couple of times to try it. So when you open your package, it's a lot less magical, of course. You're still happy, sure. But rich kid has already spoiled Zelda and Mario for you.
Bah, you know you'll have fun anyways. You're 11 now. You've learnt to live with a bit of disappointment.



All of this because on launch day, some guy decided to snatch 6 Switches he wasn't even interested in instead of buying 0, just to "make a buck". Of course, he sold nothing with his 100% marked up price, and three weeks later, ended up craiglisting half of his stock for $340 - barely making any money off the units because of the taxes he had to pay on his initial purchase.
He calculated his net profit for the total operation. They barely amounted to $200, thanks to one man who caved in for $400 early on.
The scalper was satisfied nonetheless: "suckers", he thought.



Now the question is: do you want to be that guy?

 

[Stead Fast]

Honestly, I could care less for artificial rarity (see: Nintendo as a whole), and I'm not against anyone willing to flip other products over to make money - only if a) it's the actual product (scammers who don't are thieves), and b) everything is declared income. That is to say, you're making as much as your other job, you are paying taxes on that increased income, right?

 

[Xun]

Ticket scalping is inherently evil.

 

[biggersmaller]

i would like for you both to give your opinions on concert tickets. As previously mentioned by myself and others, there seems to be some way 3rd party sellers are able to buy up literally thousands of tickets before the general public can get them. And its complete bullshit in my opinion.

ok - events are a little different as it's a fixed pool. You can always produce more NES Classics, a promoter is not going to build another level to Madison Square Garden for Elton John.

That said, I ONLY have a problem with it if:

a. a seller has an inordinate amount of tickets because
b. they were given early access

If when released to the public someone wants to buy 100 floor seats at full cost and sell them for 10X the face value - more power to them. Also, if Betty Sue won early tickets by listening to their local morning zoo promo - she should be able to sell them for whatever she wants.

 

[notaskwid]

no, it doesnt mean venues would be empty. It has nothing to do with that.

Also you're example is piss poor. *a sizeable amount* companies won't do shit for employees or customers until forced to, why else are there so many lawsuits against companies and laws enacted? For instance the amount of companies in the US that offer paid maternity leave vs the amount of companies elsewhere in the world that do.

No, it's not, because I'm coming from a prespective where capitalism is nor good nor bad and scalping tickets is just another branch of it, one much less damaging than property price speculation, as an example. It's not like anyone get rich of ticket scalping, nor robing people of any right. Again, if the venue wanted, theyy could deal with it, but in most cases they don't, sometimes even do it themselves.

 

[Hephaestus]

Picture yourself 10 years old.
The brand new Nintendo Switch you've been reading about online for months is about to hit the market. You've been eagerly expecting it for such a long time...
You're in luck, it comes out just a couple of weeks before your birthday.
So when your parents ask what kind of gift you want, you don't even hesitate for a split second: the Switch it is, of course!

Comes March 3. The timing feels so right! Your dad remembers when he got his own SNES back in the day.
$299+tax is a bit of a stretch financially speaking; your family is typical middle class, your parents aren't rich and have a few debts. Plus they have to get you Zelda along with the console.
But they know you've been making tremendous efforts at school in the past few months in order to get good grades; they promised you you'd have your Switch if you did, and you delivered. So now it's their turn, and they're happy to oblige.

They go to Walmart, their usual place to buy stuff. But no Switch. "When are you going to receive new stock?" they ask. The employee has no idea.
Your parents leave Walmart and go to a mom and pop store. "It's usually a bit more expensive", they say, "but at least he'll get his present". But alas, no luck there either.
"Let's check Amazon", your dad says. And Amazon he checks. Both your parents' faces blemish when they discover the only Switches available are marked up at least 100%.
They can't afford that.

They're left with no choice. Right after you finish your dessert that evening, they tell you : "I'm sorry dear, we can't find your game console anywhere." Your mom tears up a bit when you reply: "but you promised!"
"We know. We're sorry. We'll try to make it up to you."

Fast forward.
Christmas. The next year. You're finally there, with your Switch still wrapped in gifting paper.
In the meantime, one of your calssmates, the "rich" kid who always has everything before everybody else, managed to get one and invited you over a couple of times to try it. So when you open your package, it's a lot less magical, of course. You're still happy, sure. But rich kid has already spoiled Zelda and Mario for you.
Bah, you know you'll have fun anyways. You're 11 now. You've learnt to live with a bit of disappointment.



All of this because on launch day, some guy decided to snatch 6 Switches he wasn't even interested in instead of buying 0, just to "make a buck". Of course, he sold nothing with his 100% marked up price, and three weeks later, ended up craiglisting half of his stock for $340 - barely making any money off the units because of the taxes he had to pay on his initial purchase.
He calculated his net profit for the total operation. They barely amounted to $200, thanks to one man who caved in for $400 early on.
The scalper was satisfied nonetheless: "suckers", he thought.



Now the question is: do you want to be that guy?

This makes zero sense, Lets say scalping was made illegal punishable by death. Massive government over site over the selling and purchasing of everything in you life. You are 100 percent sure no nintendo switches have been purchased for scalping.

You go to the store with your heart full of hope and love for your child to get him that perfect gift...The new Nintendo switch. You get to the store and...they ARE STILL FUCKING SOLD OUT. you still don't get one, you still will be forced to give your child a handmade sock puppet for christmas instead.

And his "Rich" friend Timmy still got one because..
-He paid someone to wait in line
-His parents were able to easily afford to take time off of work and wait in line.
-They flew to another country were supply was more bountiful
-The called Nintendo and offered to but one for $1000

at the end of the day you still have to tell your kid hes not getting shit for Christmas. Whats the difference if it sold out because A) scalpers sold them to people for more money then you were willing to spend. or B) People were willing to wait in line for weeks to get one using their time that your unwilling to spend?

 

[skynidas]

I would stop calling it a profession because that's just odd, and capitalism is inherently evil, I don't think you can make many distinction within.

lmao

 

[SpinningBirdKick]

Nothing wrong with scalping, arbitrage or exploiting other market inefficiencies.

 

[Hephaestus]

Ticket scalping is inherently evil.

Is it also inherently evil for me to wait in line to buy tickets to a concert for a friend even if I have no interest in going myself?

Is it inherently evil if my friend know I have a day off and asks me to wait in line to buy tickets for him?

Is it inherently evil if my friend offers to pay me a 100 dollars to wait in line and buy tickets for him?

 

[bobawesome]

Picture yourself 10 years old.
The brand new Nintendo Switch you've been reading about online for months is about to hit the market. You've been eagerly expecting it for such a long time...
You're in luck, it comes out just a couple of weeks before your birthday.
So when your parents ask what kind of gift you want, you don't even hesitate for a split second: the Switch it is, of course!

Comes March 3. The timing feels so right! Your dad remembers when he got his own SNES back in the day.
$299+tax is a bit of a stretch financially speaking; your family is typical middle class, your parents aren't rich and have a few debts. Plus they have to get you Zelda along with the console.
But they know you've been making tremendous efforts at school in the past few months in order to get good grades; they promised you you'd have your Switch if you did, and you delivered. So now it's their turn, and they're happy to oblige.

They go to Walmart, their usual place to buy stuff. But no Switch. "When are you going to receive new stock?" they ask. The employee has no idea.
Your parents leave Walmart and go to a mom and pop store. "It's usually a bit more expensive", they say, "but at least he'll get his present". But alas, no luck there either.
"Let's check Amazon", your dad says. And Amazon he checks. Both your parents' faces blemish when they discover the only Switches available are marked up at least 100%.
They can't afford that.

They're left with no choice. Right after you finish your dessert that evening, they tell you : "I'm sorry dear, we can't find your game console anywhere." Your mom tears up a bit when you reply: "but you promised!"
"We know. We're sorry. We'll try to make it up to you."

Fast forward.
Christmas. The next year. You're finally there, with your Switch still wrapped in gifting paper.
In the meantime, one of your calssmates, the "rich" kid who always has everything before everybody else, managed to get one and invited you over a couple of times to try it. So when you open your package, it's a lot less magical, of course. You're still happy, sure. But rich kid has already spoiled Zelda and Mario for you.
Bah, you know you'll have fun anyways. You're 11 now. You've learnt to live with a bit of disappointment.



All of this because on launch day, some guy decided to snatch 6 Switches he wasn't even interested in instead of buying 0, just to "make a buck". Of course, he sold nothing with his 100% marked up price, and three weeks later, ended up craiglisting half of his stock for $340 - barely making any money off the units because of the taxes he had to pay on his initial purchase.
He calculated his net profit for the total operation. They barely amounted to $200, thanks to one man who caved in for $400 early on.
The scalper was satisfied nonetheless: "suckers", he thought.



Now the question is: do you want to be that guy?

What a stupid scenario. Maybe little Timmy ten-year-old learns that sometimes you don't always get what you want just because it's your birthday or Christmas. Welcome to the reality for most kids?

 

[Neo C.]

Scalping for essential things is bad, like food, water, oil and so forth. Luxury items? Nah, that's ok.

 

[Chiaroscuro]

I particularly have zero respect for anyone who does it for products in a hobby that they enjoy; find it incredibly crass to see people on video game forums bragging about scalping consoles for instance.

Nope, I don't feel like that. I can understand your feelings toward videogames/consoles specially at launch, since it is a very inflated price.

But it is very common to sell and resell stuffs in our hobbies. I do it a lot of times with Lego, stamps and other collectionables. You spend a lot of money on it, and to start to resell stuff is a way to effort it. Buying larger lots, break them in small parts, keep some things and resell the others, for instance. Buy stuff in promotions and sales and keep some and resell others at full price later.

The thing that makes you a scum is to try to profit a lot from an item in a short period of time, to tske advange of high demmand on xmas season, for instance, when parents are kind of forced to pay more.

Reasonable profits to keep you or or hobby alive isn't a bad thing.

 

[The_Kid]

Lol I remember being a kid and being told I can't get what I wanted for Christmas.

I also remember my parents telling me we could only afford like cheap drugstore aisle toys for a couple years when money was tight.

I got over it.

People wrongly assume if scalpers of like the NES or something disappear the thing would be plentiful. It was still scarce enough that you probably wouldn't have gotten one anyways.

 

[Forearm Star]

Everyone has the same opportunity to buy a product.

I always enjoy hearing people say "oh scalpers got them all" after how many other people asked before you even showed up.

Or the people who hate preordering stuff and get mad when an item is sold out day of.

Having to buy stuff off eBay for double the price does suck, but you don't have to.

 

[Nester99]

Scalpers are also tax evaders.

IRS gonna lock you up op if your not on the level.

 

[rezuth]

Is it also inherently evil for me to wait in line to buy tickets to a concert for a friend even if I have no interest in going myself?

Is it inherently evil if my friend know I have a day off and asks me to wait in line to buy tickets for him?

Is it inherently evil if my friend offers to pay me a 100 dollars to wait in line and buy tickets for him?

This is more like this.

I know this concert my friend wants to go to and I know he has to be at work and can't sit pounding refresh on the browser. So I'll buy the tickets to the concert he loves and then sell them to him at a $100 more than I bought them for because I know he has no other way to enjoy this concert he has been so excited to see for ages.

Yes, that is evil.

 

[jessop]

its hard to make any money in a truly ethical way,but it would be better to do something less actively unpleasant.

i dont think i could be friends with someone who made their money being such a total shit

any argument that consists of 'free market lol' is absolutely evil

 

[Hephaestus]

This is more like this.

I know this concert my friend wants to go to and I know he has to be at work and can't sit pounding refresh on the browser. So I'll buy the tickets to the concert he loves and then sell them to him at a $100 more than I bought them for because I know he has no other way to enjoy this concert he has been so excited to see for ages.

Yes, that is evil.

Really so the alternative is he doesn't get to see the concert that he loves at all? Your right that`s a way better answer.
Now I`m miserable I don`t have a 100
Hes miserable he doesn't get to see the show.

Everyone`s equal!

 

[Macheezmo]

Really so the alternative is he doesn't get to see the concert that he loves at all? Your right that`s a way better answer.
Now I`m miserable I don`t have a 100
Hes miserable he doesn't get to see the show.

Everyone`s equal!

If he's already agreed to pay an extra $100 beforehand, that's fine, but if you just buy the ticket with the intention of marking it up and taking advantage of your friend's extra money, then you're a shitty friend.

 

[zoukka]

Is capitalism inherently bad?

 

[Chiaroscuro]

This is more like this.

I know this concert my friend wants to go to and I know he has to be at work and can't sit pounding refresh on the browser. So I'll buy the tickets to the concert he loves and then sell them to him at a $100 more than I bought them for because I know he has no other way to enjoy this concert he has been so excited to see for ages.

Yes, that is evil.

How many hours did you spent to get the tickets? You are thinking it is more like a favor to do for your friend, while you could be looking at a period of time you are doinh work. Sure, waiting in a line isn't the hardest job, but you lost a time doing it, while you could have being doing other things for you. And your friend didn't have the time to do it. So let's say you spend 10 hours in line. Which is the minimum wage? Hoe much you can charge for it?

Now, if you are going to the same concert and he is a close friend, you should not charge anything.

It is all in the details.

 

[Hephaestus]

If he's already agreed to pay an extra $100 beforehand, that's fine, but if you just buy the ticket with the intention of marking it up and taking advantage of your friend's extra money, then you're a shitty friend.

What does it matter? The ends are exactly the same. He would be a shitty friend if he knew you spent alot of time on something and didnt offer to compensate them.
Ive borrowed a friends truck to move. It took 3 hours I gave him 80 bucks and a lot of beer.

I just dont see what intent has anything to do with situations at all. The end result is the only thing that matters, who gives a shit why somebody does something.

 

[numble]

What does it matter? The ends are exactly the same. He would be a shitty friend if he knew you spent alot of time on something and didnt offer to compensate them.
Ive borrowed a friends truck to move. It took 3 hours I gave him 80 bucks and a lot of beer.

I just dont see what intent has anything to do with situations at all. The end result is the only thing that matters, who gives a shit why somebody does something.

Your analogy is not really applicable--your friend did not set the price and you chose to pay what you wanted. It was also for a service/rental and not a physically scarce item.

Anyway, to make it close to an analogous situation, if you asked your friend to borrow his truck, and you knew that the market price was 80 bucks, but he asked you for 400 bucks after you used the truck, does it matter?

 

[Hephaestus]

Your analogy is not really applicable--your friend did not set the price and you chose to pay what you wanted. It was also for a service/rental and not a physically scarce item.

Anyway, to make it close to an analogous situation, if you asked your friend to borrow his truck, and you knew that the market price was 80 bucks, but he asked you for 400 bucks after you used the truck, does it matter?

But it wouldnt be 400 after you use, your not going to the concert then paying for the ticket. If I asked to use my friends truck willing to pay 80 but hes no unless I pay 400.
Then I either pay or dont use his truck. Thats it, its his truck.

Its no different then if I asked to use and offered to pay and he said "No" it doesnt matter why he says no the end result is still the same.

 

[rezuth]

But it wouldnt be 400 after you use, your not going to the concert then paying for the ticket. If I asked to use my friends truck willing to pay 80 but hes no unless I pay 400.
Then I either pay or dont use his truck. Thats it, its his truck.

Its no different then if I asked to use and offered to pay and he said "No" it doesnt matter why he says no the end result is still the same.

Its not really the same either way.

Lets say there was a place where you could rent a truck. This is the only place near you where you can rent a truck. The cost for renting a truck is 80 bucks for two hours at the place. Now you go there to rent a truck. When you arrive the guy tells you that he's sorry but they're out of trucks to rent atm, he just rented the last one to a guy outside. Disappointed that you cant rent the truck you go outside.

Now the guy approices you and say,
- Hey! I heard you need to rent a truck.
Yes! I do
- Well I don't actually need the truck I just rented it so you have to rent it from me more expensive instead. That will be 400 bucks for two hours.

Is it evil? Yes.

 

[numble]

But it wouldnt be 400 after you use, your not going to the concert then paying for the ticket. If I asked to use my friends truck willing to pay 80 but hes no unless I pay 400.
Then I either pay or dont use his truck. Thats it, its his truck.

Scalpers often deal in goods that because they are scarce, have inelastic demand (the price doesn't matter). To make your analogy be similar, the charge comes after the fact.

Its no different then if I asked to use and offered to pay and he said "No" it doesnt matter why he says no the end result is still the same.

If he says, "No, because you won't pay me $400" versus "No, my truck is broken" versus "No, your BO will be hard to wash away" versus "No, I only let my real friends borrow it" versus "No, I need it that day", does it matter?

 

[Mathieran]

I thought by the title it was gonna be concert tickets. Which is definitely douchey.

My opinion is that it's rude if you're buying stuff up that's of limited quantity and then selling it higher to the people that were just a little too slow clicking a button. I don't think I could do that for a living with a clean conscience.

Didn't know people did it for all their work though. How much does that make a week?

 

[Enter The 36 Chambers]

Do you man.


If people are so powerless to the point they will pay stupid money for a console or game well too bad imo.

Serves you right if your willing to pay so much to a scalper. Your keeping him in business.

 

[Madrin]

No, I buy stuff online at other local listing apps like OfferUp and resell on eBay.

Isn't it a huge pain in the ass to schedule meetups with sellers on OfferUp and drive all around town to meet them?

Sorry I know this isn't the point of the thread but I've always wondered how reselling stuff from OfferUp and Craigslist was profitable enough to live off of.

 

[ColdPizza]

Picture yourself 10 years old.
The brand new Nintendo Switch you've been reading about online for months is about to hit the market. You've been eagerly expecting it for such a long time...
You're in luck, it comes out just a couple of weeks before your birthday.
So when your parents ask what kind of gift you want, you don't even hesitate for a split second: the Switch it is, of course!

Comes March 3. The timing feels so right! Your dad remembers when he got his own SNES back in the day.
$299+tax is a bit of a stretch financially speaking; your family is typical middle class, your parents aren't rich and have a few debts. Plus they have to get you Zelda along with the console.
But they know you've been making tremendous efforts at school in the past few months in order to get good grades; they promised you you'd have your Switch if you did, and you delivered. So now it's their turn, and they're happy to oblige.

They go to Walmart, their usual place to buy stuff. But no Switch. "When are you going to receive new stock?" they ask. The employee has no idea.
Your parents leave Walmart and go to a mom and pop store. "It's usually a bit more expensive", they say, "but at least he'll get his present". But alas, no luck there either.
"Let's check Amazon", your dad says. And Amazon he checks. Both your parents' faces blemish when they discover the only Switches available are marked up at least 100%.
They can't afford that.

They're left with no choice. Right after you finish your dessert that evening, they tell you : "I'm sorry dear, we can't find your game console anywhere." Your mom tears up a bit when you reply: "but you promised!"
"We know. We're sorry. We'll try to make it up to you."

Fast forward.
Christmas. The next year. You're finally there, with your Switch still wrapped in gifting paper.
In the meantime, one of your calssmates, the "rich" kid who always has everything before everybody else, managed to get one and invited you over a couple of times to try it. So when you open your package, it's a lot less magical, of course. You're still happy, sure. But rich kid has already spoiled Zelda and Mario for you.
Bah, you know you'll have fun anyways. You're 11 now. You've learnt to live with a bit of disappointment.



All of this because on launch day, some guy decided to snatch 6 Switches he wasn't even interested in instead of buying 0, just to "make a buck". Of course, he sold nothing with his 100% marked up price, and three weeks later, ended up craiglisting half of his stock for $340 - barely making any money off the units because of the taxes he had to pay on his initial purchase.
He calculated his net profit for the total operation. They barely amounted to $200, thanks to one man who caved in for $400 early on.
The scalper was satisfied nonetheless: "suckers", he thought.



Now the question is: do you want to be that guy?

Disappointment and patience are things everyone needs to learn. This kid will live.

 

[Hephaestus]

Its not really the same either way.

Lets say there was a place where you could rent a truck. This is the only place near you where you can rent a truck. The cost for renting a truck is 80 bucks for two hours at the place. Now you go there to rent a truck. When you arrive the guy tells you that he's sorry but they're out of trucks to rent atm, he just rented the last one to a guy outside. Disappointed that you cant rent the truck you go outside.

Now the guy approices you and say,
- Hey! I heard you need to rent a truck.
Yes! I do
- Well I don't actually need the truck I just rented it so you have to rent it from me more expensive instead. That will be 400 bucks for two hours.

Is it evil? Yes.

Again whats the difference if theres no trucks theres no trucks. If I say "no" to the guy or if there is no guy there. The end is the same I still dont have a truck.

Lets say you run outside and catch the guy that rented the truck and said "Hey I need it badly I will give you 400 dollars for your rental. The guy says "sure!" I can wait for another weekend to move.

Why is that different if I approach the guy or he approaches me? If I go to a concert or a hockey game, and yell "I will give a 1000 dollars for 2 tickets" and people that were going to go say "sure here you go" Its the same result.

 

[Famassu]

Reselling? No. Scalping? Unarguably yes.

 

[Hephaestus]

Scalpers often deal in goods that because they are scarce, have inelastic demand (the price doesn't matter). To make your analogy be similar, the charge comes after the fact.



If he says, "No, because you won't pay me $400" versus "No, my truck is broken" versus "No, your BO will be hard to wash away" versus "No, I only let my real friends borrow it" versus "No, I need it that day", does it matter?

The charge after the fact still doesnt make any sense, your agreeing to the price up front.

It does not matter why hes says NO....its still no, you still dont get the use the truck. Hell would you prefer he lied to you about why he said no just to make you feel better?

 

[Hephaestus]

Would it change anything that instead of a scalper buying a 100 dollar item and raising it too 500. That the company just charges 500 themselves?

 

[Straight Edge]

Is capitalism inherently bad?

Yes because it is inherently exploitative of labor.

 

[Sulik2]

Scalping and reselling when it comes to products is perfectly fine. Its normally a sign a company is selling a product at too low an MSRP or they suck at manufacturing. If people are willing to pay inflated prices instead of waiting a couple of months, thats on them, not the people making a quick buck.

 

[prag16]

If he's already agreed to pay an extra $100 beforehand, that's fine, but if you just buy the ticket with the intention of marking it up and taking advantage of your friend's extra money, then you're a shitty friend.

Even if the friend said he'd pay $100 extra beforehand, actually making him pay it is still a dickheaded move if you consider this any kind of good to very good friend, especially of all you were doing was mashing F5 on a website.

 

[Arrogant Bastard]

I would stop calling it a profession because that's just odd, and capitalism is inherently evil, I don't think you can make many distinction within.

Capitalism is inherently evil now?

 

[Reptars Revenge]

Shitttt no the world was founded on people buying up resources and charging more for others. OP if you were withholding water from African babies then yeah I would call you out but if you are stopping some people from seeing Adele, then who cares.

 

[NeonBlack]

Picture yourself 10 years old.
The brand new Nintendo Switch you've been reading about online for months is about to hit the market. You've been eagerly expecting it for such a long time...
You're in luck, it comes out just a couple of weeks before your birthday.
So when your parents ask what kind of gift you want, you don't even hesitate for a split second: the Switch it is, of course!

Comes March 3. The timing feels so right! Your dad remembers when he got his own SNES back in the day.
$299+tax is a bit of a stretch financially speaking; your family is typical middle class, your parents aren't rich and have a few debts. Plus they have to get you Zelda along with the console.
But they know you've been making tremendous efforts at school in the past few months in order to get good grades; they promised you you'd have your Switch if you did, and you delivered. So now it's their turn, and they're happy to oblige.

They go to Walmart, their usual place to buy stuff. But no Switch. "When are you going to receive new stock?" they ask. The employee has no idea.
Your parents leave Walmart and go to a mom and pop store. "It's usually a bit more expensive", they say, "but at least he'll get his present". But alas, no luck there either.
"Let's check Amazon", your dad says. And Amazon he checks. Both your parents' faces blemish when they discover the only Switches available are marked up at least 100%.
They can't afford that.

They're left with no choice. Right after you finish your dessert that evening, they tell you : "I'm sorry dear, we can't find your game console anywhere." Your mom tears up a bit when you reply: "but you promised!"
"We know. We're sorry. We'll try to make it up to you."

Fast forward.
Christmas. The next year. You're finally there, with your Switch still wrapped in gifting paper.
In the meantime, one of your calssmates, the "rich" kid who always has everything before everybody else, managed to get one and invited you over a couple of times to try it. So when you open your package, it's a lot less magical, of course. You're still happy, sure. But rich kid has already spoiled Zelda and Mario for you.
Bah, you know you'll have fun anyways. You're 11 now. You've learnt to live with a bit of disappointment.



All of this because on launch day, some guy decided to snatch 6 Switches he wasn't even interested in instead of buying 0, just to "make a buck". Of course, he sold nothing with his 100% marked up price, and three weeks later, ended up craiglisting half of his stock for $340 - barely making any money off the units because of the taxes he had to pay on his initial purchase.
He calculated his net profit for the total operation. They barely amounted to $200, thanks to one man who caved in for $400 early on.
The scalper was satisfied nonetheless: "suckers", he thought.



Now the question is: do you want to be that guy?

That depends. Did I make a profit?

 

[JoeNut]

Isn't buy low, sell high basically the backbone of business?

 

[border]

Unless a product is manufactured in numbers that mirror the population growth of the entire world, scarcity will always exist, is that correct?

I'm not talking about scarcity in the very broad macroeconomic sense of "scarcity will always exist due to limited resources".

I just mean scarcity in the sense of a product that is difficult to buy through traditional retail mails. Scalpers flock to scarcity, they do not create it. They don't corner the market on Amiibos and then jack up the price. They notice that Amiibos are already in short supply and commanding higher-than-retail prices in secondhand markets, so they make a play to get them at retail.

The extent to which they significantly contribute to scarcity is debatable, particularly if we are talking about mass-produced products that are shipping across the globe.

 

[SystemShock2]

It depends. If you're buying the latest item which is in limited stock and reselling that, then I think it's a pretty shitty thing to do because you're probably taking the item away from someone who wants and is willing to pay a fair price on it. I hate people who snatch up tickets and then sell them at absurd prices because it hurts the actual fans.

If you're buying something second hand or scouting for deals and then charging more for it, then I'm more ok with that because you're doing some dirty work that someone else wouldn't have wanted to do in the first place. It's providing more of a service in a way.

 

[CloudWolf]

Again whats the difference if theres no trucks theres no trucks. If I say "no" to the guy or if there is no guy there. The end is the same I still dont have a truck.

Lets say you run outside and catch the guy that rented the truck and said "Hey I need it badly I will give you 400 dollars for your rental. The guy says "sure!" I can wait for another weekend to move.

Why is that different if I approach the guy or he approaches me? If I go to a concert or a hockey game, and yell "I will give a 1000 dollars for 2 tickets" and people that were going to go say "sure here you go" Its the same result.

Your analogy doesn't hold up. In your version of the truck example you give a guy who rents a truck for himself 400 bucks. That's like if you know someone who's going to an Ariana Grande concert and you really wanted to go, so you offer to buy his ticket. There's no problem with that.

However scalpers don't buy tickets for themselves, they buy tickets with the sole purpose of reselling the tickets against a higher price. If a scalper buys up 100 Ariana Grande tickets and sells 50 at a 100% markup price, then he isn't going to use the other 50 tickets to take all his friends to the concert. Those will never get used.

To go back to the truck example: some guy buys all the trucks, not because he needs them, but because he knows others will want those trucks and since he's now the only person around who owns trucks and he doesn't need them he "generously" offers them for sale for a 100% price increase. And of course, he destroys the ones he doesn't sell.

 

[Jedi2016]

Reselling isn't inherently bad. There's plenty of manufacturers who only operate that way and never sell directly to the public. The methodology is usually pretty specific.. items are bought at a bulk discount of some sort, marked up to a reasonable retail level of whatever that type of item usually sells for, and then sold on some online store or whatever. The markups here are usually minimal, just a few percent, and profit is made through quantity. Reselling happens pretty much any time you buy something, anywhere. Amazon isn't a storefront for manufacturers, they're a reseller. Ever buy a box of name brand cereal at the grocery store? Reseller.

Scalpers, on the other hand, don't buy directly from the manufacturer, they buy from the retailer like a normal shopper. They intentionally and knowingly deprive normal shoppers of the opportunity of buying said item, and then inflate the price several hundred percent in order to make profit on a very low quantity of sales. While not technically illegal, it is a dick move no matter how you look at it, and I'd love to reward their efforts with a punch in the face.

 

[numble]

Would it change anything that instead of a scalper buying a 100 dollar item and raising it too 500. That the company just charges 500 themselves?

When we deal with physical items that are scarce and have inelastic demand (the specific scenario where scalpers operate), it would still mean that scalpers will buy them for 500 and still charge a markup. This is why people are introducing scarcity and a strong demand to "fix" your analogies.

 

[CloudWolf]

Shitttt no the world was founded on people buying up resources and charging more for others. OP if you were withholding water from African babies then yeah I would call you out but if you are stopping some people from seeing Adele, then who cares.

Eh, it's both pretty bad. Sure, one is worse than the other, but there are people who feel a strong emotional connection to Adèle. Let's say there's a bullied teenage girl who got through some very tough times because of Adèle. Adèle finally has a concert near where the girl lives, so she has been saving up money for the last months to be able to pay for the concert.

The tickets go into sale and she misses out on tickets because some assholes bot-bought a hundred tickets and were keeping up the online waiting list. Now the only way for the girl to see Adèle is to buy tickets that are 100-150% more expensive. Is this really okay just because a ticket for Adèle is a luxury product?

 

[Giant Panda]

Nothing wrong with scalping.

 

[SamVimes]

Eh, it's both pretty bad. Sure, one is worse than the other, but there are people who feel a strong emotional connection to Adèle. Let's say there's a bullied teenage girl who got through some very tough times because of Adèle. Adèle finally has a concert near where the girl lives, so she has been saving up money for the last months to be able to pay for the concert.

The tickets go into sale and she misses out on tickets because some assholes bot-bought a hundred tickets and were keeping up the online waiting list. Now the only way for the girl to see Adèle is to buy tickets that are 100-150% more expensive. Is this really okay just because a ticket for Adèle is a luxury product?

Also I would argue that music is culture and gating poor people from culture is incredibly shitty.