At which point is reselling acceptable?

[Reflector]

I've been thinking about this a lot, what exactly is it that upsets us most about resellers?

Is it the amount they charge?
I don't think this is it because if someone offered you a sealed Fortress Maximus for $200 would you take it? Of course, so nobody here has any problem paying way over retail.

Is it the amount of time they wait before selling it?
If someone tries to sell a figure while it's still available in stores or slightly after it's out of print, people get upset. However if they wait 5 years and sell it when it's no longer available, is that acceptable?

Is it the amount of items they buy?
If I buy 1 unit to resell or if I buy 15, does it matter? What if the store still never sells out? What if I buy 1 and that's the last one?

If I bought 10 Masterpiece Grimlocks for resale, is there any scenario which would make this acceptable? What if I bought 20 Scorias? What if I did that and waited 20 years to resell them? What if I just sold them for $10 above retail?

For me I think I've narrowed it down to 2 things that bother me about resellers:
1. If their large purchases impact my ability to find the toy at retail.
2. If they're charging more than the cost to find it elsewhere.

[asanjuan62]

[/QUOTE]
For me I think I've narrowed it down to 2 things that bother me about resellers:
1. If their large purchases impact my ability to find the toy at retail.
2. If they're charging more than the cost to find it elsewhere.[/QUOTE]

I agree with them impacting the ability for real collectors to find the toy at retail. That is what I hate. Like most people who work during the day, it's hard for people to find it in store because by the time they get a chance to hunt after work, it's already to late.

Granted that finding product online helps people with this problem but I love the feeling of instant gratification of being able to find it in person and not having to wait for it to be delivered.

Resellers take away that feeling!!

[CobraCommander]

IMO, once you bought something it's considered your property, what you do with that property is up to you. Some people buy brand new iPhones and smash/blend them or re-sell them. You are welcome to do the same although many frown upon such behavior.

[Megatron75]

I'm not a reseller but I think its certainly fine for others buy and sell for profit. I also think that it's very reasonable for them to make some money (above retail) since they aren't exactly offering a public service. From what I've heard, people seem to have a problem with resellers who buy large quantities of a figure at retail, gloat about it on the boards and then turn around and resell them for obscene prices. Transformers are hardly an investment these days and with all the reissues that are released I'm surprised that so many people get sucked into paying some of the crazy prices that they do for some of these figures.

[Wheeljack Off]

It's the fact that you have this segment of low life's who literally have nothing better to do than scour boards like this one and rush out to clean out any store that has just had a desirable figure come in.

These are either already wealthy people with nothing else to do with no job so doing this makes their life feel somehow legitimized or they are treating it as a full time job...generally sketchy people who just want a quick, easy buck...or are related to a tru employee.

Creating your own supply and demand, or monopoly is where things get irritating.

Collectors who buy an extra or two with the intent of recovering some of their costs aren't an issue at all.

Neither are the guys who import figures that aren't available at your major national retailers.

You can do what you like with your property, but it doesn't mean that what you do with it doesn't make you a douche bag.

[mastereh]

I've bought 2 of some figures just to turn around and sell one at a small profit.

But other than that I wouldn't want to take away from the buying experience for real fans.

[Sureshot22]

Its the people that buy all or most of a figure people want and then jack the price up to sell them to those people he/she/it screwed over.

These people are douchebags of the highest degree and they deserve to get hit by a bus.

[Shockwave 75]

Yeah, I think it's the amount they buy that bugs me.

When MP Grimlock hit I can't tell you how many people I saw on the FB TF groups I belong to, show pics of the 6 - 10 MP Grimlocks they bought to re-sell. Now admittedly, some of these people were selling them at cost to their friends, but still, it bugs me.

It makes me think hypothetically, "So if I live in your area, I have NO CHANCE of getting Grimlock now because you bought their entire stock for yourself and your friend's? Maybe your friend's should get of their lazy asses and try to find one themselves!"

I think it's ok if you buy a couple extra figures to help out some friends, but when you clean out a store, even if you're making no profit, you're no better than a scalper.

[Wheeljack Off]

I dont know.
It's the difference between doing it for selfish reasons versus selfless ones.

Buying for friends to sell at cost is a okay by me.

That's the kind of thing communities like this SHOULD be all about.

Well, that and vendor sponsorship.

[Sun Swipe Prime]

This horse has been beaten and beaten before, but here's where I draw the line. Buying for friends is fine by me. Buy all you want. If you want to buy an extra one with plans of selling it down the road for a profit, that's fine too, because you're not creating an artificial scarcity and trying to take advantage. You're taking a risk that the product will be in demand later.

Where I see things becoming unethical is when someone cleans out a store. That's scalping. It's creating a artificial scarcity with the intent of jacking up the price.

Some argue they are making the product available to others who might not have a shot at it, but see that's not true. If they didn't buy the product up it would be on the shelves for everyone to buy.

In the end these people are inserting themselves in to the supply chain, and aren't adding any value to the product. They are in a way extortionists. They might as well be standing in front of the toy, demanding that anyone who wants to buy one must pay them money to step aside.