San Dan Glokta
Member
I want it to be like this but fanboys vs scalpers.
You would have better chance to get one if scalpers were not buying all the stock. Common sense.Arguably it is useful for someone who cares more about maximising their chances of getting one than they care about the price they pay.
A person unconcerned with price effectively has a 100% chance of getting one with scalpers partially switching the market from 'first come, first served' to 'highest bidder'.You would have better chance to get one if scalpers were not buying all the stock. Common sense.
Re: disposable income - a videogame console is not a necessity, you are not entitled to one. It is a frivolous expense.I guess you're entitled to be ok with it, but scalpers inevitably contribute to the difficulty to get new products because they take away stock, and can hoard multiple copies vs individual shoppers.
You also have products since the pandemic rising in cost, so scalpers on top of that make the market just worse for everyone who doesn't have large disposable income.
You know, that everything you listed up was hard to get because of the scalpers? Because of them everything is out of stock and they can sell it for more to make quick cash?I have no problem with them. They perform a service that some people, including me, are willing to use if needed.
I've used them to get my PS5, original Steam Deck, and a couple of graphics cards over the years and I'll use them to get a Switch 2 if needed.
I don't mind paying a premium to get hard-to-get or limited supply items. It's 100% worth it to me to pay a little extra to avoid the stress, hassle, etc... of getting new tech when it's released.
I also used scalpers extensively back in the 90s to get concert tickets. Sometimes, that was the only way to get them.
Well, I'm one of the biggest Nintendo fans. but also a scalper (if I want to). What do I do?
Personally I am in the camp of it is silly to pay 2 times the price of something. Unless you are that rich and money is no object then it is silly. Just wait until the next batch to get one at normal price.
But the whole scalpers thing is an interesting one. It seems they are scum by many. Fair enough. But at the same time if someone buys something direct from China and resells for 3 times, even 5 times the price then they are praised as a good businessman.
I get the argument that these scalpers add to the scarcity of an item, thus increasing the price. But is life not fair? Is it not shrewd to see where to make a buck?
But this whole thing reminds me of a funny Only Fools and Horses joke (legendary UK sitcom for those unaware)
"Boycie would scalp you if dandruff had a going rate" lol.
Their chance of getting one at retail price is 100% as every single person who wished to buy the Switch 1 eventually could buy one.A person unconcerned with price effectively has a 100% chance of getting one with scalpers partially switching the market from 'first come, first served' to 'highest bidder'.
Their chance of getting one *at retail price* increases with scalpers removed from the market (how much it increases would depend on how limited supply is compared to demand), but their chance of getting one *at any price* can only decrease.
Yes 100%. I was in line for the Xbox 360, Wii, and PS3. During the PS3 launch there was literally a scalper there paying people to wait in line with him to get a console.Were there scalpers during the 360/wii/ps3 years? Now the scalpers are thriving through various markets (FB Marketplace, Mercardi and eBay) and have you ever been in the presence of a scalper? I think they're nuts, cars packed with systems, spending tons of money on shoes, it isn't normal.
'Eventually', sure, once supply is meeting demand. Avoiding the 'eventually' is how people unconcerned with price benefit from scalpers in the market in the period before that happens.Their chance of getting one at retail price is 100% as every single person who wished to buy the Switch 1 eventually could buy one.
they create the artificial scarcity
Simply they prevent people that have the retail budget to get their console, to sell it to people stupid enough to pay double the price.
Good. Seems to me that you have a pretty good grasp on how this not a service in any way in the end.'Eventually', sure, once supply is meeting demand. Avoiding the 'eventually' is how people unconcerned with price benefit from scalpers in the market in the period before that happens.
Not really, unless they're hoarding them rather than selling them, otherwise the number available remains the same, as you said.
Yes, exactly: they reduce the chance of the former group getting one and increase the chance of the latter group getting one, which is how the latter group benefits from scalpers in the market.
Not really.You would have better chance to get one if scalpers were not buying all the stock. Common sense.
If someone else is not buying your unit, then you can buy it yourself. If there aren't enough units fir everybody, scalpers are not magically making more units available.Let's take the Switch 2 as an example. With a scalper, I have a 100% chance of getting the console. Remove all scalpers and that's still not the case.
This assumes that there won't be a scarcity issue with the Switch 2 at release, which is unlikely.If someone else is not buying your unit, then you can buy it yourself.
Scalpers don't make more consoles available. They don't solve the issue of not satisfying the overall demand. People will have to wait, scalpers or not.This assumes that there won't be a scarcity issue with the Switch 2 at release
Scalpers ensure that a console is available to me, when I want it at a price I'm willing to pay.Scalpers don't make more consoles available. They don't solve the issue of not satisfying the overall demand. People will have to wait, scalpers or not.
TLDR- People overreact to scalpers because it is easy to do. Even in the PS5 scarcity era the number of scalpers were small compared to the number of consoles sold. People see a few dozen people selling dozens of consoles on ebay and don't do the math to even estimate how many are being scalped.I listened to the first 60 seconds and so far, Switch 2 preorders from other regions are on eBay for x2 price.
Yeah I'm gonna need a TLDR on the good part
Exactly. There is an economic need for this that they get paid for. The last item I got that was hard to buy was a 4090. I spent over 2 months trying to score an FE. I gave one order to someone via some sketchy exchange for no profit and eventually settled for the day 1 Amazon order that took 5 weeks to arrive that sat unopened while I still tried. Best Buy is so fucking awful that they do random drops by store or region so they have a drop going on somewhere in the US for hours. And what is worse is that you don't even know. You basically sit there every day for an hour, and if they actually drop you could be there for 3 hours trying. All said and done I spent something like 30 hours obsessing and stressing and failing. This is probably an extreme case, but a scalper lets you avoid that. The scalped card was likely not going to be yours regardless because demand is so much higher than supply.Scalpers ensure that a console is available to me, when I want it at a price I'm willing to pay.
Scalpers also do the work that I don't want to do: standing in line, dealing with online queues, etc...
I will happily pay them not to have to deal with that hassle.
I just explained to you how it is for people unconcerned with price: they get to pay to avoid the risk of missing out while availability is limited. Whether you think they should be able to do that or not is another matter.Good. Seems to me that you have a pretty good grasp on how this not a service in any way in the end.
There are online queues because of scalpers. You are absolutely clueless lol. Or you are a scalper.Scalpers also do the work that I don't want to do: standing in line, dealing with online queues, etc...
You mean how so many people would rather go to the lengths of inventing a new form of economics when Econ 101 pretty much describe what's happening?It's like people don't understand supply and demand. Why are you not angry at Nintendo for not producing enough to fulfill initial demand?
It depends - are you agreeing with me?You mean how so many people would rather go to the lengths of inventing a new form of economics when Econ 101 pretty much describe what's happening?
Yeah I'm pretty much agreeing with you.It depends - are you agreeing with me?
Oh yes there were.Were there scalpers during the 360/wii/ps3 years? Now the scalpers are thriving through various markets (FB Marketplace, Mercardi and eBay) and have you ever been in the presence of a scalper? I think they're nuts, cars packed with systems, spending tons of money on shoes, it isn't normal.
They just need to tick off return value based on warranty for unopened devices. Simple.
These scalpers have no risk. If the value of the device starts tumbling due to warranty expiration it would change overnight. If they break the seal then they can't sell it as 'new'.
I think that's a fair trade off for some sanity and beating scumbags. Who keeps something round for 3 months unopened and then returns it anyway?
It's a parasite behavior. Buy something because you know it's going to be limited stock and resale it to dumb assholes with too much money to spend.Scalpers have no risk buying and selling a product that they don't need to open to process to begin with and the solution is to penalize opening it?
Not sure how they will figure this one out.
Scalping only exists because there is no supply. If people hold out they have to eat the loss on a ticking timeline, leading to earlier returns. They start losing value immediately.Scalpers have no risk buying and selling a product that they don't need to open to process to begin with and the solution is to penalize opening it?
Not sure how they will figure this one out.
Scalping only exists because there is no supply. If people hold out they have to eat the loss on a ticking timeline, leading to earlier returns. They start losing value immediately.
You already said they have no risk, so I assumed you meant risk over their initial investment. Risk over maximizing returns is an entirely different game.
Unless you are saying it should start losing return value immediately even as an unopened item.
Yeah, only for products susceptible to scalping though. The thing is they can carry stock safe in the knowledge they can return even after 4 months or more and recoup all their initial outlay.
Change the game - noone should be buying highly sought after goods to not use them.
Wii fought scalpers for over 2 years:Were there scalpers during the 360/wii/ps3 years? Now the scalpers are thriving through various markets (FB Marketplace, Mercardi and eBay) and have you ever been in the presence of a scalper? I think they're nuts, cars packed with systems, spending tons of money on shoes, it isn't normal.
Sometimes that backfires!It's the scale that changed. I 'scalped' a Wii back in the day when Gamestop just happened to have one while I was out on Black Friday. But nowadays people are scalping hundreds of systems from multiple retailers with automated scripts that can always beat a regular customer.
Re: disposable income - a videogame console is not a necessity, you are not entitled to one. It is a frivolous expense.
This is on a smaller scale exactly the same thing as you have with luxury sport steel watches - the batshit hot category for the past 10-12 years. The likes of PP, Rolex, AP, they are impossible to get at retail, offered only to loyal clients having spent multiples. Some of these clients then profit and list the watches on the secondary market for 3x price - there was a famous case of a shitstorm that PP Salon in NYC got themselves into for selling a super rare watch to a customer that flipped it on the same day. You do not see this kind of blowback and mostly the criticism is levied at the manufacturer (in this case that would be Nintendo).