The Energon Pub

Bonecrusher27 wrote:

Nemesis Cyberplex wrote:Would you rather those figures that you want so desprately for retail price of $10 & not a penny more continue to sit in the back of stores collecting dust untill the stores finally send them back to Hasbro so they can send them to the nearest landfill??

Actually I'd rather someone with Redsaleen's smarts and experience do what he did, but then maybe leave some of it on the shelf after he's bought a quarter of the figures. Consider it a public service if you're positive, or if negative, an affront to the mechanism of natural selection

A very good point. It's too bad that this is an example of history repeating itself. 130 years ago, when the frontiersmen and women started moving west, poachers nearly killed off the entire population of Buffalo. Why? So that a relative few could corner the market on the hides from these beasts. Again, it's an example of pure capitalism, but also an example of pure greed.

Now, you may think that this analogy is a bit extreme, but I don't think so, since the motive is the same - to make money and exploit a high demand market, regardless of what it means to others.

Oft times, the defense for those who scalp is "well it's capitalism". Very true, but that doesn't mean that it's not wrong if taken to the extreme - which is what's going on right here. In my mind, if you found 50 09 BBs on the pegs, then even if you bought 40 of them, you've at least given others (read: kids!) a chance to get the figure you so covet. It's not like you don't have plenty of opportunity to make money with the 40 figures you did buy.

I guess I'm just preaching for moderation and thoughtfulness of others.

wildscorpio67 wrote:

redsaleen wrote:this is why u have to go in person and really do it. cause when the guy on ther floor tells u there are no more in back, and the customer service says they have 50 in stock, than they are just to lazy to check.

Two points in response to the above:

1. In the first case, I did go in person - twice. The first time I went, they pulled an 09 BB, Arcee, and Dreadwing for me. Keep in mind, I only asked for one.

The second time I went back it was to see if they had Longarm. That's when Customer Service checked (both by CPU and physically, as best I could tell) and came back with nada.

2. Why do you assume that the floor reps are lazy? Maybe they are more concerned with doing their job, which is more involved than many of us realize.

They have to monitor for shoplifting, monitor for customers in need of assistance, ensure that the store is orderly and that the stuff we decide we don't want but are too lazy to take back to the correct spot gets back to where it is supposed to go.

Generally, the floor reps aren't supposed to go into the back to check for stuff. Check out the attached pic that I took at my local Target. I mentioned this in a previous post, but thought I should offer proof.

nobody even has a chance right now