The Energon Pub

zatara1701 wrote:I think the original point of this thread was lost somewhere along the way...

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.


The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.
I can agree here. Then it's on the shoulders of the bidders who jack up the prices. However, if you look at the auctions, you'll see their BINs are absolutely outrageous. A scalper on eBay was even scalping other Bumblebee auctions so he could resell them for higher profits. His starting bids were $15.00, and his BINs were $49.99 with $12.00 shipping. (A deluxe figure, even carded, weighs .57 on the scales (which is just a little over half a pound. Keeping it well under the target pound weight, which costs $4.60...look at the profit on that!) That's not the bidder's fault, that's the seller's greed. NOTE: He had Bumblebees he bought in stores before he decided to go after other auctions, so he cornered the market in several ways. In fact, his auctions at one point were the only CCBumblebees on eBay for about three days because he bought out all the rest.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

Yes. *You* can see the difference here. I'm so glad someone actually sees the problem here. This is pure insanity!

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

Yes. It's not only a slap in the face, faulting us, but to add insult to injury, they rub it in that they're *PROUD* that they were able to get a full case of figures and they'll damn sure resell them for a marked up profit.

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

Oh they'll continue to assume anything about us. Because they like trying to make asses out of us. They keep forgetting how asslike they've become when they do this. I know your plight of Houston. I know Texas is laid out in a massive sprawl and you can't just jump in your vehicle. While I haven't been in a metro area as large as your's, I have been in a metro, period. It's not easy to get from point A to point B and back to point A again.

It's time and money. Neither is replaceable, and I for one don't enjoy it. The scalpers would say "See?? We're providing you a service!" No. They're not. Oh I save time in the car, but I spend more time waiting and waiting and waiting for them to get off of their asses, pack up my stuff and mail it to me...at their friggin' leisure. So not only have I spent time, but patience as well. Oh I save wear and tear on my car, but not gas. Because the money I'd have spent in gas (and then some!) would be trumped by their ridiculous markups! So tell me, what am I really saving here? Nothing.

And if you screw up and go to the wrong scalper...you might not even get your item and the money might not be refunded. At least with an online business that *DOES* provide a service, you're guaranteed to get your item or at the very least...your money back.

In the end, you still win out.

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.

Thank you! Geez Louise, how hard is it for people to wrap their brains around something so simple and so logical? Oh wait, they can....they choose not to. I see, and that...is what makes it all the worse.

The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

Eh. While making money is part of the American way of life, it's not *THE* biggest part of it. I think way too many people forget this. Yes, America is the land of opportunity...but it's not always about money. It's opportunities afforded us a safe and healthy place for our families. It's afforded us a chance to make a better life for our families. Yes, money's involved and at some point we'll make money as part of the American way of life...but it should never be our main focus. You can never take it with you at the end, so....

And the guy is an unsavory character. He's a pig and a charlatan. And I call him that because he is committing a fraud.

1.) He's the reason that specific store doesn't have the item in stock, thereby perpetuating the theory that the item is rare or hasn't hit shelves yet and he's giving you first dibs.

2.) Those who don't have a Target and had no idea it was an exclusive, think this is the only way to get one. Also, they won't know what the original price is, so they think double it's price is a damn good deal, and it's not. That's fraud, plain and simple.

And I fully agree. We have been offended by this whole "Scalpers don't exist" thing. They do exist, we've seen them, we see what havoc they wreak, and being told we don't know what we're talking about is not only offensive, it's rude and ignorant.

*sighs* I like you Zatara1701, please, please, please stick around. We could use more people like you who are willing to stand up and speak out. Kudos to you.


P.S. I do know how to use the sightings threads and the sightings form. I know how to call the stores, use the UPCs, DPCIs, etc, I do the driving, I get up early and beat the rush, etc. I do all of that and it still gets sold out before I can get there. Some of it's fans and kids getting them (which is fine), but when I'm told that entire cases sell (and I know it's a scalper doing it, because they mentioned the guy was middle aged, etc...) and that's the reason they have no more of what I'm looking for, I GET PISSED OFF.

Don't you dare f*ckin' tell me that I'm not using the information right, or that I'm incapable of doing it as well as you do. Who the hell do you think you are? You're basically calling us inept when that clearly isn't the case.

I cann't wait until these become shelf warmers and eveyone is mad because no new product because the shelves are clogged. Will you blame scalpers for that as well?

Autobot032 wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:I think the original point of this thread was lost somewhere along the way...

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.


The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.
I can agree here. Then it's on the shoulders of the bidders who jack up the prices. However, if you look at the auctions, you'll see their BINs are absolutely outrageous. A scalper on eBay was even scalping other Bumblebee auctions so he could resell them for higher profits. His starting bids were $15.00, and his BINs were $49.99 with $12.00 shipping. (A deluxe figure, even carded, weighs .57 on the scales (which is just a little over half a pound. Keeping it well under the target pound weight, which costs $4.60...look at the profit on that!) That's not the bidder's fault, that's the seller's greed. NOTE: He had Bumblebees he bought in stores before he decided to go after other auctions, so he cornered the market in several ways. In fact, his auctions at one point were the only CCBumblebees on eBay for about three days because he bought out all the rest.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

Yes. *You* can see the difference here. I'm so glad someone actually sees the problem here. This is pure insanity!

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

Yes. It's not only a slap in the face, faulting us, but to add insult to injury, they rub it in that they're *PROUD* that they were able to get a full case of figures and they'll damn sure resell them for a marked up profit.

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

Oh they'll continue to assume anything about us. Because they like trying to make asses out of us. They keep forgetting how asslike they've become when they do this. I know your plight of Houston. I know Texas is laid out in a massive sprawl and you can't just jump in your vehicle. While I haven't been in a metro area as large as your's, I have been in a metro, period. It's not easy to get from point A to point B and back to point A again.

It's time and money. Neither is replaceable, and I for one don't enjoy it. The scalpers would say "See?? We're providing you a service!" No. They're not. Oh I save time in the car, but I spend more time waiting and waiting and waiting for them to get off of their asses, pack up my stuff and mail it to me...at their friggin' leisure. So not only have I spent time, but patience as well. Oh I save wear and tear on my car, but not gas. Because the money I'd have spent in gas (and then some!) would be trumped by their ridiculous markups! So tell me, what am I really saving here? Nothing.

And if you screw up and go to the wrong scalper...you might not even get your item and the money might not be refunded. At least with an online business that *DOES* provide a service, you're guaranteed to get your item or at the very least...your money back.

In the end, you still win out.

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.

Thank you! Geez Louise, how hard is it for people to wrap their brains around something so simple and so logical? Oh wait, they can....they choose not to. I see, and that...is what makes it all the worse.

The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

Eh. While making money is part of the American way of life, it's not *THE* biggest part of it. I think way too many people forget this. Yes, America is the land of opportunity...but it's not always about money. It's opportunities afforded us a safe and healthy place for our families. It's afforded us a chance to make a better life for our families. Yes, money's involved and at some point we'll make money as part of the American way of life...but it should never be our main focus. You can never take it with you at the end, so....

And the guy is an unsavory character. He's a pig and a charlatan. And I call him that because he is committing a fraud.

1.) He's the reason that specific store doesn't have the item in stock, thereby perpetuating the theory that the item is rare or hasn't hit shelves yet and he's giving you first dibs.

2.) Those who don't have a Target and had no idea it was an exclusive, think this is the only way to get one. Also, they won't know what the original price is, so they think double it's price is a damn good deal, and it's not. That's fraud, plain and simple.

And I fully agree. We have been offended by this whole "Scalpers don't exist" thing. They do exist, we've seen them, we see what havoc they wreak, and being told we don't know what we're talking about is not only offensive, it's rude and ignorant.

*sighs* I like you Zatara1701, please, please, please stick around. We could use more people like you who are willing to stand up and speak out. Kudos to you.


P.S. I do know how to use the sightings threads and the sightings form. I know how to call the stores, use the UPCs, DPCIs, etc, I do the driving, I get up early and beat the rush, etc. I do all of that and it still gets sold out before I can get there. Some of it's fans and kids getting them (which is fine), but when I'm told that entire cases sell (and I know it's a scalper doing it, because they mentioned the guy was middle aged, etc...) and that's the reason they have no more of what I'm looking for, I GET PISSED OFF.

Don't you dare f*ckin' tell me that I'm not using the information right, or that I'm incapable of doing it as well as you do. Who the hell do you think you are? You're basically calling us inept when that clearly isn't the case.

No he is not. You read more in between the lines then what is there. Not only that none of you have stepped up and answered the questions he has asked.

OFF TOPIC: instead of bashing up each other's opinions here (because it seems that 17 pages later, we seem to be GETTING NOWHERE), why don't we take a minute off, cool down, and help comfort a fellow TF collector who has been in a bad, bad way:

http://seibertron.com/forums/viewtopic. ... art=0&sid=

cheers!

Hotrod wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:I think the original point of this thread was lost somewhere along the way...

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.


The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.
I can agree here. Then it's on the shoulders of the bidders who jack up the prices. However, if you look at the auctions, you'll see their BINs are absolutely outrageous. A scalper on eBay was even scalping other Bumblebee auctions so he could resell them for higher profits. His starting bids were $15.00, and his BINs were $49.99 with $12.00 shipping. (A deluxe figure, even carded, weighs .57 on the scales (which is just a little over half a pound. Keeping it well under the target pound weight, which costs $4.60...look at the profit on that!) That's not the bidder's fault, that's the seller's greed. NOTE: He had Bumblebees he bought in stores before he decided to go after other auctions, so he cornered the market in several ways. In fact, his auctions at one point were the only CCBumblebees on eBay for about three days because he bought out all the rest.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

Yes. *You* can see the difference here. I'm so glad someone actually sees the problem here. This is pure insanity!

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

Yes. It's not only a slap in the face, faulting us, but to add insult to injury, they rub it in that they're *PROUD* that they were able to get a full case of figures and they'll damn sure resell them for a marked up profit.

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

Oh they'll continue to assume anything about us. Because they like trying to make asses out of us. They keep forgetting how asslike they've become when they do this. I know your plight of Houston. I know Texas is laid out in a massive sprawl and you can't just jump in your vehicle. While I haven't been in a metro area as large as your's, I have been in a metro, period. It's not easy to get from point A to point B and back to point A again.

It's time and money. Neither is replaceable, and I for one don't enjoy it. The scalpers would say "See?? We're providing you a service!" No. They're not. Oh I save time in the car, but I spend more time waiting and waiting and waiting for them to get off of their asses, pack up my stuff and mail it to me...at their friggin' leisure. So not only have I spent time, but patience as well. Oh I save wear and tear on my car, but not gas. Because the money I'd have spent in gas (and then some!) would be trumped by their ridiculous markups! So tell me, what am I really saving here? Nothing.

And if you screw up and go to the wrong scalper...you might not even get your item and the money might not be refunded. At least with an online business that *DOES* provide a service, you're guaranteed to get your item or at the very least...your money back.

In the end, you still win out.

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.

Thank you! Geez Louise, how hard is it for people to wrap their brains around something so simple and so logical? Oh wait, they can....they choose not to. I see, and that...is what makes it all the worse.

The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

Eh. While making money is part of the American way of life, it's not *THE* biggest part of it. I think way too many people forget this. Yes, America is the land of opportunity...but it's not always about money. It's opportunities afforded us a safe and healthy place for our families. It's afforded us a chance to make a better life for our families. Yes, money's involved and at some point we'll make money as part of the American way of life...but it should never be our main focus. You can never take it with you at the end, so....

And the guy is an unsavory character. He's a pig and a charlatan. And I call him that because he is committing a fraud.

1.) He's the reason that specific store doesn't have the item in stock, thereby perpetuating the theory that the item is rare or hasn't hit shelves yet and he's giving you first dibs.

2.) Those who don't have a Target and had no idea it was an exclusive, think this is the only way to get one. Also, they won't know what the original price is, so they think double it's price is a damn good deal, and it's not. That's fraud, plain and simple.

And I fully agree. We have been offended by this whole "Scalpers don't exist" thing. They do exist, we've seen them, we see what havoc they wreak, and being told we don't know what we're talking about is not only offensive, it's rude and ignorant.

*sighs* I like you Zatara1701, please, please, please stick around. We could use more people like you who are willing to stand up and speak out. Kudos to you.


P.S. I do know how to use the sightings threads and the sightings form. I know how to call the stores, use the UPCs, DPCIs, etc, I do the driving, I get up early and beat the rush, etc. I do all of that and it still gets sold out before I can get there. Some of it's fans and kids getting them (which is fine), but when I'm told that entire cases sell (and I know it's a scalper doing it, because they mentioned the guy was middle aged, etc...) and that's the reason they have no more of what I'm looking for, I GET PISSED OFF.

Don't you dare f*ckin' tell me that I'm not using the information right, or that I'm incapable of doing it as well as you do. Who the hell do you think you are? You're basically calling us inept when that clearly isn't the case.

No he is not. You read more in between the lines then what is there. Not only that none of you have stepped up and answered the questions he has asked.

Point out his questions, and I'll answer them. I haven't seen them because there's too many posts to keep up with. This went from 5 pages this morning to 17+ by this evening. So you'll have to forgive me if I don't see every single word that's posted in this behemoth of a thread.

Hot Rod wrote:I cann't wait until these become shelf warmers and eveyone is mad because no new product because the shelves are clogged. Will you blame scalpers for that as well?

Now, you're just being childish and ridiculous. No one blames the scalpers for clogged shelves. We know the difference between people buying all the stock for profit, so there is none and that person has to go to this second hand seller to get the item, AND the difference of clogged shelves from overstock and more overstock.

Patronizing us with such a stupid question is shameful. Even you're better than that....I'd hope.

zemper wrote:OFF TOPIC: instead of bashing up each other's opinions here (because it seems that 17 pages later, we seem to be GETTING NOWHERE), why don't we take a minute off, cool down, and help comfort a fellow TF collector who has been in a bad, bad way:

http://seibertron.com/forums/viewtopic. ... art=0&sid=

cheers!

Amen! Some of the most sanity I have seen in this thread.

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

tacogrande wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:I buy rare toys and sell them for a profit and I'm proud of it. I then turn around and reinvest that money in other luxury items, usually Transformers for my own collection. I find that if I can buy three and sell two, I usually make enough extra to cover the expense for the figure I keep.

This year I bought three Botcon sets and three looses sets, plus all the souvenior sets I could get. I kept one of everything for me and made enough profit off the rest to buy a 50" Panasonic plasma tv.

Resourcefulness is a virtue, not a vice.

Maybe you should have counterpunch's I'm a douche sig. Seems he no longer needs it.

Nah, it's not bowing down to a 50" t.v.

Your 50" TV sucks, Plasmas are crap, dont use it as some form of e-penis "mine is bigger than yours" contest because no ones gonna envy an e-penis that burns out after a year or two..or sooner.

If you are gonna do the e-penis thing do it with something that people actually might envy you for owning.

Sounds like Sonny has a bit of penis envy. Whatcha getting so defensive about there, kid?

Oh trust me i have NOTHING to be evnious about.

What i am pissed off about is that you, the asshole scumbag scalper, is going around and flaunting this so called "amazing 50" plasma tv that i bought with money from ripping TF collectors off with" around like its something to be proud of, when really all it does is make you look like an even bigger jerk and wasting our time.

Sonray wrote:Plasmas are crap

Oh I beg to differ. As does the (American) football game that my 42" Panasonic is currently playing in glorious HD.

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

tacogrande wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:I buy rare toys and sell them for a profit and I'm proud of it. I then turn around and reinvest that money in other luxury items, usually Transformers for my own collection. I find that if I can buy three and sell two, I usually make enough extra to cover the expense for the figure I keep.

This year I bought three Botcon sets and three looses sets, plus all the souvenior sets I could get. I kept one of everything for me and made enough profit off the rest to buy a 50" Panasonic plasma tv.

Resourcefulness is a virtue, not a vice.

Maybe you should have counterpunch's I'm a douche sig. Seems he no longer needs it.

Nah, it's not bowing down to a 50" t.v.

Your 50" TV sucks, Plasmas are crap, dont use it as some form of e-penis "mine is bigger than yours" contest because no ones gonna envy an e-penis that burns out after a year or two..or sooner.

If you are gonna do the e-penis thing do it with something that people actually might envy you for owning.

Sounds like Sonny has a bit of penis envy. Whatcha getting so defensive about there, kid?

Oh trust me i have NOTHING to be evnious about.

What i am pissed off about is that you, the asshole scumbag scalper, is going around and flaunting this so called "amazing 50" plasma tv that i bought with money from ripping TF collectors off with" around like its something to be proud of, when really all it does is make you look like an even bigger jerk and wasting our time.

Watch the personal attacks. Oh, and who twisted peoples arms and made them buy said items? Why are you mad, after all you had the same chance to get them when they came out and did not.

I'm gonna respond only because I was thinking of this myself the other day. I can't say I blame someone for trying to make money on something. If you're a guy who's got two original Optimus Prime's MISB and you want to sell one, good for you, you'll make about 1000% profit. On the other hand, if you're purposely going out and buying figures just because you want to make money, I'm sorry, but I wonder how much you actually appreciate these figures (read: you're just plain hatefully greedy). Seriously, I've thought about it, but then I realize, "you know, I'm not gonna make much on this, and there's probably another collector or kid or really wants this figure". So I'll let them have it. I KNOW I'D WANT SOMEONE ELSE TO DO THAT FOR ME. There was another time I found several Alternator Ravages and Rumbles in a Wal-mart, and I was thinking of buying some to sell here on Seibertron at NO MARK-UP and only add S&H. Simply because I knew there were probably some guys or gals here who'd looked and looked and couldn't find any themselves. I put it in one of my posts and got no responses, so I didn't. But the point is, I know what it's like to go from store to store to store (I've done it, several times), and not find that elusive figure I really want. So I thought it would be kind to help out some people who had done that for those figures.

So, in conclusion, yeah, in my view, it's morally wrong to "scalp", or simply put, buy Transformers you don't want or need for yourself just to make some money. Considering the minimal profit you'll make, it's really just plain stupid anyway.

Autobot032 wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

Autobot032 wrote:

zatara1701 wrote:I think the original point of this thread was lost somewhere along the way...

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.


The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

I see people using the "if you bought an Concept Bumblebee and started the bid at $.01, whats the big deal...blah, blah, blah."

To me, there is NOTHING wrong with that.
I can agree here. Then it's on the shoulders of the bidders who jack up the prices. However, if you look at the auctions, you'll see their BINs are absolutely outrageous. A scalper on eBay was even scalping other Bumblebee auctions so he could resell them for higher profits. His starting bids were $15.00, and his BINs were $49.99 with $12.00 shipping. (A deluxe figure, even carded, weighs .57 on the scales (which is just a little over half a pound. Keeping it well under the target pound weight, which costs $4.60...look at the profit on that!) That's not the bidder's fault, that's the seller's greed. NOTE: He had Bumblebees he bought in stores before he decided to go after other auctions, so he cornered the market in several ways. In fact, his auctions at one point were the only CCBumblebees on eBay for about three days because he bought out all the rest.

NOW...this thread started with a guy that has several CASES of the G1 deco Jazz, STILL IN THE FACTORY BOXES.

Yes. *You* can see the difference here. I'm so glad someone actually sees the problem here. This is pure insanity!

The big guys at this site keep faulting our toy hunting abilites and keep bringing up the site's sigthing forums... not to mention complimenting these scalpers. Here are my problems with their whole arguement...

Yes. It's not only a slap in the face, faulting us, but to add insult to injury, they rub it in that they're *PROUD* that they were able to get a full case of figures and they'll damn sure resell them for a marked up profit.

1) As I said before, dont ASSUME that we dont know what we're doing in our collecting. Collecting in Houston is more difficult than some other markets and getting finding anything requires skill and a whole lot of luck. I am OFFENDED that you talk down to us and be so critical of us "Powers That Be."

Oh they'll continue to assume anything about us. Because they like trying to make asses out of us. They keep forgetting how asslike they've become when they do this. I know your plight of Houston. I know Texas is laid out in a massive sprawl and you can't just jump in your vehicle. While I haven't been in a metro area as large as your's, I have been in a metro, period. It's not easy to get from point A to point B and back to point A again.

It's time and money. Neither is replaceable, and I for one don't enjoy it. The scalpers would say "See?? We're providing you a service!" No. They're not. Oh I save time in the car, but I spend more time waiting and waiting and waiting for them to get off of their asses, pack up my stuff and mail it to me...at their friggin' leisure. So not only have I spent time, but patience as well. Oh I save wear and tear on my car, but not gas. Because the money I'd have spent in gas (and then some!) would be trumped by their ridiculous markups! So tell me, what am I really saving here? Nothing.

And if you screw up and go to the wrong scalper...you might not even get your item and the money might not be refunded. At least with an online business that *DOES* provide a service, you're guaranteed to get your item or at the very least...your money back.

In the end, you still win out.

2) The Sighting Forums... I am sure they COULD be helpful to a point, IF everyone posts everything they see in every city. All in all, they end up being more entertainment than resource. OH, and here is the brainbusting part of this equation... How in the HECK are we suppose to update your "sightings forum" if there are A-Holes like the G1 Jazz guy taking EVERY case from one OR several stores??? There is nothing for us to sight because of guys like that.

Thank you! Geez Louise, how hard is it for people to wrap their brains around something so simple and so logical? Oh wait, they can....they choose not to. I see, and that...is what makes it all the worse.

The point isnt that this guy is making money...thats the American way of life... The point is that he is blatant and an unsavory individual for his methods.

We are all entitled to our opinions, but I think you are missing the point of what we are "complaining about," and I think you have insulted the very fans/collectors that make your site what it is during this discussion.

Eh. While making money is part of the American way of life, it's not *THE* biggest part of it. I think way too many people forget this. Yes, America is the land of opportunity...but it's not always about money. It's opportunities afforded us a safe and healthy place for our families. It's afforded us a chance to make a better life for our families. Yes, money's involved and at some point we'll make money as part of the American way of life...but it should never be our main focus. You can never take it with you at the end, so....

And the guy is an unsavory character. He's a pig and a charlatan. And I call him that because he is committing a fraud.

1.) He's the reason that specific store doesn't have the item in stock, thereby perpetuating the theory that the item is rare or hasn't hit shelves yet and he's giving you first dibs.

2.) Those who don't have a Target and had no idea it was an exclusive, think this is the only way to get one. Also, they won't know what the original price is, so they think double it's price is a damn good deal, and it's not. That's fraud, plain and simple.

And I fully agree. We have been offended by this whole "Scalpers don't exist" thing. They do exist, we've seen them, we see what havoc they wreak, and being told we don't know what we're talking about is not only offensive, it's rude and ignorant.

*sighs* I like you Zatara1701, please, please, please stick around. We could use more people like you who are willing to stand up and speak out. Kudos to you.


P.S. I do know how to use the sightings threads and the sightings form. I know how to call the stores, use the UPCs, DPCIs, etc, I do the driving, I get up early and beat the rush, etc. I do all of that and it still gets sold out before I can get there. Some of it's fans and kids getting them (which is fine), but when I'm told that entire cases sell (and I know it's a scalper doing it, because they mentioned the guy was middle aged, etc...) and that's the reason they have no more of what I'm looking for, I GET PISSED OFF.

Don't you dare f*ckin' tell me that I'm not using the information right, or that I'm incapable of doing it as well as you do. Who the hell do you think you are? You're basically calling us inept when that clearly isn't the case.

No he is not. You read more in between the lines then what is there. Not only that none of you have stepped up and answered the questions he has asked.

Point out his questions, and I'll answer them. I haven't seen them because there's too many posts to keep up with. This went from 5 pages this morning to 17+ by this evening. So you'll have to forgive me if I don't see every single word that's posted in this behemoth of a thread.

Hot Rod wrote:I cann't wait until these become shelf warmers and eveyone is mad because no new product because the shelves are clogged. Will you blame scalpers for that as well?

Now, you're just being childish and ridiculous. No one blames the scalpers for clogged shelves. We know the difference between people buying all the stock for profit, so there is none and that person has to go to this second hand seller to get the item, AND the difference of clogged shelves from overstock and more overstock.

Patronizing us with such a stupid question is shameful. Even you're better than that....I'd hope.

First off maybe before you go off getting all upset you should take the time to read. All I am doing is pointing out like I have for months is that people need to be patient and they will get the figures they want.

First off maybe before you go off getting all upset you should take the time to read. All I am doing is...

Of course, a mod is NEVER in the wrong and everything he or she says means something else when they come to defend themselves.

Actually HotRod, why dont YOU watch the personal attacks in the form of patronizing remarks against us forum users?

And the personal attacks will continue if i continue to receive them from that guy, thats all so tell him as i wont take his crap either.

I am just standing up for myself here.

Excellent thread, many intuitive, insightful points, I felt being pulled into many different directions reading through all 17 pages of this thread thus far.

Scalpers scalping is a fact, they live among us and it's inevitable since the birth of economy trade (sea shells, precious looking rocks/gems, harvested/hunted food items etc. from most ancient ages). The ONLY WAY to stop scalpers is massively produce those items and give them away freely.

I am considerably pretty new to this site and I love visiting, reading & posting here. It's like a big family with many brothers and sisters, so let's just calm down and stop the name calling, finger pointing part. Let's all hold hands and sing "We're The World".

I sincerely appreciate site owner/administrators for making this great site possible for all of us. The sighting section was just amazing, to me it's one of the best tools available. I set it to "Notify me when a reply is posted" so whenever someone else posts in our region sighting, I get email notification instantly. In return, whenever I run local stores and find (or not find) something, I will let my local fellow members know.

Okay that's all for my silly 2 cents, so who's up for a group hug?

Cheers!

Sonray wrote:Actually HotRod, why dont YOU watch the personal attacks in the form of patronizing comments towards us forum users ok?

And the personal attacks will continue if i continue to receive them, thats all so stop them at the source and then my retaliations will stop as i am only sticking up for myself against this scumbag and his patronizing, snide and silly remarks.

Point out one personal attack I have posted toward another user since I have been posting here. I beg you please find one. As far as patronizing comments towards forum users go, that was not my intent nor what I did. I have been posting for months in all of these threads about scalpers that all people need to do is be patient, maybe I should have made a better post. And no you are not defending yourself at all. I think people's feelings on this issue are starting to cloud their better judgement.

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

tacogrande wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:I buy rare toys and sell them for a profit and I'm proud of it. I then turn around and reinvest that money in other luxury items, usually Transformers for my own collection. I find that if I can buy three and sell two, I usually make enough extra to cover the expense for the figure I keep.

This year I bought three Botcon sets and three looses sets, plus all the souvenior sets I could get. I kept one of everything for me and made enough profit off the rest to buy a 50" Panasonic plasma tv.

Resourcefulness is a virtue, not a vice.

Maybe you should have counterpunch's I'm a douche sig. Seems he no longer needs it.

Nah, it's not bowing down to a 50" t.v.

Your 50" TV sucks, Plasmas are crap, dont use it as some form of e-penis "mine is bigger than yours" contest because no ones gonna envy an e-penis that burns out after a year or two..or sooner.

If you are gonna do the e-penis thing do it with something that people actually might envy you for owning.

Sounds like Sonny has a bit of penis envy. Whatcha getting so defensive about there, kid?

Oh trust me i have NOTHING to be evnious about.

What i am pissed off about is that you, the asshole scumbag scalper, is going around and flaunting this so called "amazing 50" plasma tv that i bought with money from ripping TF collectors off with" around like its something to be proud of, when really all it does is make you look like an even bigger jerk and wasting our time.

How comforted you must feel shouting insults from behind the safety of your computer.

I was merely making a point. I did not mean to make you feel bad, nor was I bragging. I simply stated the truth. Earlier you posted about you being honest on online boards. Is this something you feel only you should do?

As I mentioned earlier, the UGLIEST thing about this debate are those who have to resort to derogatory remarks, such as "scalper", and shout insults and profanity to fellow seibertron members. You are far uglier than any person selling a few Transformers to make a few bucks. Their products will come and go, but the ugly stain on your personality appears to be permanent. Consumed by hate over people seling toys at a markup (like BBTS and almost all online sellers have been doing for years). Shame, shame, shame.



Ironically, I don't even have an 08 Bumblebee or Arcee myself yet. I can't seem to find them anywhere. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. I did fnd a Dreadwing and a Leader Brawl today (oops, maybe I should not post that find or I'll be accused of bragging again )

For crying out loud! Someone needs to lock this thread, it's nothing but an all out flame war. Nothing is being accomplished here. It's a pointless debate about issues people feel very strongly about and no matter how much anyone tries to reason none of you are going to change other people's minds. If there's one thing I've learned in my life it's that it's extremely difficult (and often impossible) to change someone's mind on a certain topic, especially on the freaking internet. Seriously, lock this ****, it's going nowhere.

Look Lapse Of reason, you dont know the very first thing about me or my personality so dont even begin to assume that you can come to any sort of conclusion about who i really am because you really dont know JACK, OK "pal"?


Im just gonna ignore you now before i say something i might regret.

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

tacogrande wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:I buy rare toys and sell them for a profit and I'm proud of it. I then turn around and reinvest that money in other luxury items, usually Transformers for my own collection. I find that if I can buy three and sell two, I usually make enough extra to cover the expense for the figure I keep.

This year I bought three Botcon sets and three looses sets, plus all the souvenior sets I could get. I kept one of everything for me and made enough profit off the rest to buy a 50" Panasonic plasma tv.

Resourcefulness is a virtue, not a vice.

Maybe you should have counterpunch's I'm a douche sig. Seems he no longer needs it.

Nah, it's not bowing down to a 50" t.v.

Your 50" TV sucks, Plasmas are crap, dont use it as some form of e-penis "mine is bigger than yours" contest because no ones gonna envy an e-penis that burns out after a year or two..or sooner.

If you are gonna do the e-penis thing do it with something that people actually might envy you for owning.

Sounds like Sonny has a bit of penis envy. Whatcha getting so defensive about there, kid?

Oh trust me i have NOTHING to be evnious about.

What i am pissed off about is that you, the asshole scumbag scalper, is going around and flaunting this so called "amazing 50" plasma tv that i bought with money from ripping TF collectors off with" around like its something to be proud of, when really all it does is make you look like an even bigger jerk and wasting our time.

How comforted you must feel shouting insults from behind the safety of your computer.

I was merely making a point. I did not mean to make you feel bad, nor was I bragging. I simply stated the truth. Earlier you posted about you being honest on online boards. Is this something you feel only you should do?

As I mentioned earlier, the UGLIEST thing about this debate are those who have to resort to derogatory remarks, such as "scalper", and shout insults and profanity to fellow seibertron members. You are far uglier than any person selling a few Transformers to make a few bucks. Their products will come and go, but the ugly stain on your personality appears to be permanent. Consumed by hate over people seling toys at a markup (like BBTS and almost all online sellers have been doing for years). Shame, shame, shame.

I just told him to stop, so please do not bait him into continuing this. There is no need for this to escalate.

Sonray wrote:Look Lapse Of reason, you dont know the very first thing about me or my personality so dont even begin to assume that you can come to any sort of conclusion about who i really am because you really dont know JACK, OK "pal"?


Im just gonna ignore you now before i say something i might regret.

You are right, I can only get an impression from what you write.


Some things I just had to say, and I shall say no more on this issue. Sorry if you found me offensive, Sonray. Sometimes I just get in these moods...... Anyway, I'm done.

Sonray wrote:Look Lapse Of reason, you dont know the very first thing about me or my personality so dont even begin to assume that you can come to any sort of conclusion about who i really am because you really dont know JACK, OK "pal"?


Im just gonna ignore you now before i say something i might regret.

Thank you for stopping.

Hotrod wrote:

Sonray wrote:Actually HotRod, why dont YOU watch the personal attacks in the form of patronizing comments towards us forum users ok?

And the personal attacks will continue if i continue to receive them, thats all so stop them at the source and then my retaliations will stop as i am only sticking up for myself against this scumbag and his patronizing, snide and silly remarks.

Point out one personal attack I have posted toward another user since I have been posting here. I beg you please find one. As far as patronizing comments towards forum users go, that was not my intent nor what I did. I have been posting for months in all of these threads about scalpers that all people need to do is be patient, maybe I should have made a better post. And no you are not defending yourself at all. I think people's feelings on this issue are starting to cloud their better judgement.

Well, they wasnt really PERSONAL more in general, but still insulting and something someone in your position shouldnt do.

You patronized us, spoke down to us like we are bits of dirt on your shoe. To me thats as much of a personal attack as any.

And yes i AM defending myself as that guy has done nothing but try to piss me off, if you cant see that you are blind to the obvious. I am just gonna ignore the idiot now as i dont wanna say something i might regret, but maybe you should stop breathing down my neck and breathe down someone elses instead, i.e. the person baiting me to get pissed off in the first place.

can't these threads die already? Siebertron forums have become fairly unreadable since the movie came out.

Pretty much only worth checking the news items as of late.

No toys here either but I'm in the middle of no where with a dry season in stock. I doubt the scalper conspiracy holds wieght here. Oh and by the way I don't like people flaunting their overpriced goods either, but in the end it just doesn't really pay to complain about it.

The staff and supporters are right the best thing you can do is learn about how TFs get onto the shelves and make sure you get yours, its worked for me in the past.

Also quit looking at ebay its better for your health.

this is so dumb, he said that i said that he said that that guy said... scalpers suck, thats what i say, ya know i'll buy two of something if i wanna open one and keep the other misb, or ill just hold on to one for TRADE not profit. as far as cleaning out botcon for a damn tv... F-U dude, trying to justify it saying "if you found 5 10 dollar bills you would'nt pick them all up"... get real man, so you're saying if the guy infront of you in line bought the last 3 of everything, then turned around and tryed to sell them to you for 3 times as much you wouldnt care...so here's and idea, it worked out great for me... GET A REAL JOB! i can afford to buy transformers AND a 60" tv but i'll be damned if i give a loser like you my money for a toy you bought just so you can sell and dodge another day of real work that would earn you honest money and not have people hate you for it...

also i really didnt even care ( well i did just not enough post something about it) until you tried justifying yourself with BS reasons...

i know scalpers are not a huge problem because i've always managed to get what i want by being patient and checking the stores frequently, however i think any transformers fan who walks into a store to the toys and sees a guy leaving the toy isle, arms full of the figure you need but wont give one to you unless you give him twice as much the amount you would have paid having gotten there 5 min. earlier, thats soooooooooo lame, and i dont think there is any way anyone can make that sound understandable...

Sonray wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

Sonray wrote:Actually HotRod, why dont YOU watch the personal attacks in the form of patronizing comments towards us forum users ok?

And the personal attacks will continue if i continue to receive them, thats all so stop them at the source and then my retaliations will stop as i am only sticking up for myself against this scumbag and his patronizing, snide and silly remarks.

Point out one personal attack I have posted toward another user since I have been posting here. I beg you please find one. As far as patronizing comments towards forum users go, that was not my intent nor what I did. I have been posting for months in all of these threads about scalpers that all people need to do is be patient, maybe I should have made a better post. And no you are not defending yourself at all. I think people's feelings on this issue are starting to cloud their better judgement.

Well, they wasnt really PERSONAL more in general, but still insulting and something someone in your position shouldnt do.

You patronized us, spoke down to us like we are bits of dirt on your shoe. To me thats as much of a personal attack as any.

And yes i AM defending myself as that guy has done nothing but try to piss me off, if you cant see that you are blind to the obvious. I am just gonna ignore the idiot now as i dont wanna say something i might regret, but maybe you should stop breathing down my neck and breathe down someone elses instead, i.e. the person baiting me to get pissed off in the first place.

I can honsetly assure you, my intentions were not to patronize anyone, or to speak down to you. If that is how you guys feel about the post then I sincerly apologize.

I have asked him to stop as well already. Your language is what drew me to your post. I understand this is become a hotter issue then I thought it was, therefor I only asked you to stop, and did not issue a formal warning.

Hotrod wrote:

Sonray wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

Sonray wrote:Actually HotRod, why dont YOU watch the personal attacks in the form of patronizing comments towards us forum users ok?

And the personal attacks will continue if i continue to receive them, thats all so stop them at the source and then my retaliations will stop as i am only sticking up for myself against this scumbag and his patronizing, snide and silly remarks.

Point out one personal attack I have posted toward another user since I have been posting here. I beg you please find one. As far as patronizing comments towards forum users go, that was not my intent nor what I did. I have been posting for months in all of these threads about scalpers that all people need to do is be patient, maybe I should have made a better post. And no you are not defending yourself at all. I think people's feelings on this issue are starting to cloud their better judgement.

Well, they wasnt really PERSONAL more in general, but still insulting and something someone in your position shouldnt do.

You patronized us, spoke down to us like we are bits of dirt on your shoe. To me thats as much of a personal attack as any.

And yes i AM defending myself as that guy has done nothing but try to piss me off, if you cant see that you are blind to the obvious. I am just gonna ignore the idiot now as i dont wanna say something i might regret, but maybe you should stop breathing down my neck and breathe down someone elses instead, i.e. the person baiting me to get pissed off in the first place.

I can honsetly assure you, my intentions were not to patronize anyone, or to speak down to you. If that is how you guys feel about the post then I sincerly apologize.

I have asked him to stop as well already. Your language is what drew me to your post. I understand this is become a hotter issue then I thought it was, therefor I only asked you to stop, and did not issue a formal warning.

I know, i read, But he knew damn well i had a short fuse as i stated earlier, and he was simply baiting me on. I cant help it but i cant not shut up with jerks like that, its just how i am as i have been bullied all my childhood and i wont tolerate any kind of bullying in my adult life.

We was both in the wrong, i just want to be sure im not the only one whose getting the blame.

And thanks for the apology.