The Energon Pub

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

MagnusPrimal wrote:

Rodimus_Lantern wrote:
People who you call scalpers are in all actuality just shrewd businessmen for the most part. I know several people who live solely off of selling toys on eBay. Many of them hit the stores early get the variants or exclusives because they want these figures enough to go to a Wal Mart at 1 in the morning.

Or maybe they can go to Walmart at 1am because they don't have jobs. Some of us go to work early in the morning, and really can't be out and about at 1am.

I don't see them as shrewd businessmen. Buying at retail and selling for a small profit is not a strong enough business to support a person and provide for the future. It may be good to make some extra spending cash, but should not take the place of a real career.

Then tell that to those pieces of sh*t that keep doing it.

Lapse Of Reason wrote:
eBay and Paypal provide both buyers and sellers with a service. Both are free for the buyer, and it is the seller's option to pass some of the expense to the buyer.

Gimme a break.

Autobot032 wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:

MagnusPrimal wrote:

Rodimus_Lantern wrote:
People who you call scalpers are in all actuality just shrewd businessmen for the most part. I know several people who live solely off of selling toys on eBay. Many of them hit the stores early get the variants or exclusives because they want these figures enough to go to a Wal Mart at 1 in the morning.

Or maybe they can go to Walmart at 1am because they don't have jobs. Some of us go to work early in the morning, and really can't be out and about at 1am.

I don't see them as shrewd businessmen. Buying at retail and selling for a small profit is not a strong enough business to support a person and provide for the future. It may be good to make some extra spending cash, but should not take the place of a real career.

Then tell that to those pieces of sh*t that keep doing it.

Some of them have real jobs, and do it to supplement their income. Personally I see nothing wrong with it. Some people have bills to pay and and the job they have doesn't cut it. Especially when insurance rates and the cost of gas are going up. Always remember scalpers would not exist if people wouldn't buy their products. Look at the crazy amount of money some ridiculous auctions bring in on ebay. Blame the bidders who are paying through the nose.

megatroptimus wrote:

Lapse Of Reason wrote:
eBay and Paypal provide both buyers and sellers with a service. Both are free for the buyer, and it is the seller's option to pass some of the expense to the buyer.

Gimme a break.

And you think Target, Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us and every other chain do not pass on expences to the customer?

They're legitimate businesses, not scalpers.

megatroptimus wrote:They're legitimate businesses, not scalpers.

Scalpers are doing buisness and it is legitimate.

Here's a little story, do with it as you will.

I live in Shelbyville. To the north is Murfressboro. Two of my friends work in Murfressboro, and on Saturdays they go out and look for Star Wars toys.

They got off early one Saturday and went to Wal-Mart. In this WM they see the kid that works in the Comic/collectable store in town. He has a buggy that is over flowing with every toy that is hot now. G.I. Joe 25th, Transformers, Star Wars, marvel, hot wheels, you name it.

They can hear him on his phone, telling someone on the other end what he sees, and asking questions. Adding things to the buggy, putting some back. When he leaves, just for fun, and because they want to see what happens, they followed him.

He proceeded to go to the other Wal-Mart across town, to the two K-marts, both Targets, TRU and KB toys in the Mall. Then he drove to Shelbyville to the Wal-Mart there. Then to Tullahoma, the next town over. Then to Manchester and then they left him.

6 Wal-Marts
3 Targets
2 TRU
1 KB
4 K-Marts

He bought EVERYTHING with a credit card.

My friends went into the comic shop (Outer Limits, Murfreesboro, TN) the next Monday which was this past Monday. An example of what was there:

New wave of Transformer Deluxes for $25 each. CC BB, Arcee, Longarm, ect
G-1 Repaint of Starscream $50
G-1 Jazz $35
20th Anniversary Prime $100 (Why? I don't know)
Star Wars Mquarrie figures for $10 to $50

We know this guys ebay account, it's on his business cards. He has anything you could want for prices that are just criminal.

Believe it or not, there are scalpers that do buy EVERYTHING in a certain area and sell it on ebay (Or a store, if they have one). They can go out and buy everything that's hot or rare at that time, put it all on a business credit card and make enough to cover the CC charges before the bill is due.

That's just this one asshole in this 100 mile area. How many more are runing around where I live? I don't know, but Concept Bumblebee is hot right now. I've never seen one in a Wal-Mart or TRU. I did find one at Kohls. The day I found it there were 13 of them. I went back to Kohls last Friday, one week later, and there were NO Deluxes left. All gone.

Scalpers read collecting forums too. Maybe I shouldn't have posted on here that i found CC BB at Kohls, because when i went back..... no more. And that asshat has listed 10 more on his ebay store.

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:They're legitimate businesses, not scalpers.

Scalpers are doing buisness and it is legitimate.

They don't pay taxes on what they sell for the most part, therefore they're all ILLEGAL businesses and have absolutely no right to try and act like one.

megatroptimus wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:They're legitimate businesses, not scalpers.

Scalpers are doing buisness and it is legitimate.

They don't pay taxes for the most part, therefore they're all ILLEGAL businesses.

Wrong. If they do not pay taxes then they are violating a law in most. It all depends on the tax laws in the various states. And they still have to declare the income on their federal income tax reports in the US or the IRS is going own them.

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:They're legitimate businesses, not scalpers.

Scalpers are doing buisness and it is legitimate.

They don't pay taxes for the most part, therefore they're all ILLEGAL businesses.

Wrong. If they do not pay taxes then they are violating a law in most. It all depends on the tax laws in the various states. And they still have to declare the income on their federal income tax reports in the US or the IRS is going own them.

OOps I read what you wrote. However, how do you know for a fact every scalper does not pay taxes.

Most scalpers are not declaring what they make with scalping, a 4 years old would know that. Apparently not you? The way you're reacting and protecting scalpers is very strange to say the least. You almost sound like you're getting caught with your pants down. Probably not the case, but still... strange.

megatroptimus wrote:Most scalpers are not declaring what they make with scalping, a 4 years old would know that. Apparently not you?

How do you know that for a fact. Show me a resource with that information. If they are running a buisness or selling a lot of items on ebay which are electronic transfers it is kind of hard to hide from the IRS.

Seibertron wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:

Xgamer wrote:
GD ...give up on this guy- he's hopeless. If the seller values feedback - he will use Priority - either way some people dont know the difference between Parcel Post and Priority.

I do know the difference, just saying it's stupid to pay for priority, by experience, not worth the extra money at all.

I strongly disagree. I only allow Priority and Express Mail shipping with the items I sell on eBay. This is to cover my ass, to cover the buyer's ass and to cover USPS' ass (though they probably don't really care). I'll pay for whatever shipping I can get so that I have a tracking number, not to mention the speed difference. You might think it's stupid, but I think it's extremely smart. In my opinion, a seller is stupid for even thinking of shipping a package without being able to track down where the package is. You're just asking for some negative feedback on eBay later down the road. I want to be able to know where my goods are that I've shipped people when they ask "where's my package?"

You should use UPS!

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:Most scalpers are not declaring what they make with scalping, a 4 years old would know that. Apparently not you?

How do you know that for a fact. Show me a resource with that information. If they are running a buisness or selling a lot of items on ebay which are electronic transfers it is kind of hard to hide from the IRS.

Most scalpers are Joe Schmoes going on big toy hunts to later dump their stuff on Ebay. No need to be a real/legal business for them to act like one. Do you really think the IRS has the time and resources to sort out who's selling personal stuff vs who's scalping 20 highly wanted movie figures to disappear later? I think not.

megatroptimus wrote:

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:Most scalpers are not declaring what they make with scalping, a 4 years old would know that. Apparently not you?

How do you know that for a fact. Show me a resource with that information. If they are running a buisness or selling a lot of items on ebay which are electronic transfers it is kind of hard to hide from the IRS.

Most scalpers are Joe Schmoe going on big toy hunts to later dump their stuff on Ebay. No need to be a real/legal business for them to act like one. Do you really think the IRS has the time and resources to sort out who's selling personal stuff vs who's scalping 20 highly wanted movie figures to disappear later? I think not.

Yeah but money gets deposited in bank accounts. It is not cash they hiding under their pillow. Yeah sure they may get away with it for awhile or never get caught. However, when your bank statements do not add up with what you claim you have a problem. How do you think people get caught cheating on taxes. It is harder to get away with then you think.

Hotrod wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:Most scalpers are not declaring what they make with scalping, a 4 years old would know that. Apparently not you?

How do you know that for a fact. Show me a resource with that information. If they are running a buisness or selling a lot of items on ebay which are electronic transfers it is kind of hard to hide from the IRS.

I posted this earlier but maybe Megatroptimus did not read it.

Income is income. Don't report it to the IRS, you will be in trouble if audited. I report my income off everything I sell, just to be safe. I keep records and receipts. I also take write offs. My internet access and computer, as well as this year's trip to Botcon were all business expenses. I take my very meager e-bay sales and treat it as a small sole-proprietorship.

Maybe not everyone does this, but they should. Right now eBay does not report seller's sales information to the IRS but my accountant predicts that eBay will soon be required to do so.

37 friggin' pages.

*sighs* I had no idea it would ever get this big.

Well, I'm done. I'm out.

This is a no win situation because neither side is willing to see the other's point of view (which is fine), but all it's going to do is raise blood pressure, cause fights, etc.

Not worth it, especially considering it's the internet.

Have fun with the thread ladies and gentlemen.

Autobot032 wrote:36 friggin' pages.

*sighs* I had no idea it would ever get this big.

Well, I'm done. I'm out.

This is a no win situation because neither side is willing to see the other's point of view (which is fine), but all it's going to do is raise blood pressure, cause fights, etc.

Not worth it, especially considering it's the internet.

Have fun with the thread ladies and gentlemen.

I like this thread. It sparks good conversation. Okay, not all of it has been "good". However, I don't think there is anything to win or lose. It's all in the spirit of debate, nothing more.

think of it as the autobots or decepticons or for the beast wars fans maximal predacon i myself think of myself as a cybertronian and nuetral but this debate has gotten pretty intense and has sparked some interested convos...

I don't want to argue whether scalping is *right* or *wrong*, personally, i've never done it, but if there was something that was going for 3 or 4 times retail, and I found several of them.... I might be tempted. So I don't want to pass judgement on anyone for doing it.

What bothers me about this thread is those that come in here and post over and over that there is no such thing as scalping on a level that makes it impossible to find a certain toy.

I have seen it. I know it goes on. Everyone knows it goes on. When you can't find a Concept Bumblebee at ANY store near you, but there's somebody on ebay with 30 of them, and the comic book shop down the street has 10 on the shelf, and who knows how many in the back, marked at $35.... what do you THINK is going on?

I don't think Bigfoot exists. But Scalpers do. Come to Tennessee, I'll show you one.

Loki41872 wrote:I don't want to argue whether scalping is *right* or *wrong*, personally, i've never done it, but if there was something that was going for 3 or 4 times retail, and I found several of them.... I might be tempted. So I don't want to pass judgement on anyone for doing it.

What bothers me about this thread is those that come in here and post over and over that there is no such thing as scalping on a level that makes it impossible to find a certain toy.

I have seen it. I know it goes on. Everyone knows it goes on. When you can't find a Concept Bumblebee at ANY store near you, but there's somebody on ebay with 30 of them, and the comic book shop down the street has 10 on the shelf, and who knows how many in the back, marked at $35.... what do you THINK is going on?

I don't think Bigfoot exists. But Scalpers do. Come to Tennessee, I'll show you one.

I agree with you- I have seen some crazy things. I knew somebody that had a room full of elmo tmx....crazy. When the ebay market crashed on those- he was selling at cost before it caved even more. In my area- there are tons of ebayers- I can always spot them- last Xmas season they were buying Pink DS Lites and no games, calling about wiis nonstop(whenever I was at Circuit City, the employees would tell me how annoying it was), etc. Thats why I dont even bother buying any thing hot or clearanced in store b/c its gone the minute they open. How can you possibly compete with full time ebayers? In-store you really can't- they have lists of hot items that you will be lucky to even see. I resort to online retailers, but even then- some sites are monitored heavily like TRU and Amazon. I can understand everyone's frustration with the movie toys, but it comes down to you outsmarting the common ebayer that has to rely on a list to know to purchase something. Sometimes you buy things just for trading later- in case you have an unlucky week and can't find that Movie repaint Jazz. People buying to resell will always exist-case in point- I got World series tickets when the astros went- and people were offering me some crazy amounts of money- in the end I took my family- some things arent worth selling. If anyone here plans on being a TF reseller- I would rather it be a TF fan than some guy that has to read a list compiled from ebay auctions.

Loki41872 wrote:Here's a little story, do with it as you will.

I live in Shelbyville. To the north is Murfressboro. Two of my friends work in Murfressboro, and on Saturdays they go out and look for Star Wars toys.

They got off early one Saturday and went to Wal-Mart. In this WM they see the kid that works in the Comic/collectable store in town. He has a buggy that is over flowing with every toy that is hot now. G.I. Joe 25th, Transformers, Star Wars, marvel, hot wheels, you name it.

They can hear him on his phone, telling someone on the other end what he sees, and asking questions. Adding things to the buggy, putting some back. When he leaves, just for fun, and because they want to see what happens, they followed him.

He proceeded to go to the other Wal-Mart across town, to the two K-marts, both Targets, TRU and KB toys in the Mall. Then he drove to Shelbyville to the Wal-Mart there. Then to Tullahoma, the next town over. Then to Manchester and then they left him.

6 Wal-Marts
3 Targets
2 TRU
1 KB
4 K-Marts

He bought EVERYTHING with a credit card.

Used to make loooong trips (Pensacola, Panama City, Montgomery, Birmingham) with my best friend to look for stuff that our nearest big city (Dothan) never had. and have run into the occasional, "hey man, do we have 'XXX' item? how many should i get?" guy. hate that. it is bad enough that even record store/gaming store exclusives are out of reach for us rural collectors, but to drive 200 miles to have to compete with that jerk just burns. unethical, immoral, legal, illegal...who gives a decepti-arse? it just stings and burns and ruins an otherwise cool experience.

Not sure about other areas of the US but in Northen VA I have seen all the so-called "hard-to-find" exclusives sitting on shelves at Target, TRU, etc... granted I have 6+ targets in a 20 mile radius. If you have access to Target I would try for reatil first.

I saw in one auction that the seller stated they is only going to be 7000 of the Jazz figure released... there would be no point in Target only releasing 7000. Target does this for the money and a total of 7000 products would not be worth their time. Some will say anything to hype a find.

PastGenToys wrote:Not sure about other areas of the US but in Northen VA I have seen all the so-called "hard-to-find" exclusives sitting on shelves at Target, TRU, etc... granted I have 6+ targets in a 20 mile radius. If you have access to Target I would try for reatil first.

I saw in one auction that the seller stated they is only going to be 7000 of the Jazz figure released... there would be no point in Target only releasing 7000. Target does this for the money and a total of 7000 products would not be worth their time. Some will say anything to hype a find.

Im just curious- is this you as well-I saw your website?
http://www.amazon.com/b/103-7637356-444 ... 5A3626RLFT
Not that I dont want to buy a Pepsi Optimus for 105
http://www.pastgenerationtoys.com/index ... cts_id=257

This thread is crazy go nuts. People, let it go. Not everyone agrees with everyone else.