The Energon Pub

[mbd88prime]

dear transfans, we all here enjoy our hobby a great deal otherwise we would not take the time to set up accounts to talk on these forums about how much we like it! Therefore i know that my audience here is a willing one.

I propose that this post become a sort of tf community act that you can sign by responding "yes."

said act reads as follows:

"I, a devoted "transfan" enjoy my hobby. My hobby is collecting transformers. I, however, do not have infinite financial resources and so hereby pledge to NEVER purchase a transformer that is currently available to all consumers in the market from any seller whose clear intention in purchasing said transformer was to re- sell it at an inflated price, thereby preying on my desire to enjoy my hobby."

this tf community act is intended to, hopefully, eliminate a good portion of the scalping market simply by cutting out a chunk of the demand portion of the supply and demand in said market.

The scalpers have made a HUGE push recently now it's time for the collector's to push back! Don't give in to them, stand up for yourselves and you'll rarely have to worry about the dreaded "out of stock" again!

If this post is fruitful in it's "yes" responses i further ask that seibertron.com, as a leading member of the tf community, officially post the topic on it's front page so that all scalpers may know that they will be wasting their money the next time they decide to buy up every last unit of an exclusive or otherwise limited run transformer for their own gain!

[LiKwid]

While I commend your obvious passion for the hobby, your "Act" will fall upon many deaf ears for one simple reason.

Greed is one of the most powerful forces in the living universe.

No matter how much plea, beg etc etc etc Scalpers wont stop. For every 10 fans that swear off buying a scalped exclusive, 20 more wont care, they will pay any amount to get said exclusive in their hands.

Like I said I commend your pasion for the hobby, I too hate to see scalpers win but greed is wicked and more often than not( and sadly) it wins...

[Burn]

I'll buy and sell my TF's however and for whatever price I like thank you muchly.

[mbd88prime]

i expected this type of response...

money representsyour life. You willingly gave up x hours of your life in exhange for x dollars.These scalpers seem to think that it is ok to prey upon your passion for your hobby thereby extorting more of your life!

extorting your life remember that phrase every time you are confronted with the opportunity to purchase a scalped tf.

it's only impossible if everyone believes and responds like this:

"No matter how much plea, beg etc etc etc Scalpers wont stop. For every 10 fans that swear off buying a scalped exclusive, 20 more wont care, they will pay any amount to get said exclusive in their hands.

Like I said I commend your passion for the hobby, I too hate to see scalpers win but greed is wicked and more often than not( and sadly) it wins..."

this creates a culture of impossiblity. I'm not proposing here that we take over the world and re organize it to our liking, just that we each take the time to type "yes" and maybe, just maybe, save ourselves some money.

scalpers will respond to one thing, a lighter wallet! make their wallets lighter people! use their greed against them! let 'em buy up every last transformer, that's fine, they'll learn their lesson when they lose the portion of their market that is made up of every member of seibertron.com and they've got 10 unicron's laying around gathering dust while their bills pile up around them.


It might have been easier for you to simply type three little letters, LiKwid, than your above paragraph. I'm not taking offense or being hostile, just trying to make a point. Give it a try and we'll see what happens! The worst that could happen is we all save a little money....

[mbd88prime]

I'll buy and sell my TF's however and for whatever price I like thank you muchly.

no need to react negatively,

No one's telling you not to Burn, only appealing to you. I don't think it's much of a reach to say that how you would like to buy your tfs is at the lowest price possible.

being a longstanding member of this tf sight you could have a big impact as an opinion leader by simply typing "yes," Burn!

[MightyMagnus78]

With any exclusive, demand is always going to be greater than supply and while I admire and appreciate what you are trying to achieve, I fear the reality is it will do little to address the situation.

Until such time Has/Tak radically revives it's global distribution policy, then there will always be a niche market for scalpers to exploit. Scalping in some instances could even be seen as a positive. For example, international collectors may get the opportunity to purchase items that aren't otherwise available to them, because Has/Tak has decided not to market those particular TFs in their geographical location.

If people want something badly enough, and they are willing to pay inflated prices to get it, at the end of the day that is their prerogative.

[Shadowstream]

I see a lot of topics like these popping up, and the bottom line is always the same: aint gonna help a darn thing.

[Burn]

money representsyour life. You willingly gave up x hours of your life in exhange for x dollars.These scalpers seem to think that it is ok to prey upon your passion for your hobby thereby extorting more of your life!

extorting your life remember that phrase every time you are confronted with the opportunity to purchase a scalped tf.

It's not extortion.

People pay scalpers because they're willing to. They're NOT FORCED to.

I recommend you and everyone else who is on this anti-scalper bandwagon actually READ the definition of extortion.

I'll buy and sell my TF's however and for whatever price I like thank you muchly.

no need to react negatively,

No one's telling you not to Burn, only appealing to you. I don't think it's much of a reach to say that how you would like to buy your tfs is at the lowest price possible.

being a longstanding member of this tf sight you could have a big impact as an opinion leader by simply typing "yes," Burn!

And I will NEVER say "yes". Do I condone the practice of scalpers? Nope. But i'm not going to condemn them either. If they beat me to a piece of plastic, well hey, tough luck to me. I can actually be a patient person.

So as far as i'm concerned, it's their business, they can do what they want, it's not my place to tell them otherwise, nor is it my place to rally a bunch of fanboys to form a mob and decry them at every possible step.

[Astronopolis]

buy low, sell high. i help out my friends and those who ask, but joe shmoe on ebay is going to have to evaluate how badly he wants that toy. if he wants it bad enough, thats what he pays for. if he doesnt, it doesnt sell and the price goes lower if i get impatient and want to sell sooner. there are checks and balances in place, and i have the same access (if not less) to toys at retail as the rest of us. dont hate the player, hate the game.

also, its only toys.

[RhA]

You don't have to buy from scalpers. Go to your local stores, shop there. I'm sorry, but scalping is not illegal, making profits is what makes capitalism go 'rond. Proposing to make a stand against capitalism while making use of it is not very logical as well.

[alldarker]

I totally agree with Burn on this. Scalpers will be scalpers; can't stop them making use of the very well proven system of supply and demand. Furthermore, nobody's ever forced me to get a Transformer, and I am not dependent on TF's to stay alive; they're luxury goods, which I WANT but definitely don't NEED.
Finally, I'll be the judge of my own "want / price" ratio. If I find an item to be 'worth the price' I'll get it, and if not, then not...

[SJ21]

I can't stand people that go and buy a store's entire stock of a figure. It irritates the hell out of me. But it's not illegal and I can't stop them from doing it. I won't intentionally buy from a "scalper" though. I will wait until a figure comes around at a far price.

[Decepticharger]

mbd88prime, I'm with you. I won't pay scalper prices.

There are many toys I want, but nothing I can't live without.

[RodimalToyota]

Scalping is NOT supply and demand. Supply and Demand only exists in Manufacturing, and Retail. Demand is what gets Optimus on the shelf, Supply is how many will go on the shelf. Once the consumers have bought it, Supply is down, and demand goes up.

However, S&D does not go with collectibles, that are currently available on the market. Scalping is basically false S&D. It's taking an item that has a normal S&D, removing it from the retail market place strongarmed Raising the value to a false level, in order to make profit on an item which is not considered a "collectible" yet.

Technically speaking, any item currently available at retail, is not a collectible, and there for even a personal sale may by law need a sales tax based on your location.

I have never bought something on eBay that was a current release, because it feeds the Greedy, basement living, morning Bus taking losers who create this false S&D. It's already expensive enough with the increasing price of plastic, and commodities. Do we really need the cost to go higher because some jackass doesn't have a job and can drive all over town buying up everything, to make a ridiculous price on eBay, calling it "Rare" because he it made it rare?

[Powermaster Jazz]

I bought from a scalper once, then I saw the figure I bought for regular price the next week. Regreted it ever since.

[GuyIncognito]

That's silly. There's no way to know a seller's intention. As long as the price is reasonable, that's all that matters.

Sites like BBTS, TFsource, and TFCC carry some of the same toys that are widely available at retail, but at a higher price. Are they "scalpers"? Should we boycott them?

[Dagon]

I read the title and had to see this thread. Who would really try to appeal to us logically?

[DISCHARGE]

I read the title and had to see this thread. Who would really try to appeal to us logically?

[mbd88prime]

every single person that has responded to this post is missing the point entirely. If you all were to go back and read what I actually said i even wrote that, let's let the scalpers buy everything up and try to re sell it. Burn is right that is totally legal, it's called entrepreneurism. I might be an idealist but i'm also a student of business and what i am proposing is that we simply all tell the scalpers that we are not going to buy products from them when they have so obviously bought out every last one before anyone else could possibly have known they were even going to be available. Doing so and actually standing by our word will have a market effect- by removing demand, with supply being constant (the same), market price will decrease. Anyone that reads the quotes and avatar that are attached to EVERY SINGLE POST i make can see that i am every bit the American patriot, which means i am all for free market capitalism. Being a proponent of it and a student of it i know how to use it. That's what i am proposing. so anyone that says yes is not "telling scalpers what to do" just telling them what we're not gonna do, which is buy they're overpriced crap!. I don't know how to be any more clear than that.

[Burn]

If I want it, and they have it, and i'm happy with the price, i'll buy it.

I'm not going to stop buying TF's from certain individuals just because some fanboy behind his monitor says that person is naughty and mean.

[mbd88prime]

I totally agree with Burn on this. Scalpers will be scalpers; can't stop them making use of the very well proven system of supply and demand. Furthermore, nobody's ever forced me to get a Transformer, and I am not dependent on TF's to stay alive; they're luxury goods, which I WANT but definitely don't NEED.
Finally, I'll be the judge of my own "want / price" ratio. If I find an item to be 'worth the price' I'll get it, and if not, then not...

OMG!!!!!!!! I cannot believe you people. NO ONE IS TELLING ANYONE WHAT TO DO!!! I'm not telling transfans what to do, im not even telling the scalpers what to do. Im asking that we all type three little letters and maybe, just maybe, decrease the amount of tfs that get scalped. i mean if i were a scalper and I saw a huge list of transfans telling me they weren't going to buy from me ever again i might think twice about ordering as much as I normally would. Thereby leaving the remaining stock for those of us that simply want to enjoy our hobby.

I also never said that none of us cannot subsist without transformers. but every one of us would like to get them at a reasonable price if we could. maybe i should start a topic asking people whether they would rather pay a higher or lower price for the same item. i thought the answer was plain as day obvious that everyone wants to get it as cheap as possible,however, it seems that some people responding here are dead set on paying whatever price (inferring that they will pay a higher price) they want just to oppose my proposition!

also, everyone that has responded could still have saved a lot of effort and just typed yes and just see what happens. anyone that reads and comprehends what i have said will see that Im not telling anyone what to do so there is no moral problem with my proposition, and forget if your so convinced that the task is impossible, just try it, what bad could possibly come of it?

[mbd88prime]

If I want it, and they have it, and i'm happy with the price, i'll buy it.

I'm not going to stop buying TF's from certain individuals just because some fanboy behind his monitor says that person is naughty and mean.

and i'm not going to stop asking that we do something to improve our ability to enjoy our hobby just because some high and mighty, combative, and label spewing "HMW moderator" thinks he's [b]the[/b]man

burn on more than one occasion in this topic i have supported things you have said and been patient with the inevitable nay- saying. However by dropping deurragtory names like "fanboy" you are showing exactly what kind of immature BOY you are. If you don't like my proposition quit watching and responding to it.

[DISCHARGE]

I totally agree with Burn on this. Scalpers will be scalpers; can't stop them making use of the very well proven system of supply and demand. Furthermore, nobody's ever forced me to get a Transformer, and I am not dependent on TF's to stay alive; they're luxury goods, which I WANT but definitely don't NEED.
Finally, I'll be the judge of my own "want / price" ratio. If I find an item to be 'worth the price' I'll get it, and if not, then not...

OMG!!!!!!!! I cannot believe you people. NO ONE IS TELLING ANYONE WHAT TO DO!!! I'm not telling transfans what to do, im not even telling the scalpers what to do. Im asking that we all type three little letters and maybe, just maybe, decrease the amount of tfs that get scalped. i mean if i were a scalper and I saw a huge list of transfans telling me they weren't going to buy from me ever again i might think twice about ordering as much as I normally would. Thereby leaving the remaining stock for those of us that simply want to enjoy our hobby.

I also never said that none of us cannot subsist without transformers. but every one of us would like to get them at a reasonable price if we could. maybe i should start a topic asking people whether they would rather pay a higher or lower price for the same item. i thought the answer was plain as day obvious that everyone wants to get it as cheap as possible,however, it seems that some people responding here are dead set on paying whatever price (inferring that they will pay a higher price) they want just to oppose my proposition!

also, everyone that has responded could still have saved a lot of effort and just typed yes and just see what happens. anyone that reads and comprehends what i have said will see that Im not telling anyone what to do so there is no moral problem with my proposition, and forget if your so convinced that the task is impossible, just try it, what bad could possibly come of it?

You kinda are trying to tell people what to do. You are getting upset that no one will just type yes. Business sense aside, you are dealing with collectables at this point, price doesn't pan out the way I think you think it should. Sometimes even when people know they should be able to get something at one price, another higher price isn't unreasonable if you can't find that item in your area. I usually see most TF that come out, I NEVER saw Animated Roadbuster at retail, if I want him I would have to pay what the guy who has him is selling him for.
I'm pretty sure we all get what you are getting at, but most of us have been at this game long enough to be willing to pay the price. Sorry if you don't like that attitude, that's the way it is.

Also, I would only consider it scalping if they were hanging outside the store they bought the item at, trying to resell it.

[mbd88prime]

once more i'm not telling anyone what to do. Having seen many other posts similar to mine, I have realized that one big reason why they never succeed is that everyone seems to think the task is impossible and they always turn they're nose up at such a naive proposition.

its not naive, it's mis-understood. what i have tried to do is simply clarify what i am proposing. if that's interpreted as me telling everyone what to do than i am sorry

thank you discharge for at least giving me some constructive criticism. in my frustration dealing with other more rude members of this forum i suppose i didnt realize that i was coming across as telling people what to do in the way you have said.

anyway, i realized my self that there was a slim chance of this working from the get go because this forum is also undoubtedly filled with scalpers themselves and they will not want this topic to succeed in it's objectives. But i am willing to give things a try when there is no chance that something bad can happen so I did.

[LiKwid]

OMG!!!!!!!! I cannot believe you people. NO ONE IS TELLING ANYONE WHAT TO DO!!! I'm not telling transfans what to do, im not even telling the scalpers what to do. Im asking that we all type three little letters and maybe, just maybe, decrease the amount of tfs that get scalped. i mean if i were a scalper and I saw a huge list of transfans telling me they weren't going to buy from me ever again i might think twice about ordering as much as I normally would. Thereby leaving the remaining stock for those of us that simply want to enjoy our hobby.

The bolded sentence tells me you do not know your average scalper..A "list" would not deter them at all because the "List" wouldn't stop their greed...

Just to satisfy your hunger for 3 letters..here ya go

LoL