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AIBU?

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Original poster

To think it's cunty to buy up popular toys then flog em on eBay for several x the price??

222 replies

GaryShitpeas · 30/11/2014 20:32

There are a few things my dc want for Christmas that are sold out everywhere. So I've looked online and I've seen them all on eBay (on buy it now) for loads more than they cost in the shops

I think it's grabby, vile and morally reprehensible. Cashing in on children. wtf

Mind you I also blame the manufacturers to some extent as I suspect they deliberately don't release new stock to create hype. And also the parents that are blithely handing over their money to these cunts are dipshits as well

OP posts:
OwlCapone · 01/12/2014 09:09

Some people should get grip and realise that children need to learn they can't have everything they want.

Andrewofgg · 01/12/2014 09:14

OwlCapone You are of course right but wait until there is a thread about greedy people buying up all the grips and selling them on ebay for a huge mark-up . . .

Inthedarkaboutfashion · 01/12/2014 09:18

I have some grips and judging by this thread there is a huge market for them. I wonder how much profit I can make by listing them on ebay.....

DixieNormas · 01/12/2014 09:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

wonkylegs · 01/12/2014 09:48

I'm obviously another mean parent who won't pay over the odds for something. Just because my child wants something doesn't mean they get it. Funnily enough it doesn't ruin Christmas.
Mind you I'm also the mummy that told DS that Santa's elves don't have copyright for Lego or Apple products so he can't ask him for those. Wink
This has been accepted (possibly because aunty works in branding copyrights so he knows about it) and we have a very realistic list for Santa.

OneSkinnyChip · 01/12/2014 09:48

What I really dislike about the huge mark ups is that often it is the poorest parents who feel most under pressure to give a magical Christmas at any cost and are most likely to make bad decisions for that 'one special day'. I wish people would just boycott these sellers but they won't. I do know that I will never buy from them even if that means DD doing without something but that takes a degree of confidence that people don't always have, especially when they already feel like shit parents if they are struggling to pay for bills. Christmas makes people crazy sometimes - so much hope and emotion pinned on one day.

DixieNormas · 01/12/2014 10:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

UsedtobeFeckless · 01/12/2014 10:34

Yes, they are taking the piss ... So don't buy it. Way back when DS1 was desperate for some android dinosaur thing that couldn't be got for love nor reasonable money - so he got something else and DP picked one up from a car boot sale 6 months later. The world didn't end.

OfaFrenchMind · 01/12/2014 10:57

Well, if you are stupid enough to buy it, then more power to them, I would do the same. Either you buy in advance, or you teach your kids that having a Elsa doll is not a staple of life. By not doing that, you are playing more into the Consumerist excess that the people selling on EBay.
Use this as a valuable lessons to your children (and for you, actually), instead of whining about the unfairness of it all.

The economy is based on offer and demand, and as long as it is not about necessary goods, I see no problem with it.

FaciallyChallenged · 01/12/2014 11:15

It's only cunty to buy up and resell at high mark-up things that people absolutely MUST have and won't be able to get elsewhere, like basic utilities, food and housing. Everything else isn't necessary to buy in the first place so complaining about someone managing to put a high mark-up on it seems pretty grabby in itself - "I don't need a Furby for my child but I really WANT one so you have to allow me to have it at a price I like". The only people to blame for non-essential items having high mark-ups are the end consumers, if enough people say "too expensive, forget it" there'd never be a market for reselling in that way.

Makes me get right up on my high horse, as the only reason people feel compelled to spend so much on certain things is the society pressure that everyone else is joining in doing it too. I can only afford a certain size telly/certain toys/certain clothes and quite frankly even they are more than I/dc actually need so I get very narked with people implictly or explicitly telling me I need something better just because they've been conned into thinking they need it. If you're silly enough to think you need that thing then you'll have to pay whatever someone else is charging tbh.

WelliBeDamned · 01/12/2014 11:26

Tough. If you know something is in high demand (frozen tat) then you buy it earlier, first come first serve. That's how the world works, like it or not. Complaining about people trying to earn a few bob on ebay and selling items for more than RRP is pointless. If you don't like the price, don't buy it. And the suggestion that these people are making money off children is laughable. They are making money off parents who can't say no to their little brats who are over-indulged. If you want something, you need to be first in line, otherwise you miss out. That is LIFE.

Mintyy · 01/12/2014 11:35

How charming you sound Welli.

"over indulged brats" - not a very nice way to talk about children is it?

OfaFrenchMind · 01/12/2014 11:38

Well, to be honest Mintyy, children can be absolute brats :) You do not have to sugarcoat it on MN, they do not read it. :)

coldwater1 · 01/12/2014 11:42

I agree. Totally cunty and greedy!

Mintyy · 01/12/2014 11:45

Its irrelevant in the context of this discussion though.

OfaFrenchMind · 01/12/2014 11:48

Well, we are talking about the obnoxiousness of Toys speculators, and people brought up the fact that demanding children can be just as much, or more obnoxious, and that the former are a direct consequence of the later... Cunty Ebayers vs over-indulged brats: what is more acceptable?
(I vote for the cunty ones :))

happybubblebrain · 01/12/2014 11:52

I think its greedy and grabby to have milllions in the bank while others in the world go hungry and homeless. It's greedy and grabby to own more than one house. I think it's greedy and grabby to make millions in profit whilst paying workers below a living wage. There are much better examples of greed in our society on a much bigger scale. Buying a toy for 10 and selling it for 20 doesn't really compare.

And I would never pay above shop prices for ebay stuff. Luckily my child knows the value of things and realises she won't get everything she wants all of the time.

Callani · 01/12/2014 11:58

I think it's pretty dishonest to purposefully skew market forces in order to falsely inflate prices whether it's toys, tickets, whatever.

I haven't experienced this from a toys perspective but have been to many theatre shows which are supposedly "sold out" at the box office to be sat next to empty seats and I find it infuriating. I understand that the theatres allow bulk buying to guarantee an income and I do sympathise with that to a certain extent, but I don't understand how they think it's appropriate to sell off half their tickets to touts when it's obviously going to be a popular production that will sell out anyway.

dirkdiggler1 · 01/12/2014 12:02

Do it. It's what makes the world go round. If people are then stupid enough to pay several times the original price then more fool them. I've done it before and will do it again without hesitation.

EveDallasRetd · 01/12/2014 12:03

We once managed to buy a toy for DSD in Germany that was completely sold out in UK. We knew she wanted it (it had been on her Xmas list) and her mother had said something like "no chance of getting that one, get X instead".

We found out about a month after Xmas that she'd sold it herself for a profit Shock

I was pretty pissed off tbh (and didn't bother hunting out the 'unobtainable' ever again)

Yeah, I think it's pretty cunty behaviour too.

Suzannewithaplan · 01/12/2014 12:08

Greed causes vast amounts of suffering.

profiteering via toy sales is a drop in the ocean compared to the myriad complex methods employed by the very wealthy and greedy few to swell their personal hoards as they impoverish the rest of us

GraysAnalogy · 01/12/2014 12:09

It's horrible. I'd rather see a kid have a good toy and their poor parents haven't had to fork a load out for it than line my own pockets.

Suzannewithaplan · 01/12/2014 12:12

It's easy to spot what the ebayer is up to and just not engage with her, but when companies or groups of people have monopolies on things that we all need, fuel, housing etc, its a different story

Durzel · 01/12/2014 13:21

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temporaryusername · 01/12/2014 16:42

If manufactures find that retailers don't want to buy their product then they lose out, if they find the product is wildly popular they can make a bigger profit. The retailers take a risk that they will make a loss if something doesn't sell and the price has to be reduced to shift it, on the other hand if it is very popular and they haven't ordered enough to meet demand then they can not only charge more for what they have, but when it runs out they may regret losing the opportunity to sell many more by not risking a bigger initial order.

The reason you might pay, £35 for example for a toy in store is not because it costs £34 to make and they need a little profit. It may cost £0.50 to make, but they charge you what they think you'll pay. It is exactly the same with people selling things on, if people did not repeatedly pay those prices then the goods would not be not be repeatedly purchased for reselling and the price of those available would fall.

It may be an unpleasant highlighting of the bare bones of capitalism or market forces, but it is actually the context of all the transactions you're all involved in. One thing you could do is buy a large amount of a popular toy and sell it on Ebay for the same price you purchased it for, thus increasing supply and bringing down prices.