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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think people are taking the P1$$

133 replies

AliceMcK · 27/10/2020 09:16

Buying up stock from shops and selling it online at a huge markup?

Yesterday I saw Poundland’s LOL cushions being sold for £20 on fb marketplace. This person had a huge supply. So they have gone into Poundland bought a huge supply of £1 cushions and selling them for £20 each.

It really annoys be, especially when it’s things people want to buy their children.

I see it all the time when shops put things on sale, they get sold out quickly and the next thing you know it’s on eBay or marketplace at a ridiculous price parents are either forced to pay or have to disappoint their child because they can’t get what they have asked for.

OP posts:
TallFriendlyGinger · 27/10/2020 09:20

Not unreasonable that's really dishonest and shitty behaviour.

ExclamationPerfume · 27/10/2020 09:30

I call them out on it. I comment and say these are only £1 in Poundland. I hate greedy people.

AmySantiagoNineNine · 27/10/2020 09:34

Comment 'Ooh! Are these the ones from poundland? I've been wanting a few of them! I can only collect after 6pm though, is that OK?'. They will reply cos they think you want to buy them but then everyone will see what they're doing.

Devillishlypicklypickles · 27/10/2020 09:35

Nobody has to spend £20 on something worth a pound though, that's just stupid! If an item my child wants has sold out then tough luck, they can't have it and will have to have something else instead, sometimes life is disappointing and we can't always get what we want!

ComtesseDeSpair · 27/10/2020 09:36

If people have £20 to spend on a cushion then I can’t really get worked up about whether they could have bought it cheaper elsewhere if they’d known. I expect Poundland buys them from suppliers for much less than a pound, who in turn buy them from manufacturers for mere pennies, who in turn pay their employees peanuts. That’s just business, apparently, isn’t it? If the earlier stages don’t bother you, why should the latter?

44PumpLane · 27/10/2020 09:39

I agree its a bit rubbish but they aren't doing anything wrong.

The retailer allows them to buy as many as they like so they exercise their right to do so. People will only pay what they are willing to pay so having them up on Facebook for £20 doesn't mean they will sell them for £20, and if people are buying a £1 cushion for £20 then more fool them.

Yes I am a parent and yes I understand that some kids just want what they want, but as a pernt you then have to manage your children's expectations.

romeolovedjulliet · 27/10/2020 09:45

@Devillishlypicklypickles

Nobody has to spend £20 on something worth a pound though, that's just stupid! If an item my child wants has sold out then tough luck, they can't have it and will have to have something else instead, sometimes life is disappointing and we can't always get what we want!
it's called common sense, a lot of people are lacking in it today.
nicerbeing · 27/10/2020 09:45

It's not a new concept. People have done this for many years. Supply and demand.

Cbatothinkofausername · 27/10/2020 09:49

Maybe they’re just trying to feed their kids?

Original poster
AliceMcK · 27/10/2020 09:53

I was thinking more other toys that kids would want, like what ever the must have toy for Christmas etc, l example when Argos put a bunch of designafriends stuff in the sale, LOLs, Star Wars stuff etc...

I agree I wouldn’t spend £20 on something from Poundland and I always warn my kids their first choice may not be possible. I don’t like disappointing them but that’s life, they understand that.

I know it should bug me but it dose.

OP posts:
MereDintofPandiculation · 27/10/2020 09:55

Isn't this capitalism? Those with the resources to buy in bulk do so, and sell on at a profit. The market sets the price - ie you sell at a price people will pay.

goldenharvest · 27/10/2020 09:55

People buy cute crap from alibaba and sell it as homemade on Etsy.

Suzi888 · 27/10/2020 09:55

It’s disgusting in my opinion.

TerribleLizard · 27/10/2020 09:58

It’s not illegal, but it is wrong. At the cheaper end of the scale it’s removing the option of getting something a little bit cheaper, which makes it affordable for people who otherwise couldn’t afford it. At the top end it’s the buy to let market pricing people out of owning their own home, and lowering living standards due to landlords gaining a monopoly.

DTIsOnlyForNow · 27/10/2020 09:58

It's called capitalism. You're fine with it on a large scale, so why make a fuss when the little people do it too?

unmarkedbythat · 27/10/2020 09:58

People are wankers. That is all.

toomuchtooold · 27/10/2020 10:00

The one that I finddarkly fascinating is the trade in discontinued baby binkies - you know those little guys with like a bear or a bunny head attached to a plush square? Your kid gets so attached to them over a couple of years that they can't sleep without them, the shop stops selling them, your kid drops it out the buggy, and suddenly 50 quid for a replacement looks like a good deal. I just love it, because on the one hand how ethical is it to hold a toddler's sleep to ransom to the tune of 50 quid, but on the other hand, the high price means the wee scrap of fluff will go to a kid who actually needs him and not end up being sold to (say) parents of a new baby who wouldn't know him from a bar of soap.

Devillishlypicklypickles · 27/10/2020 10:04

My 6yr old is really into Transformers and Lego, some of the specific Transformer toys and Lego sets he has asked for are going for hundreds of pounds on eBay, needless to say he didn't get those! Even at 6 he can understand that this is too expensive and that he could get loads more Transformers than just one for £100 and he's been perfectly happy with the alternatives he's got! If people weren't willing to spend such stupid amounts on this stuff nobody would bother selling it at those prices I guess!

DdraigGoch · 27/10/2020 10:10

They wouldn't do it if people weren't stupid enough to buy them at those inflated prices. Yes, I do get irritated when scalers buy up the entire stock of something but it's usually only a real problem when the item has a limited run.

myhobbyisouting · 27/10/2020 10:12

So where do you buy things from? Do you have an issue with them making money on the items you buy?

Spam88 · 27/10/2020 10:15

It is shitty but it's no different to what shops do 🤷‍♀️

merryhouse · 27/10/2020 11:19

It's like ticket sellers. People moan about how they "had" to pay inflated prices to get to see an artist... but if nobody paid those prices people would soon stop doing it.

thepeopleversuswork · 27/10/2020 11:22

It kind of depends why you're doing it really. If you're profiteering its unpleasant. If you're doing it to make a bit of margin to feed your kids I can't get too excited about it tbh.

If people have £20 to spend on a cushion and lack the initiative to go to Poundland themselves and there are plenty of people for whom time is more important than money surely its a helpful distribution of wealth for them to give up some money to enable other people to feed their kids?

There's not much you can do to stop this sort of thing tbh.

Lockheart · 27/10/2020 11:25

I can't believe anyone could make and sell a cushion for £1 ethically or in an environmentally friendly manner in any case, so they weren't exactly fantastic to start with.

BanginChoons · 27/10/2020 11:26

Isn't that how retail works? Buy something, and then resell it at a higher price?

No one is forced to buy it.

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