Do you think it's wrong for people to buy must have toys and sell them at huge profit on EBay etc?

[lottieandmia22]

I do. I think it’s pretty mercenary.

What is pretty repulsive is the companies that deliberately offer less of a toy at massively inflated prices because they have created a ‘must have’, shortage. Once the company has done this, there are only a certain number of toys. It’s not the people who sell on that created the scarcity but the original toy seller.

Regardless there are only a few toys. Whether rich or poor children get them isn’t really important. And among my friends the ones with more money are much more likely to NOT buy the price inflated toy.

No, that’s how business works, supply and demand.

Points to them for taking the risk.

I agree Woah. The problem is that a lot of parents don’t even think about Christmas until December. And it’s too late by then.

It’s all very well saying if the parents can’t afford it the child should do without. Except that an affordable toy for most people can become not affordable if people behave like greedy arseholes.

Don’t make such a massive deal of Christmas if you don’t want disappointment kids!

It’s cheap plastic tat that the parents want but the kids discard by New Year’s Day!

‘And among my friends the ones with more money are much more likely to NOT buy the price inflated toy.’

Well this proves my point about exploitation.

Runningoutofcharge - how can parents control the impact Christmas has on children who are bombarded with adverts and talk of presents at school!

I don’t agree Draylon.

Nothing wrong with it at all. They are taking a gamble to some extent - they buy up stocks before its 100% clear what the fashionable thing will be, so sometimes will make a loss. They provide a valuable service ensuring that it is still possible to buy one (at fantastic markup) on Christmas Eve, which is well worth the extra for those with plenty of cash but no time to think about Christmas shopping in October.

Draylon I don’t agree because I think you can turn a profit without asking for 3 or 4 times what the item is worth. In that situation the toy could have been left in the shop and sold at the actual price.

Ooh I dunno? Maybe turn the tv off? Or explain to your kids....or just don’t buy into all the hype?

Gosh this thread has derailed somewhat!

Does it matter whether a child would like 'the must have toy' or any other generic non hyped up toy? Surely they both fall into the 'plastic tat' category. The difference is, adults can only make a fast buck by buying the 'must haves' and selling for profit.

I can't understand why the blame is being put on to the parents who are just trying to get their children something they'd like for Christmas? Regardless of what toy they want, it all amounts to the same thing on Christmas Day.

Yet it is against the law to buy something with the view to selling it on for profit and not declare your income to HMRC so they can tax you accordingly. As a tax payer, I can't understand why anyone would blame the parents trying to buy their child something nice for Christmas, rather then feeling negatively towards people who are avoiding paying their fair share of tax.

Actually there’s quite a high limit before you need to declare it...... not sure why you’d think selling on a toy or two needs’declaring’

Here is the cycle.

Consumer capitalism has done a REALLY GOOD JOB at marketing this toy to make it the "must have". Without the capitalist system as it stands, there would be no such thing as a "must have toy."

They sell it retail price (vastly inflated from cost), using plastic and electronics parts from god knows where in the world but you can bet their workers conditions are unethical, via minimum wage zero-hours contract workers at toyshop chains/amazon warehouses, not to mention appallingly treated, overworked and underpaid delivery drivers.

There are many things that are shit and wrong about this entire system but excuse me if I find it hard to get outraged about people selling toys marked up even more on eBay. There are so many other things to expend your energy on.

I agree that toy manufacturers can cause the shortage in the first place. I work with lots of toy manufacturers, and they are not very nice. Putting it mildly.

I remember the Disney frozen shortage, and despite people selling higher prices, we increased ours slightly, but not by much. It’ll never make me a millionaire, but I just don’t agree with charging parents over inflated prices.

What really pisses me off are people buying up sales bargains to resell on eBay, and someone who would have gone into the shop misses out on said bargain.

Or people that get the free Lego in the newspapers and sell them.

Anyways. I have brought up my kids to understand all tv advertised toys are overpriced shit, as the huge advertising costs are built into the toy.

So you're basically pissed off because you think your child deserves the "it" toy but you don't want to do any planning ahead or put in any extra effort to source it (like those evil capitalists who then ebay them).

Well then, your fight is with the manufacturer who decide to only make a limited number but whip up a marketing storm to ensure demand. How dare they not have one ready for you when you walk into your local retailer.

No Shifty read the thread - my daughter will have what she’s asked for. I feel a bit sorry for those who are up all night still trying to get it.

‘We all 'buy' into that. Our only defence is to pull our DC back from that. And put in the time to teach them that a pile of plastic on Xmas Day means jack-shite in the Big Picture.’

Well that’s all fine and dandy. Except of course that children don’t think like adults. Nor should they. You can try and make this into an exercise of ‘my child doesn’t want plastic tat because my parenting is superior’ but the fact of the matter is that we all know many of these things are over hyped and will be a 5 minute wonder. But that’s not the point!

‘What really pisses me off are people buying up sales bargains to resell on eBay, and someone who would have gone into the shop misses out on said bargain’

Yes, exactly.

I was a bit annoyed seeing a woman basically clearing the Sainsbury's toy sale isles at 8.30 on the first day. She filled one trolley and then got a second one. I think it was mainly because I remembered the 'me' a few years ago trying to drop the children off quickly at school and dash over. I am not sure why but it being so public made it seem worse than if she had ordered them all at the same price from Amazon. Beyond that my dc have never been cool enough to even know or care what the 'must have' toy was. They are older now and so past that toy frenzy stage.

Agree or disagree with soneone selling on a must have product all you like, but keep the emotional image if devestated children out of it.

A child will only be heartbroken and devestated if they have been brought up to think that Christmas is about getting what you want and the must have products.

Personally, i think it's a bit to go out if your way to buy styff you don't want to fleese others (mainly because I question thr sense of people willing yo pay over thr odds and in ny experience it's not the middle/hugh earners who pay up so I think it's potentially exploitative).

If you want to buy a must have product then some forward planning is required.
If people are willing go pay over the odds then that is a shame, but ultimately it's on them. As long as people are willing go pay, people will do this.

I find this thread hilarious. Draylon made a valiant effort to separate the concepts of market economics from any happiness parents can bring their children. I agree wholeheartedly.

If the reseller could easily sell the Must Have Toy (MHT) for a. I have higher price they might but they also recognise that might annoy the parents who buy toys over many years. The eBay seller is a pure one off transaction. The incentives are different. Retailer wants, needs even, repeat custom and people don't like feeling ripped off. Anyone who has got a MHT at a lower price then they would have paid has received something called a consumer surplus. The eBay reseller has taken risk and charges top dollar (or £) but leaves little consumer surplus but their buyer of the MHT has shown a different price/utility trade off than others. Their MHT buyer has spent their money in the way they want. They have also gained time that they spent on something else instead of going shopping in October.

Thus the market has enabled lots of different preferences to be fulfilled and is therefore a wonderful thing.

The idea that companies deliberately under,manufacture and underprice is ludicrous. They are taking tons of risk and investing money into stock that might not sell. It is impossible to predict demand for things accurately, otherwise Marxist central planning would be a brilliant idea and China would have been a rich country without the free market reforms. The firms' lead times for manufacturing Christmas stock are such that they can't fulfill extra demand and are stuck. They can't reprise everything because it is a repeated series of transactions they have with consumers.

I do question the wisdom of buying MHTs for kids who learn that trend following is the way to gratification. It is fine occasionally but magically appearing gifts lessen the incentive to work for things which is the one of the major determining factors for a rewarding life. I do wonder whether it isn't the capitalist bit but the consumerist bit that is the cause if many current woes.