Would you consider this SCALPING?

I see no harm in selling a head for a higher price, especially if someone has done work on it. Modifications and face-ups I'd be willing to pay extra for if I really wanted one, especially if it is, and the seller knows it is, well done.

I agree that Fairyland seems to have a special deal for purchasing the sleeping head WITH the body/open eyed set. Though, if people are going to turn around and sell it right away, I don't entirely understand the purpose of getting the extra head in the first place. I might eventually sell the sleeping head coming with mine, but I bought it as a practice head for face-ups, not realizing that I had already qualified for the DES head and that the summer event was still going on.
Speaking of which, I wouldn't see it entirely right to sell the gift DES head at a high price namely because I'm hearing that Fairyland will be putting her into the alacarte anyways. They're not limited, just not widely available at this moment. I can't say it's entirely fair to cash in on another's impatience, but that's also dependent on whether the buyer is going to buy right away as well, rather than waiting on the release.

 

If you've taken time to modify and paint the head, then sell it for quite a bit more - no, it's not scalping at all. It's just like paying for a faceup fee. If you wanted to have it modded and painted in the first place, it would cost you extra anyway (unless you did it yourself). So no - I don't consider it scalping.

However, if you purchase a head for $35 and turn around and sell it for $90 without even touching it - then yes, I would consider it a little.. not cool.

 

If the appropriate work has been done to make the face look really good I think it's completely fair. It like saying that the time, effort, tools, and paint aren't worth a thing just because they got the head for $27.

It would be like myself selling my hand-beaded bracelets for their at cost price. I put a lot of time and effort into making them beautiful and that is worth it in $$ to me.

 

No matter who I speak to or what I hear, this is what I will always agree upon.

27USD is not the price of the friggin sleeping head. It's the price reflecting the DISCOUNT you'd be offered for buying it with the open eyed full doll.

I still think charging 27USD for sleeping mnf heads even in splits is ridiculous.
Most of the people doing the splits *cough* are often those who want to get these sleeping heads at 27USD.

 

I only consider it scalping if the person does absolutely nothing to the head and tries to sell it for considerably more than what they bought it for.
Why not buy it through the company for less, and get the cute little certificate saying it's real and even the possibility of getting a "company gift" as a thank you?
It's mean of the scalpers to rip off, not only the buyer, but the company as well.

However, I've yet to run across someone who does NOTHING to the doll and asking for more. I generally see modded open eyes, a new faceup or something else changed, and therefore a price rise is understandable-money was spent on materials, and time was spent on the mod. :3

 

1: No. You should pay the price for the head and any work done to it that adds value (it's just like opting to buy a face-up on the site or not). That's normal to me.

2: Charging someone MORE then the retail price of the head when its plain and nothing done to it? Yes. That's scalping and I find it rather appalling. Especially since the particular mnf head is not a limited head nor had anything done to it to add to it's value. Those people are trying to get a profit where it isn't earned at all.

 

1: Is getting a sleeping head, modding it and painting it, or simply painting it, and turning around to sell it for $70 considered scalping?

No, I wouldn't consider it scalping because of the work done on it. It takes time, effort, and resources to mod / customize the head even more so than the company they received it from. I think it depends on how much work they did on it and its quality which determines its price.

2: Is getting a sleeping head, then simply turning around and selling it on the board for $70 (or $90) without having touched it at all, considered scalping?

Yes, it will be considered scalping, since it's in the same condition as it was from the company. But if you think about it, it's how they earn money, charging more from what they actually bought. People should be more aware whether they are being ripped off or not.

 

1. Absolutely not. If someone's pumping work into the thing, then they deserve compensation for it.

2. I'd say it's really optimistic. As 3 pages of others have already pointed out, there's a unique situation here created by two different companies charging two different prices (makes me wonder what it actually costs to produce them). I wouldn't immediately assume the worst of someone whose head was priced higher. Of course, I probably wouldn't buy their head when I know the head can possibly be had for less.

One thing I don't think I've seen mentioned in this thread is the shipping prices. Even if a head is $27, when you factor in EMS shipping, I'm not surprised to see an additional $10 or $15 added. For the smallest of items EMS starts at about $25, so that would still be a discount.

Be that as it may, it's very hard to say to someone, "We're doing a split, and even though the price marked is $27, we're asking you to pay $50." In a perfect world, a group might figure out the percentage discount, then apply it to all the items in a group order (i.e. a little less for the body, a little less for the head, and a little more for the sleeping head), but hey, the world's not perfect.

 

Of course not. Things like that are often successful only between friends or those you know and wouldn't mind to pay a little more to. Honestly given the situation if I were to split an mnf i doubt I'd offer the sleeping head for split if it wasn't going to unburden my cost a little more, unless someone I know would want one, or the person getting the body/open eyed head wants it.

After all, people aren't perfect too, right? : (

And oh, the first post on page three had just caught my interest. The sleeping head is being questioned for scalping just because it already has a price tag on it. The DES head which was given as gift was free AND would be made available via ala carte too. That'd make it about as attainable as any other MNF head, except for it was free in the last event. Wouldn't it be scalping to charge a normal head price for something you got free, don't ya all think? : (

 

I consider it greedyness... there is alot of it in the world and here in the marketplace which is no big suprise....I just answered another thread where they were talking about another from of greedyness....*sigh* its sad in a way...

 

I'm not keen with the term "Scalping" but my honest opinion on anybody who sells anything is always the same. Some people were born salesmen. They could sell someone a cup of half drank water for 100X the value it's worth. I see the same thing in doing it here really.

It maybe ridicules to someone, however, somewhere I'm sure that someone finds it reasonable. Your job as a buyer is to know your own digression and to be a smart shopper. If you know it's unfairly priced, don't buy it.

However, I must also ask, if you ever check how long someone with these items sell them for? Check the date at the corner and their history, you might be surprised, they may have been selling it for some time. Or they might come back without ever selling it at all.

 

I think you can sell something for as much or as little as you want as long as it isn't a controled substance. (Is studying Alcohol Responsibility in college right now) The problem is whether you can get a buyer. If you want to charge $100 for a head and someone will buy it, why not. It may not be fair but if they can't get it anywhere else... It's all supp,ly and demand.
It seems in this case that there are alot of people selling the head at the crazy prices because people are buying them. If people don't buy them either the sellers lower the price, or the buyers go to someone who did lower the price. Markets adjust and buyers and sellers have to expand, shrink and flow along with that.

 

I'm with EALC, if people are willing to pay for it, that's their business. My home business is sewing and selling cloth diapers, and in that "hobby" (which is precisely what it is for some people), there are work-at-home seamstresses asking for and getting upwards of $300 per diaper. As someone who knows precisely how much it costs to produce said poo-catcher, that disgusts me. But that's why I don't buy them. If someone with a brand snobbery problem and an excess of cash wants to pay that much for something to put on their kids' butt, who am I to stop them? /ridiculously OT rant

In my opinion, it isn't right for people to intentionally overcharge for any item. However, at the end of the day it's the buyer's decision to pay and their responsibility to do their research and make sure the price is worth it to them.

 

However, again...

If they bought and paid for it.
What they bought it for is their prerogative. No one else's.

Yes, it may be disgraceful and extremely frustrating to other collectors...

But it STILL boils down to the fact that people can do as they please with THEIR property. Which that limited or one off officially becomes once paid for and delivered.

 

Exactly.

And Limited and One offs especially should be considered an item in which demand could fetch a reasonably high profit. And the owner may have bought the item without the intention of flipping it and found it not to their liking. In which case it is ENTIRELY their choice if they decide to seek a profit on their aesthetic loss. Yet some here seem to think that a one off or limited should be flipped at same cost. When what it boils down to... Is no matter the asking price... If someone is willing to pay it, its reasonable. If not, the seller will count their loss or lower the price.

In other hobbies, rare pieces often shoot up in value. Its a bit pretentious to assume that for the convenience and sake of others one should forgo a potential profit on an item that may be next to impossible for them to replace at the cost they bought it in the first place.

 

A lot of this conversation seems to revolve around a person's intent. Which "we" cannot ever know as "we" do not read minds. How do we know if they were going to keep it and then changed their mind. Maybe they want to recover some EMS fees and or paypal fees (something anyone in a split will still have to do + shipping to their own house).

 

I might be a newbie but I see it as the same as a person taking up a hobby painting and selling cars or trains taking a existent car/train, re-painting it then selling it on eBay for more than the original market value of the train or car.
It's a exercise of their craft. I only see a problem if the person takes a head that is already painted by another then sells it, claiming it as their own.

 

1: Is getting a sleeping head, modding it and painting it, or simply painting it, and turning around to sell it for $70 considered scalping?

No. Not if a good deal of work was put into it. I mean, having modded eyes open and having done faceups, it's a big deal.

2: Is getting a sleeping head, then simply turning around and selling it on the board for $70 (or $90) without having touched it at all, considered scalping?

Not scalping, per say. More like price gouging. XD But if they're selling...that sets the price for the market more than what they bought it for.

 

hmmmmm, i have to say it "does" kind of bother me if someone sells a "gift" head for a high price. it just seems to me as if they are taking advantage of their fellow hobbyists, although, everyone does have the same opportunity to get the gift head in the first place, and don't "have" to buy the head second hand.

 

Dictionary Definition
v. intr.

1. To engage in the reselling of something, such as tickets, at a price higher than the established value.
2. To buy and sell securities or commodities for small quick profits.