Would you consider this SCALPING?

I consider scalping to be say, buying a Soom limited without it's fantasy parts (defeating the purpose of that doll) and then turning around and popping the doll on MP for more than it would have cost to get the fantasy parts in the first place. You've sort of defeated the purpose of the doll having fantasy parts, reduced the opportunity for the company to make money on the fantasy parts, reduced someone's chances of getting that doll with fantasy parts, and now you're charging more than it would have remotely cost to get it with all the details. Yeah, that's pretty silly to me, and I've seen posts on the MP recently for the Soom Kivi, human. *ducks and covers* Don't flame me...

I would pay a fair price for sleeping heads just like I'd pay more for open eyed heads for two reasons: 1. I don't want to wait for them arrive, 2. I may not have had the money at the time, but now presently do. I wouldn't pay more than $50 or so though (for the sleeping head, I mean).

 

Although I agree that inflated secondhand prices for incomplete fullsets can be mind boggling, the logic of the above quoted part escapes me. If a company offers the option to buy a limited doll without certain parts, they are "reducing" that opportunity themselves, but I personally feel they are actually increasing their chances to sell parts people wouldn't get if a customer has to buy the complete set in order to get those parts.
In case of limited dolls with an order period (i.e. you can get as many you want during the order period) I don't understand how anyone is responsible for what other people want, but can't buy. If other people want fantasy parts and you don't, why should you buy what you don't want? You are not destroying certain parts, so how could you be reducing other people's chances of getting what they want? You're just not increasing their chances, but no one is under the obligation to cater to the desire of strangers when it concerns luxury goods.

 

This is true, and in the end it boils down to supply and demand, and what buyers are willing to pay, which defies ethics for the most part anyway. *shrug*

 

I personally don't think ethics have much to do with selling secondhand luxury goods. Ethics play an important role when it comes to things people need like food and medicines for which you can ask a lot of money and people will pay or else they will die. It's just not ethical to do force people to pay inflated prices for basic necessities.
If someone asks a ridiculously high price for a doll and you can't or don't want to pay that price, then the only thing that happens is that you won't get your much coveted doll. You won't die and you won't get sick. You just don't get your doll. Ethics are more at place in situations where real harm can be done and where people shouldn't do harm.

It's annoying to see people buy two dolls or doll heads that are limited in number only to put one for sale right after they received it and for double or triple the price they originally paid. I dare to say people who do that are greedy and planned it from the beginning, but I won't say it's unethical. Ugly, yes. Unethical, no, because nobody gets truly harmed and nobody is put through real suffering. (You're not really suffering when you don't get your dream doll.)

 

To me, having the doll(Say, a SooM MD) for a period of time and having to sell it and getting more than you expected for it, is ok - As most of the time, you put it up for a set price, lots of PMs come in, and it turns into an auction. People will pay what they want to.
It might have only cost you $700 for the fullset, but the buyer has just paid $2000 as they want it so badly, then well done.

But! To buy a LE Doll, and put it on the MP the same day it arrives, and inflated the price by two/three times, to me, is scalping. It's disgusting and I really think it should be a moderated thing.
I've actually seen it countless times.

Most recently, a seller on the MP who has tried selling Dollshe's from the 50% event.
They only paid $330 for it, and tried to sell one for $900 ?! They have done this not once, nor twice, but I've seen it on three occasions. That should be policed. Especially as the doll was only taken out of the box just for sales pics.
That is scalping.

Annoying? It actually makes my blood boil.
I know people like that have it planned from the beginning, and that is why it's so bad.
They know people will pay inflated after-market costs, and that's the problem. I would never line someone elses pocket in such a way.
I paid a little bit more for a doll from the MP once before, about $90extra, but that's as much as I was willing to pay. I wouldn't have paid anything more than that, no matter how much I wanted that doll.And I only paid that as I realised what a fool I was to not have bought it when it was available from the company! :

 

Sadly, people buying more than one of a limited doll just to sell the "extras" for jacked-up prices is all too common. It's not immoral, exactly, nor is it illegal as far as I know. However, it's a very good way to end up with more than one doll when people refuse to pay the inflated prices. In the end, that's the only way high prices on the secondary market will ever come down--if people simply won't pay the asking price.

 

Scalping of luxury items to me is iffy at best, but not wrong unless the company specifically says it is. Dolls are a luxury item and it's not the end of the world if you missed out on a limited doll and your only option is to buy it at a marked up price. The only way to discourage scalping is to not buy anything at scalped prices.

When I see scalped items on the marketplace here I just quietly laugh to myself and keep looking.

 

Loz64 is right. The only way to drive prices down to sensible levels is to refuse to pay inflated prices...but then there are some people who just can't contemplate that because they're so desperate to get their hands on the doll... so in some ways, you can't really win.

If there's money to be made, there are people out there with a good nose for it and will raise prices to catch some for themselves...there are people out there who neeeeeeeed to have that specific doll they missed out on and are prepared and willing to pay over the odds to get it... and so it goes on and on.

I was brought up by bargain hunter parents, so to date I have never paid $1000+ for a doll on the secondary market. One day I might, if there was a doll I thought was worth it, but at the moment I haven't found the doll that would drive me to spending that much, particularly if the doll cost significantly less to buy direct from the company at the time of release.

 

Well, you're not getting the sleeping head unless you or a group buys the whole doll, so you have to factor that in too. I don't think it's scalping. If someone's willing to pay the price, they can charge whatever they want.

 

Personally I rarely feel more than annoyed when I see people scalping luxury goods. It annoys me when I have to pay inflated prices for nice items that I want, but nobody is twisting my arm to buy them so I have a choice to not buy those things. There are more than enough other dolls I'd like to buy. Dolls that are not being scalped so I have plenty of choice.

 

Surely the Sleeping Head at $27 is only available if you buy the full body and other head, so it's an extra at a discount rate. You couldn't buy the head alone for $27 could you? If you are doing a split then it seems a bit rich for anyone who didn't actually pay for the full set to pay just $27 for the sleeping head. They should split the cost of both heads evenly, that's supposing the person who end up with the body is also getting a discount.

Whatever, selling something you managed to get hold of cheaply at the going rate isn't scalping, it's just business. If someone offers to sell me something at a hugely discounted rate, fab... if, after some time, I later decide to sell that item on, I'm under no obligation to sell at the discount I bought it for if the going rate is higher. I would make a profit and that would be my good fortune, and lets be honest, it would maybe go toward cancelling out the times you have to sell at a loss because the going rate for your item is now LESS than you paid for it!