It happens every time a hot item hits the market. People keen to make a few extra bucks will put their names on the waiting list and snatch up the very first examples to reach consumers, then sell them on the Buy/Sell forum at a markup. While I don't mean to price police and while I understand the concept of arbitrage, should such practices be allowed on the forums? I mean, how is it any different from the recently outlawed memory cards with no UPC? The practice of cashing in on mail-in rebates and selling the brand-new cards was deemed to be a "commercial sale" and is therefore no longer allowed on the forums here. Is it any different if I buy a 5D Mark II for the MSRP and sell it on here for above that price? Essentially I am making the waiting list longer for those people that might actually be planning on using the item, and I am making profit by selling it here. If I am allowed to do this, why shouldn't I be allowed to sell unopened memory cards at a price higher than the after-rebate cost to me?
Personally, I don't care to have the latest and greatest, especially when it comes to camera bodies since they depreciate so quickly. I also don't feel that the practice of arbitrage is unethical, as it is a matter of matching supply and demand. However, as a matter of consistency, should it be allowed on the Buy/Sell forum under the current guidelines and standards?
I'm with you but I think we are in the minority. If its a no longer produced item then whatever the market allows, but if its new I think its a bit cheesy.
John
The short answer is that the Buy and Sell forum was explicitly configured to encourage the baldest exercise of the free enterprise system. Suggest anything to the contrary and the price police police will descend upon you in force. The solution I've found is to no longer complain about it, but recognize the forum for what it is and go elsewhere if you're looking for an environment in which participants actually help each other find good deals on equipment rather than try to take each other for all they're worth.
Another helpful suggestion is to point out that money talks and BS walks: If you don't like the policies of the B&S forum then you should certainly not pay money to obtain posting privileges thereon.
I am with you on this one.
There are those who will tkae everything they can get and then some, to me this ruins the B&S and makes it no better than Fleabay.
When selling I ask what I think is a fair price based on recent sales.
When buying if I dont like the price Ill PM the seller with an offer that I think is fair based on recent sales.
The whole 5DII sales really bother me. Makes me think of Nigerian scammers. I would like to think other members here would hold themselves to a higher standard but at the same time know that there is always one in every crowd, recently there have been plenty. Most of the time I see someone price gouging I put them on my ignore list.
Yes, I understand that no one is forcing me to buy them. If you read my post you will see that my question is why this practice is allowed when selling unopened memory cards with no UPC is not.
Tossing out what you don't like is the easy part. What is your solution?
Call it what you want, but you really seem to be proposing some price policing. How would you propose that be done? How would you know, for example, if bought a lens for $200 five years ago and the current market rate for that same lens is now $500. Surely you would not suggest I sell that very lens for $200 (or less) just out of the kindness of my heart? And certainly you wouldn't mean to imply that someone who sells at the market rate (regardless of what they paid for the item), is automatically a bad person or trying to rip someone off?
IMO, if one spends a little time on the B&S forum, it's really not difficult to realize who actually uses their gear and might be just selling it at market rates, or those who are using B&S to make a few extra bucks.
Personally, if I'm looking to buy something I buy at a price that I'm confortable with...I don't care what is motivating the seller to sell. If the price is right and I'm confortable with that price, I buy. On the flip side, if I'm selling something and you don't like my price, please move on. Simple.
I honestly can not begin to imagine how this could be otherwise or what solution you have for regulating/policing something like this. But I will be anxious to read your solution.
free market
n. An economic market in which supply and demand are not regulated or are regulated with only minor restrictions.
While it's easy to see who is trying to make a few extra bucks, I don't think someone has to really use their gear in order to be a respectable seller. In fact, I think some of the best ones are those that don't really use their gear and sell it at a loss.
Right... Perhaps there was something wrong with my wording. I am not saying that the practice of arbitrage is unethical or inappropriate, or that it shouldn't be allowed here. What I'm asking is, what is (or what should be) the boundary line between what is considered a commercial sale and a non-commercial sale? I've used the example of unopened memory cards with UPC removed as a comparison to selling new items at a markup because I think it relates most closely. People should be free to charge what they want, and if they can sell at that price then more power to them. But if I can do it with a camera, why can't I do it with a memory card?
As an extreme scenario, if I were to buy some memory cards, cut out the UPC, and flat-out say, "I have opened the package to comply with B&S rules but I Have never used the cards," does that all of a sudden become a non-commercial sale?
