Almost over the hobby and it's stupid prices!!

You are missing the point!!!

I get overheads.... I get ups and downs of buying and selling.....

But this is Blatant and Obvious profiteering based on the effect on the secondary market!

It is like DACW saying "I know I have some Lin's in here somewhere, so I am going to make everyone pay me for the ones that some people will find"

If you think it is ok.... then good luck ever retaining a loyal customer base in any type of retail business!!

And just ride it out. Its not like you were going to buy any of this product anytime soon other then maybe a teaser box with a larger order. To me, its a non issue because anyone in their right mind would not buy when the price is high unless they are willing to gamble like on craps.

As for loyalty, what makes you think that more then 20% of there sales comes from basketball? From Australia it does, as no one but them want to ship here, however they are not looking to market to just Australia. I am not defending them if they are blatantly ripping people off, however, being that no one wants to ship here, I would give them a pass as they have the right to sell what they want to who they want. If someone feels that they just NEED that Lin card, then so be it, it would be cheaper to buy off ebay as a single.

Though it is disturbing that they would do this, however in business, the first thing you learn is as much as you screw customers over, IE, Telstra and DODO come to mind, you will still find people who will buy your product. Both of these companies have kept the Ombudsman in $$$ for a long time, however, we still use there services.

Basketball is not all they sell, so wait a few months until the price comes down again on these blaster boxes and all in the world will be fine.

So we are suddenly only talking about the Rack pack stuff...? Funny, i thought it was a general conversation about all their prices...

At the end of the day if you don't like it, don't buy it! Basketball is lowly sales wise in the US, Baseball smashes it out of the park (pun intended!)! So does NFL for that matters........ They have been around a long time, they know what they are doing, yes they are making a sh!tload of cash of certain products, but they also know they have the monopoly on some stuff, and they would know that some stuff, ie Classics etc would be starting to dry up!

They'll continue to operate either way, they'll continue to make cash either way, Mike gives the PERFECT example with Gold Standard, prices fluctuate like hell over a 3 month or so period, no one jumps up and down about this, but of course when its reversed they do! When the stock sits there for months the price will fall again, if people can't control themselves or do the proper research then maybe they shouldn't be buying cards?

It was always about Rack Pack stuff as being an example!

Prices fluctuations based on demand, I get.... I have said this before!

But what give the retailer the right to take away the potential profit from the consumer based on 'Secondary market sales'??? That is what I have a problem with.

The point is that the pricing went up BEFORE there was a supply issue.

The products are originally priced based on what you could potentially pull. Why should it change when something in the product that wasn't originally a 'product hit' becomes one???

There are already enough products on the market that don't give you good value for money!! By them bumping the price because you could POSSIBLY pull a Lin... then they are taking the value out of these products!

Ans that doesn't even take into consideration the collateral damage - the people who are not after the Lin's

This $hits FuC#ed, they are thieves in my mind. But on the other hand if Tyrekes prices went up 800% over a month or two i would have no problems selling all mine for a profit.

matty83 said:

This $hits FuC#ed, they are thieves in my mind. But on the other hand if Tyrekes prices went up 800% over a month or two i would have no problems selling all mine for a profit.

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Double standard.. I like it really....

How is it double standards??
Comparing the secondary market to the retailers???

The Gold Standard prices are NOT a good example, because all box prices do that

They come out at a high price... then drop over time once the hype dies... then go back up when they become rarer! It is just the way products sell!

Putting it up because of hype like Lin is blatantly taking potential profits from collectors. Simple!

Adam, you have killed this horse....

I am not saying you are wrong, I am just pointing out things. Your entitled to your opinion, and I respect that, however because someone does not come out and agree with you does it mean your wrong. I have even said you are right in a round about way. Geez!

sorta looks like a horse

MandC Perth said:

Adam, you have killed this horse....

I am not saying you are wrong, I am just pointing out things. Your entitled to your opinion, and I respect that, however because someone does not come out and agree with you does it mean your wrong. I have even said you are right in a round about way. Geez!

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I get it! I have said the same thing several times... I just get frustrated when people ignore the point I am making and focus on a different thing to what the original discussion was about!

drob50 said:

I get it! I have said the same thing several times... I just get frustrated when people ignore the point I am making and focus on a different thing to what the original discussion was about!

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Nah mate, your all good. Your point is well taken and I don't think many people disagree with you. However its the real world and as much as it shits me to say this, it is what it is.

Great discussion, some really strong opinions here. Here's mine. If you think something is too highly priced, don't buy it. Any smart business will jump all over the next big thing, and while this may not be right from a collectors point of view, from a business point of view it's a no brainer.
Linsanity, which like the Mining Boom, has come about because of far more than one factor, (opportunity with Knicks injuries, Harvard alumni interest in hobby they know nothing about - can you say Buy It Now, Asian interest counted in the Billions) so to NOT take advantage of it would mean you should shut the doors and spend more time in the garden.
As a set collector myself I have not included myself in any Linsanity shenanig