Scalper/Dealer Difference?

[TrueDave]

Since there are collectors and dealers in here I am risking a heated debate I worry by asking what is the difference between a scalper and a dealer ?

I have heard teh question posed before but I am having trouble really telling the difference aside from dealing in NEW products.

[jp1969]

A scalper will jump on all thats hot,hogging as much as he can in the hopes of making money off people looking for items.(I like to make show scalpers sweat!I usually spot them and buy my tickets 15 mins into the show.Get 40-80percent off ticket price if patient.)
A dealer will buy and sell,maybe in the hopes of flipping for cash or needed stuff.
Does that make sense?
My opinion only here.

[Mikey]

A dealer can have many definitions

1. A collector who also sells (extra's etc)
2. A collector who buys and sells to help finance his collecting
3. A person who's only interested in buying to resell to turn a profit.

All of the above are a legit part of the collecting community.

[TrueDave]

No its still seems like it comes back to NEW stuff and the hyperness of Fans.

I have never considered the old guy in the Flea Market with rows of Rambo figures and Vintage items a scalper.

But they guy down the isle who has stuff I've only seen in Toy Fair Magazine . . . .?

If you sit out at 6 AM waiting for TRU to open on a Thursday are you a scalper?

Dave.

[jds1911a1]

No its still seems like it comes back to NEW stuff and the hyperness of Fans.

I have never considered the old guy in the Flea Market with rows of Rambo figures and Vintage items a scalper.

But they guy down the isle who has stuff I've only seen in Toy Fair Magazine . . . .?

If you sit out at 6 AM waiting for TRU to open on a Thursday are you a scalper?

Dave.

If your only intention is to take the rare/chase figs off the shelf to sell them at an inflated price on ebay while the demand is up you are a scalper. Whether you use the money as income or to finance collecting it's still scalping

Dealers either sell older items that are not available anymore or if an outfit like brian's toys or Big bad toys they buy from the MFR directly (When possible) or acts as a reseller for store or SDCC exclusives at a slightly inflated price for those who don't have them at retail. They may have higher prices for pieces that are more desired to offset the expense of stuff that no one wants they get stuck with (if it peg warms at wallmart odds are they eat em) when they ordered the case lots from the MFR.

the dealer may also be a scalper if they hoard rare items to maximise profits over the short term

if you go to the store at 6 am for your own collection or to help fellow collectors (ie I'll get it for you if you pay for the item and the cost to ship) your are just a collector

[jp1969]

Probably

If you sit out at 6 AM waiting for TRU to open on a Thursday are you a scalper?

Dave.

Either that,or you got no life.

[megoapesnut]

The answer to me is this. If you are buying and reselling, and your prices are within norm, you are a dealer. If your prices are off the chart, you are a scalper. It can be new or old stuff. The obvious ones are the people who sell "pre-orders" on ebay for new items and charge more than you will pay for it when it is eventually released. But it can also be somebody selling older stuff as well. If it is an item that sells for $100-200 on ebay on a regular basis and they list it with a buy it now of $500, they are a scalper, unless it is in some insanely mint condition that never shows up, then it's on the fence a little. So, the bottom line answer is that the line between dealer and scalper is very subjective and completely up the the buyer to decide.

[jimsmegos]

I say anything over 30 percent of MSRP on new items is scalping as far as a dealer goes, but then again a real dealer could/ should be able to get the items through Diamond. Older stuff is a buyers market. Both sides however can be contended with through patience. Case and point, I just scored both a Mattel Sinestro and Green Lantern for $25 combined from a dealer on ebay. I had got my Lex from the same guy a month or so back for $25 so in my spin doctor mind it all balanced out.

[Mikey]

By the definitions described above i'm not a scalper and never was, but I really don't see anything wrong with the practice of it.

The guy is legally beating collectors out of a good score just so he could turn a profit.
To me that sounds like a Capitalist American way to do business.

If all "rare" figures were evenly distributed and there was no competition or favoritism suddenly they wouldn't be rare anymore ... This alone would probably stop a lot of people from collecting.

My view is scalpers are a necessary evil to keep the hobby live and healthy.

[megocrazy]

A scalper is a dealer that has pi$$ed someone off.

It's funny but that really is the truth in today's context. A scalper used to be anyone that bought something with limited supply and sold it for a higher price. I myself did that with concert tickets for many years in the 80's.

Today pretty much every toy show has a bunch of "dealers" that are selling new, still available at retail when you can find them, items at higher than retail prices. Which by loose definition makes them a scalper. The only time you find them selling stuff at retail prices is when they can't sell it after the hype wears off.

But pretty much all of us has a number of people we associate with that do this regularly and we don't refer to them as scalpers. Especially if you frequent toy shows, flea markets, or toy shops. However if one of them was to ever beat us to a particular figure we wanted, that was hanging on a peg in a TRU, they would probably become a ___ ____ _______ scalper in our minds. Fill in the blanks with what you deem appropriate.

I personally only collect vintage stuff, the one exception being the new mego-like releases, and never pay after market prices for any of them. I can not recall a regular issue, mass produced, figure in the past 10 years that I have not seen at a cheaper price after the hype wore off. Doesn't matter what it was. Beanie Babies, SW, anyone want a long saber variation or the once impossible to find but later packed 25 to a case white Princess Leia? I can remember people paying obscene prices $50-$100, for those and then crying when they hit clearance prices at retail, because they were 10 deep on a peghook in Kay Bee and TRU.

For the record I have no issues with scalpers either. If they want to run around searching for toys to resell, more power to them.

[txteach]

There are some people here who could care less about mego but buy either off ebay or other places and try to sell here to make a big profit. Are they scalpers? I think so. I remember in Denver many years ago there was a network of scalpers who would know shipment schedules to get to stores before anyone else did to buy short packed figures. It made me hate scapers.

[LonnieFisher]

A scalper is a dealer that has pi$$ed someone off.

Exactly!

[Brazoo]

Buying at wholesale prices and for selling retail prices = Dealer

Buying at retail prices and selling for premium prices = Scalper

[dumbldor]

There are some people here who could care less about mego but buy either off ebay or other places and try to sell here to make a big profit. Are they scalpers? I think so.

IMO that is a dealer. A dealer flips something that, ideally, he does not care about.

Speaking from my personal experience, I do some 'flipping' to support my Mego addiction (as many of us do), which is really hard. It would be much easier to deal Megos if I had no interest in them. I find myself wanting to hoard everything!

A scalper, to me, is someone who buys up quantities of things that are (hypothetically) available to everyone in the current market (not the secondary market), and marks the price way up (at least 25% higher, but often double or triple). Concert tickets and the latest 'hot' toy are good examples.

[dumbldor]

Buying at wholesale prices and for selling retail prices = Dealer

Buying at retail prices and selling for premium prices = Scalper

These definitions obviously apply to new products.

For the secondary market (i.e. collectables, vintage) there is no such thing as 'wholesale' and 'retail'.