Scalper/Dealer Difference?

[Zemo]

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.

I agree. Most people know when their getting scalped. You volunteer for the haircut.

[Adam West]

I guess to me, and it is a combination of what others have already said. It is someone who jumps on the latest hot item that someone wants....buys as much of it as they can and will sell it for as much as they can until the demand/supply chain equalizes and then they move onto something else.

By contrast and I guess this is my opinion, is a dealer may still try to rip you off but I think they do generally care about the items that they are selling and usually have some knowledge of it.

It's definitely a fine line. I have seen dealers who do jump on the bandwagon and will effectively scalp which is to say jump into buying those zhu-zhu pets when there was a shortage and charging $100+ for a $9 toy.

As Mike said, scalpers do serve a purpose. People might feel like they take advantage of people but most of the items they scalp are not necessities and the scalper is taking a risk. If collectors would simply ignore the scalping prices, much of this would go away.

I have told this story many times before but I had a neighbor who had the largest Starting Lineup Collection I have ever seen. He had 15-20 copies of say a Brett Favre rookie....I would try to trade something I had that he wanted and the prices were about the same but he always wanted something extra. I finally gave up and told him I really enjoyed the hobby but based on his desire of wanting more than a fair trade just decided that it would be best if we just shared new acquistions to our collections and not trade so we could remain friends.

I had moved away right before the Starting Lineup market bottomed out and I can only imagine how much money he had invested in these. He had a sister who worked at Wal-Mart who would pluck all the best pieces for him which is was paying retail for but I know he was paying big bucks for some of the rare pieces. I'm guessing he had $50,000 or more tied up in his collection and I haven't had a chance to talk to him to see if he still owned his collection or what happened. Fortunately, I saw that the bottom was dropping, placed an ad in Tuff Stuff (this was pre Ebay days) and sold all of the lineups that really weren't that important to me and simply took the money and funnelled it into another collection.

[Brazoo]

These definitions obviously apply to new products.

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

Yeah - my definition of the term scalper doesn't apply to someone buying/selling in the secondary market. How does that work?

[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'.

[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.

[Brazoo]

Buying at wholesale prices and for selling retail prices = Dealer

Buying at retail prices and selling for premium prices = Scalper

[LonnieFisher]

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

Exactly!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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

[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.