Might be true, but the same thing could happen between a 10 and a 9 instead of a 10 and a black label. In the end people will care about having the elusive label above their card, at least that’s my theory.
Yep, same thing applies for psa 9 and 10s, although its just even more relevant for black labels. I mean thats why the forum always says “buy the card, not the label” but many collectors either don’t know about PSA/BGSs inconsistent grading or don’t care, and many just follow the money. A psa 10 is a far better investment than a psa 9.
If you categorically only like cards you already know from your childhood (“muh nostalgia”), I have to assume that you also only listen to one genre of music, always order the same food in the restaurant and are a terribly boring person to have sex with.
Flippers and scalpers aren’t bad and people should stop complaining about them. They only exist cause people are buying the cards at those prices and cause of demand.
Hey man I just said a celebrity doesn’t deserve to get hate for all the problems in the hobby. Feel free to scrutinize their other actions I have no interest defending that aspect.
Generally, I agree. But it’s context dependent. Scalpers buying out modern product to sell at a profit is unfortunate because it makes it harder for children to get product. Fewer children will be introduced to Pokemon if Target/Walmart are always wiped clean by scalpers.
That said, there’s nothing wrong with scalping/flipping. Pokemon is a totally unnecessary, luxury good and it’s not unethical to try to profit off of it. But scalpersdo still have a net negative impact on the hobby, IMO. Doesn’t mean they’re the root of all evil, but it’s still mildly unfortunate.
Yeh, as far as his context within the hobby, he has done no wrong and anything he has changed is simply something you need to adapt to. Buuuut everything else about him is pretty yikes
Sure, but I don’t see why it matters. As long as he’s not dragging his other shit into the hobby, then I don’t see why it’s a negative thing if he wants to open some packs. There are plenty of shitty people who enjoy the same things I do. And it generally doesn’t impact me.
Nothing wrong with it all. The only thing that bugs me is people going on about “hes changed” or how hes a great guy because he definitely is not and definitely is a terrible influence on the millions of kids that watch him. Im pretty sure its people that dont like some huge name in the hobby being a terrible person and trying to find ways to forgive him. Its similar to fans of artists like kanye that are overly apologetic because they love his music (I would know, im a kanye fan but can recognize he is not a good person)
If we kept the discussion about cards only, I’d have nothing bad to say but the moment people start saying hes a great guy in general, I cant help refute. Because he has done really terrible things and most certainly hasn’t changed.
I don’t think scalping has a net negative impact on collectibles (goods). Scalping for services is more questionable. Scalping tickets for concerts or sporting events is different since the people purchasing those tickets in the end intend on going to the event to “enjoy the experience”. However, with collectibles, increasing the market price of an asset is great, since we want to collect items that appreciate in value.
I’m sure you could argue that scalping prevents kids and casual hobbyists from enjoying the experience of Pokémon collecting but it seems like the people that complain most about scalping in this hobby are the adult collectors on forums and subreddits anyways. And regardless of whether the people that are buying the product are scalpers or collectors who want a large share of the market, it doesn’t really matter to the casual kid collector.
I remember when Base Set came out, Pokémon cards were hard to get a hold of. And there was WAY less scalping due to the lack of social media and e-commerce websites. But to the casual collecting kid that I was, it didn’t matter whether the product was scalped or not, I just knew that obtaining it was hard. I think the elusiveness made me want it even more!
Furthermore, scalping allows consumers who lack access to the product to obtain it in return for money. Not everyone lives a stone’s throw away from a Target, Wal-Mart or an LGS (including myself) & it’s normal for people to be priced out of certain goods and services anyways. Currently, people with the ability to wait outside of Target & Wal-marts to buy the stock at MSRP are the ones getting the product, along with those who have access to stores like these that sell at MSRP. What’s the difference between being priced out and being limited by the time/proximity/physical capabilities required to normally access these products?
I agree that scalping is not unethical and I would go further to say that scalping actually has a net positive impact on collectibles. You’d be surprised but scalping makes the scalped goods… more collectible. There is very little objective difference between someone buying 10 ETBs as a collector or buying 10 ETBs as a scalper; it’s all the same and is ultimately good the hobby.
This guy gets it. There’s no difference at the end of the day if a collector buy every etb in stock to pull a zord or if a flipper does. The end result is the same
Yes, the people complaining the most do seem to be adult collectors. And I have zero sympathy for adult collectors who are mad about scalpers. It’s a ridiculous thing to whine about.
As has been said, scalpers are just a symptom of high demand and low supply. But the fact is that scalpers of modern product make it more difficult for children to get Pokémon cards. Most children don’t have parents who are willing to go online and buy the product at a 200% markup. So there a lot of children who aren’t able to collect and discover Pokémon cards as a direct result of scalpers. To me, that’s a negative thing.