(Mar. 23, 2013 4:30 AM)Insomniac. Wrote: I was mainly replying to Tech's post asking why people would price things higher than they're actually worth. If people will pay, why not. I wasn't relating it back to the Beyblade marketplace exactly where things are a bit different. And as you pointed out; the audience is always a big factor. So yeah I didn't think you were rude or anything but I don't know much about the Beyblade market to begin with, haha.
He already answered that: Ethics. Just because it's the way it works doesn't mean it should be - I sold the ZEO I got to 3-Dog at a price that just covered my relatively low costs (and the relatively high shipping costs as a result of Australia Post having next to no competition for non-bulk mailing) rather than trying to get more for it (and I figure I could've got $50-70 out of it, maybe more if I was lucky enough to find someone dumb enough) . However, even then, the inflation the plastics and HMS markets have seen these past few months in particular is above and beyond that - something only possible due to misinformed buyers and unethical sellers - opportunistic perhaps but frankly, buying something for ~$30 and pricing it at ten times that much is more than opportunistic in my books.
Though lately Y!JA is such a mess that it's not really the case so much any more, and they're buying stuff for more than it's worth with the idea that everyone is going to pay the prices the few crazed people with more money than sense are - which is a recipe for disaster.
This is the core issue here, and the one we seek to address - yes, these are collectibles but we've seen a massive increase in price with, if anything, a slight increase in supply for some of these items - it's just not right.
We're not trying to make these tops worthless, just trying to talk a little more sense into the market by providing a guide to what these things are worth - and that guide will still allow sellers to make plenty of profit - particularly by increasing the overall volume of sales, as these prices still allow profits to be made as long as sellers haven't overpaid for current stock - some might make a short term loss but they'll recoup that soon enough, and really, it's kinda their own fault for not realising what was going on with the market. I mean, do remember that 3-Dog himself is a seller, after all - and, not being from Japan, one with higher costs than a lot of those responsible.
I hope this helps explain to everyone that we are not trying to make these things worthless, just attempting to rectify aberrations in the market that only developed quite recently, and save kids from spending silly amounts of money on tops in a bubble that would eventually burst anyway - and much more violently than this. And, hopefully keep the actual games of plastics and HMS alive as a bonus, haha.