Store to would-be "Rock Stars": "Fuck You&qu

[TheDarkling]

Whilst I have little problem with people with more money than sense getting fleeced this could back fire for the store.

Around here during the fuel protests a petrol station increased it's prices by upwards of 100%, they got custom because people needed the fuel but once the petrol flowed again people continued to have ill will towards them, it's a carpet shop now.

[General Zod]

Around here during the fuel protests a petrol station increased it's prices by upwards of 100%, they got custom because people needed the fuel but once the petrol flowed again people continued to have ill will towards them, it's a carpet shop now.

Shitty analogy, since videogames are not a necessity.

[SCRawl]

Ah, so when you refuse to pay MSRP for something, that's because it's "overpriced". How convenient.

Well, if (for example) a car weren't overpriced, why is it that many of them can be bargained down routinely? I suppose if I were to buy a Ferrari (fat chance of that happening), I'd be paying the MSRP whether or not it's overpriced, because according to the market it's not. Ferraris are able to command a certain price from the market, and most Fords are priced above what the market will bear. It might be a purposeful strategy -- price cars a little too high, so that when the customers purchase them (and pay less than the sticker price) they feel as though they've gotten a deal.

In other words, yeah, some things really are overpriced, and some of those might even be overpriced on purpose.

[Anguirus]

I don't know if I'd boycott the store (by which I mean the local establishment, not the chain), but I'd probably give preference to other retailers.

They may be fleecing idiots, but they are only the idiots who decided that giving their kid Rock Band for Christmas was worth $300 to them. If this guy wants to pat himself on the back for enriching his bosses with the dollars of the desperate, he can go ahead, but he doesn't get one from me.

[Covenant]

I think this is pretty hilarious, but hey, I say go for it. I'm all for cheap games, and I think that 50 bucks for a game that I beat in an afternoon (pretty soundly) is over-priced, but this is one of those instances that the market pressure works just fine. If someone wants to pay me 5000 for my Wii, because they can't find one, I'd sell. If I had the only Wii's, I'd sell that too.

Would it make people happier if they were going to auction off the copies and give half of it to charity? I'm sure it would! However, it'd still be buying an overpriced game that you'll be able to buy a week later for normal price. It's like the idiots spending thousands for a PS3 or sleeping outside to be first to see the new Star Wars movie. If people out there are happy to act like an idiot and pay more for the same product, hey, why not? Sportscars are the same way. There's tons of luxury items, and that's what games are.

[Darth Wong]

Ah, so when you refuse to pay MSRP for something, that's because it's "overpriced". How convenient.

Well, if (for example) a car weren't overpriced, why is it that many of them can be bargained down routinely?

So how do you explain the Big Three automakers losing money hand over fist?

You're full of shit. There's no objective basis whatsoever for your claim that cars are overpriced in general. You're just making that up as a way of rationalizing your bizarre notion that videogames should be immune to market forces but cars should not.

[Flagg]

I can't believe anyone is saying they would be so morally outraged that they would boycott the store over this. Fleecing idiots of their money is not unethical; what ethical principle does it violate? Or has MSRP somehow been elevated to the status of "ethical principle" now?

This is such bullshit; how many products are routinely sold below MSRP, because the market won't bear it? I don't hear anyone complaining about that, do I? I don't see Flagg or SCRawl saying that they go to the car dealer and insist on paying full retail price even though other customers are haggling them down by thousands of dollars. They take their savings just like everyone else, and they probably brag about it too. But when a store charges more than MSRP, then it's suddenly a crime against society!

I don't have an issue with them charging more for it and I said that I don't think it's unethical. I just think it's a dick move on their part and it would cause me to never shop there again because I view the markup as extreme and don't want to do business with people who are willing to pull a stunt like that. It's the same reason I don't buy from Ticketmaster.

But it doesn't take much for me to never shop at a place again. I refuse to go to EB games because it's like a fucking pawn shop in there now and I despise their policy of refusing to sell games the day they are released to people who didn't pre-order them no matter how many copies they have in stock. Again, not unethical, it just strikes me as a dick move. Plus it's retarded.

[Covenant]

It's not a dickish move though, all they're doing is selling the few copies they recieved early, when they weren't supposed to, at an inflated price above the board rather than as underhanded deals.

Think of it this way, all the total assholes who wanted this game and might have taken a copy that could have gone to someone else later when they were supposed to be being sold bought his as Retard Discount now, and won't be in line later. If something isn't supposed to be available yet to the public, but some is, and it's massively inflated in price, it only rewards those dumb enough to pay it.

It's not like they would have solved all the world's Rock Band demand with their microstock of games. If someone was selling the new Smash Brothers game early, or a copy of Starcraft 2 early, and they were charging 500 dollars for it, I'd laugh. I know people would buy it, sure. But people with too much money will buy anything. Remember the 5000 shower curtains?

Anyway, I think this is the most ridiculous kneejerk resposne. These copies wouldn't have gotten to you anyway, most likely. It's like people being angry that they didn't get their accidentally shipped copy. The store could have just as well decided to hold back supply until the rest of the games ship in, and then NOBODY would have it before Christmas.

Are people really angry that someone else got something they want a week early, and for ten times the cost (actually, I presume the game costs more like, what, 200? It comes with controllers, right?), and they're mad they couldn't get it a week early, at regular cost? That makes no sense. It's not about fairness. It's not gonna cost you any extra money later just because these morons got it now. And you're not going to not have it later--they're all going to hit stores when they're supposed to. But an element of the demand that would have been there AFTER the holidays is now gone, and they had to pay a ton of money. Sounds fair to me.

[Flagg]

Well, from what the article said, they ordered them from a US broker. So that tells me that it wasn't "accidentally" shipped to them early, they specifically imported them to sell at the marked up price.

The USD price is $170, so I'm thinking that's what, $190 Canadian? Or has your dollar passed ours at this point? Anyway, there would be an import fee I assume, so that would raise the price further. I figure something along the lines of $300 USD would be perfectly reasonable to me. Not that I would pay that.

I just view a $300+ markup as an astoundingly dickhead move on their part. Maybe it isn't totally rational, but that's the way I feel about it. I think if they were putting it on an auction site (or doing their own instore auction) with starting bids at the MSRP (plus the import and other associated fees), I wouldn't have an issue with it.

[Covenant]

I just don't see it that way. If they deliberately ordered them early it might be a little questionable based on business practices but I don't know about that--regardless, one person is selling it early for scads more than anyone else will have to pay. It's like if they offered a Platinum Version of it where it came with some cardboard cutouts of buxom airhead groupies and they charged 500 bucks for it. If they all decided to gouge people for MONTHS and were the sole distributor, that'd be awful dickish... but really, if people are this stupid with their money, how is it really anyone else's problem?

[Flagg]

I just don't see it that way. If they deliberately ordered them early it might be a little questionable based on business practices but I don't know about that--regardless, one person is selling it early for scads more than anyone else will have to pay. It's like if they offered a Platinum Version of it where it came with some cardboard cutouts of buxom airhead groupies and they charged 500 bucks for it. If they all decided to gouge people for MONTHS and were the sole distributor, that'd be awful dickish... but really, if people are this stupid with their money, how is it really anyone else's problem?

It's not an ethics issue, I just don't like it.

It's pretty much in the realm of personal opinion for me and I don't have a problem with anyone else choosing to spend their money there. It's just something I'll choose not to do.

[Sea Skimmer]

Who gives a fuck? If people are so absurdly desperate for that game that they’ll pay 500 bucks, then let them do it. It’s not like the video game industry wouldn’t be making a huge profit as MSRP anyway. No one has any right to be offended or upset in any damn way. If you don’t want to pay that money, then fucking wait like you’re supposed to. No one is being denied anything here. 360s went for what, 1800 dollars in Ebay when first released?

Me, I don’t buy consoles or console games, and large part of that is because of how you are pretty much selling your soul to the manufacture of that console and whatever prices and availability they want to set.

[DPDarkPrimus]

Me, I don’t buy consoles or console games, and large part of that is because of how you are pretty much selling your soul to the manufacture of that console and whatever prices and availability they want to set.

Oh, and I suppose you run a Linux box?

[TheDarkling]

Shitty analogy, since videogames are not a necessity.

Neither is Petrol, public transportation (which had priority for supply) is easily available in Britain and certainly around here in particular.

However that is neither here nor there, people weren't questioning the morality of upping the price they simply didn't think it was right to gouge people when none of the other petrol stations were.

If it had been a sweet shop during a sweet shortage people would have had the same reaction because they simply didn't like the idea that they were being ripped off.

[General Zod]

Neither is Petrol, public transportation (which had priority for supply) is easily available in Britain and certainly around here in particular.

Without fuel modern societies come to a halt. The same cannot be said for videogames. Besides, who gives a fuck if they raised the price? According to the wankers in this thread anyone raising the price on any scarce commodity is a dick. It's a stupid knee-jerk reaction.

[Covenant]

Neither is Petrol, public transportation (which had priority for supply) is easily available in Britain and certainly around here in particular.

Without fuel modern societies come to a halt. The same cannot be said for videogames. Besides, who gives a fuck if they raised the price? According to the wankers in this thread anyone raising the price on any scarce commodity is a dick. It's a stupid knee-jerk reaction.

Especially if it's going to cost the same amount later that month, essentially. I would think this to be a pretty awful move if all the businesses in the area decided to arbitrarily raise the price to 500ish before and afterwards so nobody nearby could shop for it at a reasonable price--but all that'd accomplish is people buying it online instead. There's hardly a way to spin this besides people gladly paying more than twice the box's price as some kind of self-imposed luxury tax.

[General Zod]

Especially if it's going to cost the same amount later that month, essentially. I would think this to be a pretty awful move if all the businesses in the area decided to arbitrarily raise the price to 500ish before and afterwards so nobody nearby could shop for it at a reasonable price--but all that'd accomplish is people buying it online instead. There's hardly a way to spin this besides people gladly paying more than twice the box's price as some kind of self-imposed luxury tax.

If people are willing to pay that much for it then who's to say it's unreasonable for a luxury item? Personally, my only real complaint with people jacking up prices on a rare luxury commodity is using dishonest advertising techniques to artificially justify their inflation. (Such as ebay assholes claiming a Wii comes with 14 games when it's really just Wii Sports & Wii Play).

[Covenant]

I wouldn't even say it's that dishonest--though I don't know enough about the morality of business stuff. They either got it earlier than expected or specifically ordered it to undercut the shipping time of others in the area. Either way it's certainly a bit underhanded but the consumers don't lose out, I'd be more annoyed at them for using unfair practices--like someone importing iPhones to countries they don't sell them in order to make a huge markup price on unlocked iPhones.

[General Zod]

I wouldn't even say it's that dishonest--though I don't know enough about the morality of business stuff. They either got it earlier than expected or specifically ordered it to undercut the shipping time of others in the area. Either way it's certainly a bit underhanded but the consumers don't lose out, I'd be more annoyed at them for using unfair practices--like someone importing iPhones to countries they don't sell them in order to make a huge markup price on unlocked iPhones.

Re-read my post. That's not what I'm claiming is dishonest.

[Covenant]

I understood your comment, but I figured you were applying similar logic to these store-owners. They're actually delivering what they're offering, just at a really inasne markup... were you just taking a dig at the ebay scammers and such? I'd heartily agree on that, they're trash, and that's really an awful thing to do. My tolerance for sketchy business practices runs out when it moves into deception, so I'll agree with you there.

[Sea Skimmer]

Oh, and I suppose you run a Linux box?

No, but a choice of operating system doesn’t place anything like the restrictions on content that any console does, and you’ve got way more functionality any way about it. Just take game mods for example, how many of those exist for console games that don’t involve soldering shit onto the boards? Meanwhile I can load up CoD4, which I paid less for new then a 360 user would have paid for a used copy in a store, and activating mods is an in menu option. Anyway, I got my copy of Windows at an absolutely enormous discount through a school program, so this was hardly a relevant issue to begin with.

[General Zod]

I understood your comment, but I figured you were applying similar logic to these store-owners. They're actually delivering what they're offering, just at a really inasne markup... were you just taking a dig at the ebay scammers and such? I'd heartily agree on that, they're trash, and that's really an awful thing to do. My tolerance for sketchy business practices runs out when it moves into deception, so I'll agree with you there.

Right. I don't care if they mark up something for being rare as long as they're honest about their actual description.

[SCRawl]

Ah, so when you refuse to pay MSRP for something, that's because it's "overpriced". How convenient.

Well, if (for example) a car weren't overpriced, why is it that many of them can be bargained down routinely?

So how do you explain the Big Three automakers losing money hand over fist?

They pay too much for their labour, and they face stiff competition from the imports. I'm no expert on the ins and outs of retail automobile purchase, but it seems to me that the dealerships are the ones that take the hit when the buyers deal them down. Look, I'm not trying to say that (to pull some names and numbers out of my ass) a case can't be made that a Ford Focus isn't worth the $16k it says on the sticker. I'm saying that for right or wrong, the market has decided that they won't pay quite that much for that car, and as a result they don't. I suppose that if all of the dealers would get together and decide to not dicker over the price of their cars -- as some companies have done -- the market would suddenly change its mind, one way or another.

You're full of shit. There's no objective basis whatsoever for your claim that cars are overpriced in general. You're just making that up as a way of rationalizing your bizarre notion that videogames should be immune to market forces but cars should not.

I'll defend myself by saying that I don't think that video games ought to be in a special category, and further that the situation described in the OP is not something one would normally see in an open market.

My statement that many cars are overpriced is based on the observable fact that no one will pay the asking price for those cars. (Many other manufacturers' dealers won't dicker over the price, because they don't have to. Most of those are imports, IIRC.) I'll put it to you then: if the MSRP for (most) domestic cars is the "going rate", then why will no one pay it? Is the market "wrong", or is there just a culture of not paying full price when it comes to cars?

[DPDarkPrimus]

Oh, and I suppose you run a Linux box?

No, but a choice of operating system doesn’t place anything like the restrictions on content that any console does, and you’ve got way more functionality any way about it.

Well of course you have more functionality in a personal computer than a machine made primarily for playing games

And there are restrictions on what sort of programs you can use, depending on the OS that you use, moron.

Just take game mods for example, how many of those exist for console games that don’t involve soldering shit onto the boards? Meanwhile I can load up CoD4, which I paid less for new then a 360 user would have paid for a used copy in a store, and activating mods is an in menu option.

I refuse to entertain your notions to segue into a PC/console gaming debate. But your claim about video game software prices is silly.

[Darth Wong]

So how do you explain the Big Three automakers losing money hand over fist?

They pay too much for their labour, and they face stiff competition from the imports.

So? Since you apparently reject supply/demand market forces as a way of setting reasonable price points, the only other way I see of doing it is to look at supplier profit margins. And for that matter, who determines what is a reasonable amount to pay for labour?

I'll defend myself by saying that I don't think that video games ought to be in a special category, and further that the situation described in the OP is not something one would normally see in an open market.

Yes it is. Limited-availability items are routinely marked up several times in an open market. And many of those items are much more useful and essential than a video game.

My statement that many cars are overpriced is based on the observable fact that no one will pay the asking price for those cars.

In short, market forces. The same market forces whose applicability you reject in the case of video games.