Would you consider this SCALPING?

its like asking if a comapny charging more for a faceup is scalping. no, its not. thats the charge for the face up. likewise for modding; time consuming and will add cost. and is it really scalping when its not a limited? because i doubt anyone will buy those jacked up sleeping heads. when they could just join an appropriate group order. scalping is only irritating when people are solely buying something hard to obtain for the purpose of selling; MAKING us pay that price as we have no other way of getting it. however, the old sleeping heads are around the boards; and used to cost ALOT more than $27. so does that mean those people that paid more have to lower the price?

i think it may be scalping charging more for a head you got cheaper. but its not limited, nor too hard to obtain, and the original price IS ridiculously cheap for a head. but still, i would charge the original price unmodified. though i think its a shame that by doing this fairyland has made others lose out on money from their old sleeping heads.

 

I would ask if the sleeping head really is "only" $27. Or if that is a price reflecting a discount that you'd be offered for buying a fuller package. I'd be inclined to say its $80 + $27 / 2 = $53.50 for each head.

 

I agree. As long as the item is still available at a "normal" price, then it's just one person with a higher sales price.

However, back when Luts sold sleeping MNF heads separately, their price tag from Luts was $85 if I remember correctly. So I consider $60-90 to be the standard "going rate" for a Minifee head. I think if someone chooses to buy the head outright (with or without modding/faceup) and they're willing to pay the extra for just the head instead of doing a split, that's their choice. It's just a higher price. It's only "scalping" when the item is ONLY available at the inflated price (as with limiteds) and when the person bought the item for the sole purpose of selling it at a profit.

 

this is how i oringially thought it. seems fairer, really. i dont think the heads are supposed to be $27; but when you get the full doll and head, they offer them to you at that price. agreeing with thefontbandit that it is just one person with a higer sales price.

 

I think that anyone that is splitting with two other people and paying only $27 for a head is getting a really good deal. The only reason that head is 27.00 is because Fairyland is giving you a partial gift for buying a full set. We all know that true price for a head is 60.00 to 100.00 I think it would probably be better to share the discount with the other splitters but that is really the split participants choice.

 

The issue of scalping is so many-layered, so grey, that it is hard for me to pinpoint what is scalping and what isn't. Sometimes it's clear, yes, such as buying a one-off with the SOLE INTENT of selling it for twice what you paid. That's scalping. But what about putting the doll on ebay at the selling price - and the bidding will go where it may? IMHO, that isn't scalping anymore, that's the market deciding the price.

I think that's the bottom line, here. The market decides the price. If there are heads all over the place, then sellers with higher prices had better have a really REALLY nice faceup on it, or have modded it well, or something; otherwise it will sit unsold, and that's THEIR problem. But I also don't think calling them scalpers is fair, either. (not that you were, I'm just saying, I don't think I'd call that scalping).

There is something to be said for added value to not having to wait by ordering through a site; not having to pay EMS shipping; fees; etc.

 

I charge $30 to open eyes without resin putty filled eye wells and $45 if they are full. I also charge $100 for face ups. I would have started the head in question at $160 just to recover cost. The last MNF head I sold was $199. (also added elf ears) I considered the price very reasonable and so did the buyer.

This question assumes that is WHY they bought it. Perhaps it just wasn't the right head for them...or they have no time to paint it...can't find an artist or can no longer afford to keep it...Why sell a head at $27 when the market is $70? Luts sold them for $85 and $70 would be a discounted price in comparison especially when you can't GET them by themselves anymore. Some things are worth more in pieces.

I think Sher hit it on the nail....
"There is something to be said for added value to not having to wait by ordering through a site; not having to pay EMS shipping; fees; etc."

 

Agreeing with this 100%.

I have seen many items from Y!J that went from Y3000 to Y10,000 for a yo outfit in the last 2 hours. A School A head went from Y20,000 to a Y120,000.

A buyer will decide for his/herself, if the item is worth the listed price; thus, it is important for the buyer to find out the costs for the items ahead of time.

If mod and face up were done to the heads, they add value to the head. (Whether the face up and mod were to your liking, that it for each buyer to decide).

 

1: Is getting a sleeping head, modding it and painting it, or simply painting it, and turning around to sell it for $70 considered scalping?

I don't believe it's scalping, especially if it's a well done job! I'd be paying extra for the modding and the faceup.

2: Is getting a sleeping head, then simply turning around and selling it on the board for $70 (or $90) without having touched it at all, considered scalping

I would never pay that much for a sleeping head, I don't think it's right at all to do that.

 

There are two criteria that must be met for "scalping" to take place:

1) The item is purchased with the sole intent of selling at an increased price
AND
2) The buyer is forced to pay the inflated price to acquire the item, because it is unavailable by other means (limited dolls, sold out tickets to a concert)

In your example the item is still available by regular means, so I still don't believe it's scalping. Scalpers force buyers to pay their prices if they want the item because it's the only option. With sleeping heads that are readily available, no one has to pay the higher price... they could enter a split instead. They're paying extra for the modding/faceup, or for the convenience of buying an unmodded head directly (as Sher said). If people are willing to pay a higher price for those 'extras', when the basic item is still available at a lower price... then that's just a market value situation.

I also agree that it should be both heads equal to $53 and change. I think it's a valid point that the discount is on the entire package, instead of the 'extra' head.

 

I wouldn't consider it scalping. Customizing costs, too. If I remember correctly from the marketplace rules, the seller decides the price and buyers shouldn't haggle over it. If the price seems too high, why not to buy from the store that offically sells the heads?

 

I fully agree with this (my bold).
profiteering it may be, but scalping it ain't. and there's nothing in the DoA rules that say you can't try to turn a profit (although it sometimes feels like there's an unspoken rule you should pretend you're not trying to...). if you don't like the price, let your wallet do the talking. sellers will get the message. (I guess threads like this are also good, though--raising the consciousness of the general forum population and encouraging people to think about whether or not that MNF head they were contemplating is worth $70 to them, rather than just blindly buying). still, not scalping.

 

I don't believe the marketplace rules say you cannot haggle over price. If I post something FS at $40, somebody can PM me to say, I really want that, will you consider taking $35? And then it's my decision to say yes or no.

What IS against the rules is posting in my thread something like, "$40? are you nuts? I can get that at xyzonline for $30! You are an evil RIP OFF ARTIST!" with a bunch of these angry guy icons after it

THAT is what's against the rules.

Anyway -- just wanted to clarify.

 

I don't think it's scalping. If it were a limited, and you could only get the sleeping head during a certain promotional period, and there was a significant markup, that's scalping. But asking a high price for something that's had work done on it (arguably enough to warrant a higher price - faceups and modding aren't easy, you know!) is hardly scalping as the person who is after that head can acquire it on their own for less. It's when there's not really any option to buy it straight from the company on their own that it becomes scalping.

 

I don't think it's scalping. I think the $27 is the price when you're getting the whole doll. Not long ago those sleeping heads were only available from Luts with the MNF Special and on their own for about $90 (hence the price some people are selling them for).

So if people want said head and want to do a split, then they can agree and get it for the extra price FL set, but I don't think it's unreasonable to sell it for a bit more if you got it on your own and you've done mods (NICELY done ones, mind you) or given it a face-up.
Plus if I really wanted one and I know I don't have other way of getting it cause I don't want to get a full doll or I don't want to wait for a split, I know I may be willing to pay for more (but definitely not something like $100! That's like a Delf head ^^;; ). After all, it's a valuable resin head, and I do consider the $27 is only a special price for getting it as an extra.

And anyway, as others have said, the potential buyer can always either look for a "cheaper" one or make an offer to the seller

 

300% increase..
nah it has to be 500% increase then thats scalping.

all joking aside I'm really not sure if its scalping but it sure is fishy.

 

Actually I think thats ok.
To get a $30 head and sell it off at $60 or $70 doesnt sound so bad.

Stuff to consider:
The original price of the head is riduculously low. I cangt even buy a pair of shoes for my doll with $30!

If they're doing mods and face-up then it means that they've put a lot of effort into this head!

An average face-up costs $30-$40, right?
And mods are usually no less than $30.
That makes it at least $90.

So $60-$70 sounds like a pretty good price to me. ^^

 

Exactly! I don't think you'll ever find a company selling a mini-sized head on its own for such a low price.

I repeat, to me the $27 is ONLY a special price for an extra head when you get the whole doll.

And I think it's even worse to look at those selling threads that get posts just to complain about the price, even when it's in the $65-$90 range.

It's not like the people selling are asking for $200 or something, at least IMHO they're asking for a reasonable amount.