Not really. Apple actually put effort into the desgin and creation of their products. They may be marked up, but they do have costs such as R&D to make up for.
Scalpers are worthless individuals who contribute nothing to the product or purchasing process. They just take advantage of generous parents who want to buy something for their children.
lol.
You are a funny guy, comatose.
1. Apple generates hundreds of millions, if not billions in profit every year. Some of that "profit" (as you put it) covers expenses (whatever they may be: R&D, components, marketing, etc.) [but then again, that's not really "profit" in the truest sense of the word as I am using it, that is more overhead] but at the end of the day, they make even more money [real "profit" as I use the word]. And I have no problem with that. Neither should you.
If you think they are breaking even, that probably explains your reductionism of the situation to "scalping."
2. We have relatively free markets that allow for open trading of goods and services. Nearly every commodity you can think of is traded on the market. The iPad is a commodity like anything else that is traded. If you have a problem with the iPad being traded or marked up, then you should also have a problem with rare cars (vintage Ferraris being sold for over $1 million dollars, wherein the current owner had nothing to do with the R&D or building of the Ferrari itself); or any other commodity at that. By your reasoning, we should all hate people reselling their houses at or above market value wherein they did not build the homes themselves. Why should anyone profit when they didn't have anything to do with construction or research right?
3. Not every person missing out on an Apple product is some "innocent and generous" grandparent as you so hyperbolically put it. Don't make me laugh. If I were to use the same sad reasoning, I would say "oh, well these resellers are poor innocent college students that lost their grandparents in a plane crash and are selling ipads to pay for their student loans." Please, save the sap for another fool, and quit relying on sob stories to bolster your otherwise weak argument.
4. If someone is smart enough to see a demand/market for something, complies with all the laws in purchasing and reselling that commodity, and abides by all other rules/regulations, what is the problem? Everyone is on a level playing field when it comes to purchasing these items. Apple limits each person to two units per visit. We all have an opportunity to buy if we want to. It's available online, and in-person even on opening day for those that wait.
No one is precluded from buying an Apple product. Some people are merely more willing to pay more for one to skip a line, or to get one sooner than other outlets make available.
No one is forcing you to buy anything at a certain price, and you have the option of going elsewhere. There are plenty of other outlets available. And if you think that resellers are really having a substantial effect on product availability, I'd like to see that data. Those products would likely have been eaten up by other non-reselling consumers regardless.
So to say that they provide no service at all, is not actually true. They do provide some "service" in the strictest sense of the word. They are actually reserving units available for immediate purchase to those that were too late to preorder, or couldn't wait in line themselves, wherein those units would have gone to other non-reselling consumers and been completely consumed and unavailable for purchase. Don't get me wrong: I am not making them out to be saints or to be acting out of good will or to perform the above stated service. I am speaking merely academically in what role they would play in this economic transaction/economy.
Follow this example:
Scenario 1: Comatose fell asleep and forgot to preorder his ipad. He is too lazy to go to the Apple store and wait in line. He wants to buy one, but unfortunately he passed a law banning anyone from reselling electronics. Apple has completely sold out of ipads, and if he orders one now, he will have to wait 1 month before they start shipping. Comatose is sad because he has no chance to buy an ipad now (because the penalty for "scalping" as he so put it is death, and there is a 100% conviction rate), and will have to wait a month (boo hoo).
Scenario 2: Comatose didn't preorder, and didn't wait in line. Apple, Best Buy, etc. are all sold out until a month later. But luckily in this universe, he also didn't pass that crazy law and people are selling them on CL. Some are at crazy prices, and some are at $50 markups. Comatose strikes a deal, and buys one for $50 above market value. Comatose is happy again, because he bought the ipad at a markup he could afford, and gets to enjoy it immediately instead of waiting 1 month for it to ship. On a side note, some other guy paid $200 above market value just because he is rich, and didn't want to wait. Nice for him, and nice for the seller.
Stop with the sap stories. Worst case scenario is you wait a month.
Even in a case where you can't ever get a product again unless you go through a scalper, who is to say that is wrong? Let me give you a real life example:
I had LASIK surgery, and need eye drops. Every eye drop I have tried stings my eyes, except one: Aquify. This was unfortunately discontinued months ago, and no stores have them in stock any longer. I have looked everywhere, and they are gone. Luckily for me, someone was smart enough to see the opportunity, and bought several cases and put them for sale on ebay. He marked them up, but at a price I was willing to pay for dry eye relief. I bought them, and we both left each other positive feedback. There was another person reselling them at 10x their asking price, and they haven't sold. While I would love to get his inventory, he hasn't committed any crimes. I'll keep buying from cheaper sources until they are unavailable.
Now in your crazy world, without "scalpers" as you erroneously put it, I wouldn't have my eye drops at all.
and lol @ anyone comparing an ipad/iphone to medicine. It's not: it is a luxury good that anyone can do completely without (especially for a month). Also, in the case of medicines, the real example is a pharm company marking up prices in an epidemic. Guess what kids and uneducated adults, there are laws in place that allow the govt to compel those companies to produce those medicines at reduced prices in emergencies.
