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iPad mini Why isn't the iPad mini sold out yet?
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If he paid by credit card he is more than likely covered if that happens within 90 days.
It was secret marketing. Apple planted a few rumors of low production to increase the perceived value of the minis.
by that logic then businesses like StubHub should go burn because we know damn well you won't find tickets there for face value.
whoever invented CL, eBay, etc should all be shutdown because majority of their items are sold by sellers for some form of profit.
I for one have 9 units. yes, nine. If I could even sell 8 for only a $50 profit each, I would've earned one for myself. Yes I am willing to see if that would even happen, so get over it. explain to me exactly how I deprived 9 people from getting one because seems to be stock still left. and even if it doesn't sell out, buyers won't lose a dime because 1/7 is the deadline.
I, as am also sure that many of you, have been on the other end of the stick where we were willing to pay a premium for an item or event that we really wanted to go to. did I wish I bought tickets early enough for that concert? sure, but I didn't. so I ponied up the extra $200 cause I really wanted to go. that's the way the market works.
There happens to be stock left, but you're overlooking something: what if there wasn't stock left?
Nine iPads isn't a huge number, which may make it difficult for you to see what the issue is. Let's say that you and 3,000 other people had the idea to try and make money off of resale of iPad minis, and everyone bought nine iPads. Now there are 27,000 iPads that are removed from the supply, and that are being sold at a higher price than Apple lists them for. If Apple produces enough iPads to satisfy demand and overcome the temporary loss of those 27,000 iPads then this isn't a particularly big deal.
But for the sake of example, let's say that supplies are so constrained that the purchase of those 27,000 iPads wipes out the supply in many areas. If someone wants an iPad, they'd have to buy from you or another scalper. At this point, they have two choices: pay you some extra money to get that iPad now, or wait until Apple produces more. In both cases they are being forced to spend something (money and/or time), and this is an expenditure that would not be necessary if the scalpers had not bought up iPads.
There's a slight difference here, though. Tickets are an absolutely fixed quantity, since seats in a stadium can't be manufactured. If they're sold out to people who legitimately want to go to that concert, then it's tough luck for anyone without a ticket. However, what if a large number of tickets were bought up by someone who didn't intend to go to the concert, but who simply wanted to make money off of those who did? I hope you recognize that such an individual is not enabling you to go to the concert by offering those tickets for sale; rather, if that individual had not bought up those tickets, there's a chance that you would have been able to purchase a ticket without having to pay a marked-up price. These types of people (scalpers) are widely recognized as being nuisances, which is why many countries and states within the USA have made the practice illegal when it comes to tickets.
As for the comparison between Craigslist and eBay, I've done quite a bit of selling and shopping on both. While scalpers may use them as selling venues, the vast majority of listings fall into one of two categories: cheap crap (sometimes knockoffs) manufactured in China; and used items. The former tend to dominate eBay, while the latter are on Craigslist and come either from people who are moving or who want a bit more money and are selling things that they don't use anymore.
I'm not defending scalping or buying to sell high, but basically when something is in short supply it is a seller's market. It is the buyers on eBay who drive up the price. Many sellers of hard to find items start the bidding low and the bidders drive up the price and the one with the most money wins. Back to my life isn't fair argument.
Hard to find collectibles are in this category and popular items at Christmas will always be as well. People are out to make a buck because of need or greed and that is not going to change because of moral lectures here. If it is important for you to get something for the holiday, you better do what you need to do to get it early because otherwise someone else will.
What you say is true, but it doesn't address what I've been saying. Scalpers attempt to create that "seller's market" by buying up the product in question.
For example, suppose Apple delivered 500 iPads to my city, and 550 people wanted to buy them. 50 people are going to be out of luck: supplies are constrained. Suppose that the first 250 people who buy the iPads each decide that they'll pick up an extra iPad just to sell later on, just in case supplies are really constrained. Because of this greed, it's not just 50 people who are stuck waiting for an iPad, but an additional 250, making for 300 people stuck waiting - even though there were enough supplies such that only 50 would have had to wait.
And what are the scalpers contributing to the process? Nothing but possibly making it harder for the buyer to deal with returns and exchanges in the event of a problem with the iPad. They haven't created or improved upon anything; they have simply inconvenienced people, and expect to be paid by those people in order to do the inconvenience that they have caused.
I have no problems with the "seller's market." I have problems when people attempt to manipulate the market in their favor.
I understand your argument and agree that scalpers aren't contributing anything and are making it difficult for people to get popular items at retail. Just saying that this is not likely to change. Some people make their living on ebay and have the time and inclination to go out and buy up items likely to be popular and make a profit on selling them. I doubt they are getting rich at this and also doubt that they care what others think of the practice. I still say that if you really want something you need to do what is required to get it which may involve getting up early and waiting in line or ordering day one. Once the supply is limited for whatever reason, it's going to cost a lot of money to win it on eBay.