Topic: Scalpers: They are not the problem...we are!

Hello Nintendo Life,

As you may very well know that there is a shortage on many Nintendo products, specifically Amiibos though there are also shortages on Limited Edition New 3DS Systems, Skull Kid figurines and Gamecube Controller Adapters. Many of us seem accuse either Nintendo and/or scalpers. While I do believe both these parties are partially to blame but I ultimately believe that collectors are also who to blame. No, I am not claiming collecting is a bad thing because some these products are made for the collectors other Nintendo would not release limited edition system, or that Gold Mario Amiibo. The reason why collectors are part of the problem for shortages is simply because collectors are generally the customers of scalpers. Yes, we maybe accusing scalpers for purchasing the most demanding products in bulk but the problem that there are many collectors who are willing to pay scalpers inflated prices to purchase valuable goods. Scalpers, of course need money to purchase products by bulk and most of them can only get that money from the buyers. If scalpers have no buyers, then the scalper would have no funds to support their business as is. They would either have to start charging products at reasonable prices to keep their business afloat or just call it quits because they would not have the money keep scalping items in bulk purchases. To take a stand against scalpers, all we need to do is stop buying from them...it is really just that simple.

If you really must a particular item, like the Rosalina Amiibo, you could try importing from official retailer. There is no doubt going to be another model of her from the Mario series line of Amiibos. Those are a couple options for some Amiibos who will be supported with the upcoming Mario Party game. From the Nintendo investors meeting, it was discussed that some Amiibos that will have supported game may return. If this is the case, there maybe hope Villager may return to store shelves because no doubt there will another Animal Crossings game...okay, that may not happen until the next generation provided Amiibos are still supported by Nintendo but that is beside the point. With future games such as S.T.E.A.M coming out with Amiibo support, it maybe best to wait and hope the scalping issue passes before supported products are released but scalpers will only diminish if we simply do not support them.

Keep in mind, this stance against scalpers should not just apply to Amiibos but other high-demanding products as well. That is all have to say on matter of scalpers at the moment. If you have any opinions, or even disagreements on the matter, feel free to comment below in a civil manner.

Problem with stopping scaplers is that collectors won't stop collecting what they want. It's a vicious cycle, full of sharks and amiibos.

And port strikes

I agreed completely! But... will they listen to us? Also some people have a lot of money therefore its doesn't really matter to those kind of people. The price tags of $100 or $200 is nothing to the millionaire.

This X 10000.

This port strike is really cutting down on the amount of amiibos that scalpers are able to purchase. Instead of buying 10-15 copies of the same one, they are limited to maybe 5 or so.

Hopefully Somali pirates don't hijack one of these delayed amiibo ships either.

Dang pirates. First they illegally copy games and distribute them; now they steal our amiibos!

While I do hate scalpers myself and the idea of paying 100-200% more for an amiibo (or any special/limited edition). You can't say that the collectors are the problem, or that it's even a problem to begin with. The collector pays the inflated price meaning that the amiibo was under priced to begin with. It's basic economics. A price usually needs to be declared months or even years in advance so Nintendo can't name the maximum price a buyer (collector) is willing pay. So then the scalper buys the product below equilibrium and sells it at a higher price and that becomes the equilibrium. I'm not saying that I think it's okay when a scalper buys 5+ amiibos to resell them. It's still an underhanded thing to do, and I don't think people should be buying more than what they need I'm just saying that there's no real problem anywhere. Except for the port strike, that was just stupid the West coast needed the New 3DS too.

@cyner Nintendo bases the pricing on manufacturing costs and profit, not value. That's what you're talking about. If they make a limited edition amiibo, just 100 units, that'll sell for huge amounts on eBay, but that doesn't mean that its price should be $100+. Demand and supply determine the value, which might in turn result in higher prices, that's basic economics. The problem with value though is, it varies from person to person.

I have to disagree with this. I'm a collector of amiibo, but I would not have even considered collecting them if they had cost any more than they do. I think that $12 each would have been a fair price for what they offer both in terms of their functionality and the quality of the figurines (which isn't quite as good as many of us were hoping they would be). I've paid $14-$15 for most amiibo (I'm from Australia, by the way), and I've only paid the full retail price of $17.95 for Bowser and Rosalina from the last wave. All of the amiibo have been purchased at brick-and-mortar retailers. If I'm not able to source any particular amiibo, I'd most likely just call around to see if any stores still have them in stock rather than indulge the scalpers.

Surprisingly, EB Games still had some Shulk amiibo available in stores (according to their website) until about a week ago (I'm assuming that a scalper traveled to each of those stores and bought them all).

Sure the scalpers wouldn't exist if people ignored them but I don't think we should be blaming their victims. And victims is the proper word to use. It's like those "windows support" scams that ring up, it's definitely true that they only ring up because some people are sucked into it. If there wasn't a profit to be had then they'd stop so it's only natural to be annoyed that people are enabling these pests. But that doesn't mean that little old ladies who fall for it are "the problem", the problem is still the jerks who are exploiting people.
_{You've been asked repeatedly to stop using profanity. Next time, it's a temp-ban. This is your final warning — TBD}

>Looks at all his scalped Amiibos that don't exist

Well, there's definitely a problem here....

My Amiibo story. On day 1 I bought 2 villagers, a wii fit, and some other amiibo. I opened everything I bought except for a wiifit and villager. A few weeks later Marth had skyrocketed and my local Toys R Us had 5 in stock. I bought 1 and put it on ebay with a villager and wiifit. My starting price was $30. Three days later it sold for over $200. That was the last of my ebaying adventures but that money went right back to Nintendo in the form of more purchases. I now have only a Little Mac(my favorite character) and a Captain Falcon still sealed. I don't plan on selling them. I didn't get into amiibo for the scalping but it came in handy after Christmas(I'm also poor) . I initially only wanted Samus, Villager, Little Mac, and Captain Falcon but went overboard in an Amiibo frenzy and ended up with most of wave one and two. Now all are in storage except my fab four. I got the ones I wanted but was so pathetically scouring stores everday to get them that I decided to get out of the game. I had a Toon Link and Sheik in my hand the other day(I could have bought 10 of each) and then I remembered I don't collect Amiibo anymore and put them back. The scalping is easy money but there is a lot of time and energy in hunting them. At the end of the day the supply problem to blame, you couldn't scalp a Mario because there are plenty out there. Nintendo needs to bite the bullet and mass produce these until they couldn't give them away. I'm willing to bet the Ebay company has made more money off Amiibo than Nintendo has. Happy hunting everyone.

This makes sense, thought it doesn't take into account resellers that do not rely on their reselling to be profitable, in order for them to continue to resell. There are a lot of resellers, whose primary business/income is from reselling(e-Bay, Amazon, etc.), just as there are many, whose primary business is not reselling(, but it's a side job for extra cash, or to help pay bills, though not the primary source of income). Whether it's a reseller's primary income source, or not, there are those that just don't have to rely on their reselling being profitable to continue doing it. Some even do it as a hobby, that can be profitable.

The supply is part of the problem, while greed is the other. Nintendo can get free brand awareness from "shortages", artificial, or not. Like any co., that also means a possibility for both good, & bad press. Nintendo also made a poor move(read: non-consumer friendly) by releasing certain Amiibo to certain stores.

The cards will be fine for functionality, if that is what a player that can't get these figures at resale prices wants, is the functionality. However, I think most want these as collectable, &/or displayable figurines of their favorite Nintendo characters.

I personally hope Nintendo made/manufactured these in droves, & that the port strike really is partially responsible(in addition to the obvious mass purchasing for resale) for the lack of supply, b/c hopefully when/if that issue gets settled(it might since money's involved), & it should more for the issue of readily eatable food(oranges, for example) on board not going to feed anyone, but going to waste all over greed, then we will be seeing enough Amiibo, even currently difficult to obtain ones, save for those special/limited-edition ones, everywhere they are sold.

Edit: I also suggest remembering that not everyone that does reselling, resells for ridiculous pricing. If you search enough, you sometimes will happen upon an instance of getting an Amiibo, even a retailer-specific, for no more than maybe $7-17 higher, than retail. That's not bad, compared to most ridiculous pricing, though it could be better. Always look around online, & in stores. I recently came across Rosalina on e-Bay for $20; Unfortunately, my money wasn't where it needed to be for me to purchase. Some resellers are getting cocky, & starting the bidding price extremely low, thinking the bidders will easily drive the price up. This is how I came across Rosalina for $20, plus S&H. Always be on the look-out, & remember not every reseller is greedy.

Comparing fraud to reselling a toy to a willing buyer.

One is a criminal offense, the other isn't.

You really have mastered the art of the horrible analogy!

One can be effectively policed and the other can't, that's the only difference. They're still making a "buisness" out of doing nothing other than taking people's money and being a pest to everyone who they don't screw over. It's effectively the same act. The only argument for why they should be looked at differently is that in this particular case the amounts we're talking about are pretty small.

And I'll bet they don't pay taxes on the money they make, like a business is supposed to. Guess it still is fraud.

How 2 stop problem:
Make every retailer only sell one per customer.

GAME and Nintendo UK Store do that and they still have Ike and Lucario in stock.

That's the most effective way of slowing it. It won't stop it but it definitely helps.

This must be why I see police officers arresting people having yard sales or selling cookies at bake sales! Damn criminals not paying taxes!

You guys are really grasping at straws here to justify your ridiculous beliefs. Sad, really!

If you two are so sure that reselling a toy to make a profit is illegal, call your local police station to report this 'crime' then get back to us with what happens! lol

No.

One is calling people and trying to trick them into giving you access to their credit cards or bank accounts so you can obtain funds from them via fraudulent methods (selling services they don't want or don't need). The person is being intentionally misled and doesn't understand what they are doing.

The other situation involves someone willingly purchasing a toy for an inflated price, which they are not being coerced into doing.

There is truly no way any reasonably intelligent person could find either of these scenarios similar at all, or think that the person defrauding someone on the phone or a guy selling a toy on eBay are equally bad.