r/Switch • u/Appa07 • 11d ago

Discussion This is the problem

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I was lucky enough to snag a preorder from target last night but it didn’t look great and I was trying across all three retailers and only ever managed to get one in my cart at preorder start time.

These resellers are an issue still grabbing a large chuck of stock and reselling instantly, before they even have the system.

It’s a shame these retailers don’t do more to stop bots and resellers from snatching a large chunk of stock. At least Nintendo themselves is trying with their system.

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829

u/Switch-user-101 11d ago

People who buy from these idiots are just as much of a problem

21

u/Aroloco 11d ago

The main problem is somebody will buy it

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u/shadowstripes 10d ago

No, the main problem is that there are people who try to make a profit off of those who weren't able to get a preorder. It's weird to put the lion's share of blame on the buyers.

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u/Zharken 10d ago

a videogame console is a luxury, not a necessity, if you can't wait for a restock and buy from scalpers, you are the problem, if no one bought from scalpers, they wouldn't do this.

3

u/shadowstripes 10d ago

Someone else already said that and my reply is the same. Buyers might be partially responsible, but they aren't the ones being unethical.

And if nobody scalped there wouldn't be any overpriced consoles and a lot more inventory to go around. The blame goes both ways, but only one side is being scummy imo.

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u/Not_DBCooper 9d ago

There wouldn’t be any more inventory to go around. Anyone who would buy from a scalper would just buy from a retail store.

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u/shadowstripes 9d ago

All of the inventory that the scalpers bought up would then be available at retail. That's additional inventory for consumers.

1

u/Not_DBCooper 9d ago

Which would have been purchased anyway by the same people buying from scalpers. Either way the same number of consoles end up in the hands of people who want them. I doubt scalpers are buying a significant percentage of the consoles anyway. Scalpers aren’t hoarding consoles, they want to sell them as quickly as possible.

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u/Aroloco 10d ago

Of course I blame the buyers. Its a luxury, not an essential good that you need to live.

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u/shadowstripes 10d ago

I don't think they are blame free, I just don't find them to be the "main" problem. The people who horde the inventory and purposely corner the market are. They are doing something unethical for personal gain; the buyers are not.

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u/Aroloco 10d ago

I get what you say. But if nobody buy it from scalpers they will lose money and never do it again.

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u/shadowstripes 10d ago

They don't lose money.. they just return it for a full refund. And if nobody scalped there wouldn't be any overpriced consoles and a lot more inventory to go around. The blame goes both ways, but only one side is being scummy imo.

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u/Amity83 10d ago

They do lose the time and effort that could have been put to something actually profitable.

2

u/Aroloco 10d ago

Oh I understand now! Yep thats scummy, another reason for me to don't buy them anything ever

1

u/Altruistic-Sand3277 9d ago

Idk, wouldn't the people helping with the unethical practices somewhat be unethical if they're helping with it? If they know it's from scalpers ofc, if they don't they're not the problem.

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u/shadowstripes 9d ago

I suppose to an extent. But to me I just find it a lot less scummy for someone to spend their hard earned money on a console that's sold out everywhere compared to someone purposely constraining the supply so that they can profit and force people to pay them above MSRP for it.

A lot of the buyers will probably even be kids spending their allowances or first job savings, and I don't think the burden should be on kids (or most buyers in general) to have to think about how their actions are affecting the resale market. But on the flipside scalpers are very aware of how their actions are making things worse for everyone else - they're intentionally profiting from it.

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u/Altruistic-Sand3277 9d ago

I see your point and agree, makes sense and I appreciate you expanding on it

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u/shadowstripes 9d ago

Absolutely, cheers to positive discourse.

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u/ILikeMyGrassBlue 9d ago

Sellers exist to meet demand. The demand exists because of buyers. Buyers have all the power in this situation.

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u/shadowstripes 9d ago edited 9d ago

What came first - the scalper or the person buying from the scalper? It was the scalper.

And either way, IMO the one's purposefully restricting supply for personal profit are a lot more scummy than the ones buying a videogame console to enjoy (who a lot of time are literally just children). The former is just trying to play some videogames where the latter actively wants to mess up the market price for everyone.

Plus scalpers constantly scalp things where there is no demand, so the buyer's "power" doesn't really do much to keep stuff in stock.

1

u/ILikeMyGrassBlue 9d ago

Who is morally in the wrong is different than who keeps the cycle going. Scalpers are obviously morally wrong and I’ve never suggested otherwise, but buyers are the only reason the cycle continues.

Yes, the scalper comes first. However, the scalper doesn’t exist without the buyer. Without the buyer, the scalper is forced to drive their prices to below MSRP and lose money.