(Topic ID: 277695)

why the hate for flippers?

By Beaumistim

3 years ago


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Topic Stats

  • 118 posts
  • 75 Pinsiders participating
  • Latest reply 3 years ago by grantopia
  • Topic is favorited by 4 Pinsiders

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    Topic poll

    “why the hate for flippers?”

    • YES I HATE FLIPPERS, I HOPE THEY BURN N HELL 89 votes
      55%
    • NO, PEOPLE HAVE TO MAKE MONEY 20 votes
      12%
    • I dont care cause i just love pinball 54 votes
      33%

    (163 votes)

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    #55 3 years ago

    I’ve only purchased games and kept them so I’m no flipper. I totally get the frustration with flippers and there are some concerns that make sense but I totally don’t understand the “artificially inflate prices” point.

    There is nothing artificial about about someone buying something in a transaction where both parties are happy and then selling where both parties are again happy. If one party feels scammed then that’s another matter but if both parties are happy in each transaction then the only reason for anyone to be unhappy are the parties that missed out.

    If another buyer beats you to the $500 home use TZ, then you are just pissed that you didn’t rip the seller off for that amount yourself. If you later find out it was flipper and he’s reselling for $7000, then you’re even more pissed because he’s a scammy flipper. But if you got it, played it or not for awhile, you would sell it for market value anyway wouldn’t you?

    It’s a free market and anyone is free to buy and should be free to sell at whatever fair price. And the line between flipper and enthusiast is not very clear. Ultimately just people buying things, keeping for a little or long time and then selling for what they can get. Nothing wrong with that.

    #100 3 years ago
    Quoted from sbmania:

    I'm surprised at the people who are whining about some people being flippers. As long as games are bought and sold honestly, who cares and who has any right to complain? Whether people admit it or not 99% of the world is a capitalist economy. Meaning things of all kinds, not just pinballs but cars, houses, antiques, watches, coconuts, etc etc etc are bought and sold at market value, every day, by a willing seller and a willing buyer.
    If someone sees what they perceive to be an underpriced game, runs out, buys it, brings it home, re-advertises it, and sells it to a willing buyer for an agreeable price, then where should anyone be outraged? The seller has risked his own time and money in this venture with no absolute assurance of an eventual profit, if ever. As long as the seller does not claim the game to be anything different than it actually is condition -wise, why complain?
    Any why must a flipper "add value" during the deal? As long as he is not selling a non-working game as shopped or restored, why must "value" be added? The value is in having found a desirable game at a good price, dragging it out of whatever dark recess it was found in, and then offering the game to someone else who maybe does not have the time, skills, or equipment to do that himself. And the finder in my opinion is entitled to make whatever from the game that the market will bear. If that is $50 or $5000 more than he paid - so what? If I spend my whole life out digging in the dirt for diamonds and I find a really big one, should I be obligated to sell it for $100 because I didn't add any value to it? Or because someone else is sad that they didn't find it first? It's worth what it's worth and if you want to buy it, you need to pay the price.
    Now if the flipper decides to shop the game, restoring everything to like new condition, adding LEDs or a color DMD perhaps, replacing broken ramps or bad backglasses - then shouldn't he also be able to put whatever price he wants on the finished product? If it sells fairly and honestly to a willing buyer, than the price was correct. If it doesn't sell, he needs to consider maybe lowering his price. But that all works itself out in the marketplace.
    I get frustrated too when I see a great game at a great price on CL and immediately call only to find I am the fifteenth caller and have little or no chance of getting the game. That just means I should have worked a little harder to find the game sooner. Somebody else did! Should I be mad because I lost out in a fair contest? Should I overbid the buyer in an attempt to steal the game out from under him? Now THAT is something that really pisses ME off! If someone gets a good deal, celebrate with the buyer and resolve to look harder yourself next time. Don't try to blow up his deal out of jealousy.

    Agree.

    Seems like most on here are just whining since they sometimes get beat to the deals.

    Another thing I notice is that many like to signal to themselves and the pinball community that they are pure hobbiests who deserve to have games over others who don’t love pinball as much as they do. They are the true followers and keepers of the ‘true path’. They wave the banner to signal far and wide they are the true, trustworthy and fair while the others are scum.

    Then don’t hesitate for a second to offer grandma $500 for the home use TZ that grandma listed for $800. And now that the greatest prise in this hobby has been claimed (that of getting great games for next to nothing), they proceed to tell everyone they know how great of a deal they got.

    Then they pick the banner up again to signal how incredibly fair and honest they are. They are the true and fair hobbiests and the others scum.

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