What part of "NONE SOLD TO DEALERS" does this family not understand?

[Tigress]

It makes me sick to think that some kids can't get a Wii, or a PS3, or some other toy or even high-end CLOTHES because some greedy SOB bought it and jacked up the price. If YOU don't want it, let the person who DOES want it, have it! Work for a living, or start some honest business. Quit the scams!

We ran into that last Christmas when the PS3s and Wiis came out. One couple came down from New York and had three PS3s in their cart along with our cheaper laptop models. I called it to the manager's attention because it was limited to one per household. We both knew that at least two of them were going to wind up on eBay. The manager found the idiot that let them have three and chewed him out for it. I didn't see him around after that, but I don't know if he was fired or just quit.

So far, I haven't heard anything about anyone buying more than one Wii.

[Kogarashi]

So far, I haven't heard anything about anyone buying more than one Wii.

My friend's brother's friend's mother (try saying that five times fast) did, but she had a good reason, I think. Her son was doing that wait-in-line-all-night thing to get one, and she was waiting with him because she didn't want him at a store all night by himself. Well, since my friend's brother was undergoing treatment for cancer and was very ill, he couldn't go wait in line with his friend, much as he wanted to. The mother found this out and decided to get one herself to give to him, thus making it two Wiis for that household.

[auntiem]

Apparently there has been a memo sent down from corporate warning us to be on the lookout for people buying up huge quantities of new release movies; apparently they are being put up for rent in video stores because their supplier changed the contract or something(somebody who works for Blockbuster or Hollywood Video or some such place could shed more light on this).

I don't know about the contract for the Block or Hollywood, but the video stores that are doing this are stealing. When a video store buys a film it costs a lot more than $20 (usually around $80 - $120 last I checked) because they are going to be making a profit on it by renting it out to more than one family. The rental store is renting the "single use" movies out and the movie company isn't making the royalties that it would if they had paid the price for a rentable copy. If an individual buys a film - they, and possibly some friends are the only ones that will be watching it.

[Delphae]

Sometimes someone from the Chinese place or pizza place across the street will buy 1 case of water to re-sell at their places, but we don't really care, they don't buy us out. Another time we purposly sold all of our holiday candy to the parents of one of the workers who own a convenience store. It was after the holiday and we wanted to get rid of it.

[protege]

Some hobby items are going for insane amount on Evilbay...simply because the people bidding on them think they're "rare" or "vintage" etc. Those two words on anything just drive the price up....which I think is hilarious when they're put on new items you can buy at Walmart. For example, I saw several 1941 Plymouth kits listed as "rare" shortly after the kit was reissued. Uh, if that's so "rare" why are there 2 in my collection, and about 2 dozen listen on Ebay? Even the Walmart $5 special kits from AMT usually go for multiple times their value. Apparently people are too stupid and/or lazy to do the research on the products

[SuperB]

I think if the store in the OP was set up to sell to resellers, or if the people buying cartloads of gaterade have a reseller's license, then there is nothing wrong in what they are doing. But if they are simply buying out the shelves to jack up the price later, and they aren't licensed to be buying products there, then they are essentially stealing from the other consumers.

I do happen to agree that if this is a problem, the location should start imposing limits on the sale. Make the scam artists work just a bit harder at getting their stuff "cheap."

I, personally, still don't see how any of this ends up being cheaper than coming by the product honestly- I mean, seriously, how much time and gas do you waste searching for the sale, going out to the sale location, arguing over limits, or just plain arguing because the staff know you are being a scumbag, loading the crap into vehicles, bringing it in to YOUR location, loading the shelves...

Duh. you might pay a little more to get it direct, but ultimately it balances out in time, gas and labor saved.

What you don't realize is that many distributors don't cater very well to small business with small needs. For example, we recently kicked out our main distributor (for all things grocery). Their prices kept getting higher and higher over the last 7 years. We were on the top tier of their pricing. Since they were charging me (for example) over $2 something for generic medication that the dollar tree sells for a dollar, we would pick up our generic meds (asprins, cold med, allergy, etc) from the dollar store. (Since we only need to stock about 6 to 8 of any one item, I dare anyone to find fault with that) When we asked them about lowering our prices they came back with the fact that we didn't buy everything through them. We of course complained that their prices are too high, lower us down the tier and we would. They wanted us to buy everything through them for "a while" and they would "think about it". We said goodbye to them right then.

If you ever wonder why prices are high in the out of the way places, realize that it's the convenience factor in the term 'convenience store'.
I'm going to say it again, don't lump every small business into the "scumbag" - 'jacking up prices' category when you don't have all the facts. Not everyone buys out stock or ignores limits. You have no idea how difficult it can be sometimes to run a small business in an out of the way area, deal with people who want walmart prices but don't get the fact that that isn't easy to accomplish up here.

[Auto]

Incorrect. Often those cheap consumable items will be "loss leaders" that the store advertises to get you in the door, in the hopes that you will buy other things while you are there.

Dealers do not do that--they just buy the item in quantity and scram. You're selling items but making no profit and in fact losing.

And then along comes Suzy Shopper who, among other things, wants to buy that cheap package of toilet paper or bottle of laundry detergent or whatever along with some other things. She goes to the paper towels and finds the paper towels on sale are completely out (because dealers bought them all). She goes to the laundry detergent and also finds that the laundry detergent on sale is out. So Suzy leaves and does her shopping elsewhere.

So yes, it is a problem, especially when I have to be the one to placate the angry customers accusing us of bait and switch when all that happened was a couple of resellers came in and cleaned us out.

Sorry, but I'm not buying your argument.

The only way this could be a problem is if the store has limited quantities (leading the bait-and-switch claims by POed customers)

If the store has sufficient inventory, it's simply not a problem. If not, then the store needs to advertise that the low prices are limited to quantities on hand and that each customer also faces an item-limit.

But most of the time when stores offer really low prices that lure the bodega owners, they have plenty on hand.

Which is why it's not a problem that hurts real customers.

[Andara Bledin]

Apparently people are too stupid and/or lazy to do the research on the products

Yup. That's a prime example of a stupid tax. It's amazing how stupid people can get with online auctions, especially when they get into bidding wars.

Sorry, but I'm not buying your argument.

The only way this could be a problem is if the store has limited quantities (leading the bait-and-switch claims by POed customers)

If the store has sufficient inventory, it's simply not a problem. If not, then the store needs to advertise that the low prices are limited to quantities on hand and that each customer also faces an item-limit.

But most of the time when stores offer really low prices that lure the bodega owners, they have plenty on hand.

Which is why it's not a problem that hurts real customers.

Buy it or not, but I'm a regular shopper, and I think dealers who clean out specials at markets are scum and when I can't get the item on special during the first day, then I'm "hurt" by their actions.

^-.-^

[DesignFox]

If you ever wonder why prices are high in the out of the way places, realize that it's the convenience factor in the term 'convenience store'.
I'm going to say it again, don't lump every small business into the "scumbag" - 'jacking up prices' category when you don't have all the facts. Not everyone buys out stock or ignores limits. You have no idea how difficult it can be sometimes to run a small business in an out of the way area, deal with people who want walmart prices but don't get the fact that that isn't easy to accomplish up here.

I completely understand that argument. And have no problem with it. I'm talking about the businesses that have no reason or right to do that. You've stated that you don't completely clean the place out...but some people do, and that's what I have a problem with. I wasn't implying that your business does this, or even that all businesses do it.

And I completely understand your frustration of dealing with people who want Wal-mart prices at a small-time business...but I think I'll make a new thread for that, cause I talk too much and don't want to jack this...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Sorry, but I'm not buying your argument.

The only way this could be a problem is if the store has limited quantities (leading the bait-and-switch claims by POed customers)

If the store has sufficient inventory, it's simply not a problem. If not, then the store needs to advertise that the low prices are limited to quantities on hand and that each customer also faces an item-limit.

But most of the time when stores offer really low prices that lure the bodega owners, they have plenty on hand.

And I don't buy yours. It seems like an easy thing to say when you don't have to deal with customers hollering at you because they came in 2 hours after we opened and can't get the item they want because a couple dealers bought up the entire stock.

Of course we have limited selection. You can't build a store large enough to carry enough stock so that every customer can get every sale item every time. We do advertise limits and say we have limited quantities, but that really doesn't do anything for those people who buy their limit, then buy some more and wait in a different line, or have their family do the same thing.

Which is why it's not a problem that hurts real customers.

As opposed to the imaginary ones I guess. We'll have to agree to disagree.

[Starlord]

In Arizona, buying beer at retail for resale in a bar is illegal, and a couple of bars have been closed down for doing it, and two bars in the area lost their liquor licenses. We were trained in Excise Alcohol, and bar owners hated us. We found a bunch of wine bottles in the walk-in of a bar with price tags on them. I wrote them one citation for each bottle of wine, and we confiscated it for evidence. They were buying Jean Masson (sp?) in the nice carafes, then refilling them (also illegal.)

[Starlord]

Have you ever seen the Halloween episode of 'Everyone Hates Chris'? The father buys cheap candies to give out, like Butterthumb, Two Musketeers, and so on? It was hilarious, with the father (excellently played) being so cheap, then wondering why the kids never come to their housed. )

[greensinestro]

I'm sure these people also do that with newspapers. Did anyone see the movie "Clerks"? At the beginning of the film, the guy running the place puts a quarter in the newspaper machhine, opens it up, and grabs all the papers inside it so he could sell them in his store! I'll bet you these people do that crap as well.

[nanciesweb]

Actually, Costco and Sam's Club kind of encourage resale. Sam's club even sells vending machines so that you can resell their product. My husband, who was angry at the vending machine owners where he worked before we were married, bought a bunch of stock and sold it at only 50% mark-up. The candy sold in the vending machines were at 150%.

After a while, the vendor pulled their machines and my husband made some extra cash to pay for college.

[Andara Bledin]

See, that's just it. Costco and Sam's Club (and Smart & Final) encourage sales to dealers. They actively court that particular client base.

At places such as grocery stores and regular retail establishments that don't specifically cater to dealer and resellers, it's often against sale policy for such entities to make purchases for other than personal use.

^-.-^