WC cards on Ebay
- Thread starter FunnyBear
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Apparantly someone informed this seller that she should say "not legal for tournaments" in her ads. This is the same seller of the Uxie X from the first link of the original post.
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-RARE-poke...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a5c63191
Despite her "Not legal for tournaments", Flygon X sold for $21.50 with multiple bidders. Sigh......
Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:
You know, her buyers are listed under her profile. I wonder if it would be too much of a violation of Ebays TOS to send them a link to this thread. Hmmmm....
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-RARE-poke...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a5c63191
Despite her "Not legal for tournaments", Flygon X sold for $21.50 with multiple bidders. Sigh......
Back to back posts merged. The following information has been added:
You know, her buyers are listed under her profile. I wonder if it would be too much of a violation of Ebays TOS to send them a link to this thread. Hmmmm....
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nnaann
New Member
No, the theme deck is just being sold under the market equibrium with excess demand inflating the prices of the cards. The other contents don't have a negative value.
The WC decks are not selling at "market equilibrium", they are selling at Target. For $10. Apparantly there are enough uninformed bidders out there that the Flygon X from RR and a Flygon X from the WC deck is selling at the same level. This is not due to supply and demand, as there are lots of WC decks in Target right now.
DarkJake
New Member
That's incorrect. Obviously, for these items to somehow surface on eBay, their supply is adequate. More like a deficit of product knowledge with a massive surplus of corrupt sellers.
Negative value doesn't inflate 0 to 30. Unless the customer was extremely infatuated with [insert card here], there's no way to justify negative value from a playability or collectible perspective (and I'm not sure that there's anything else)
nnaann
New Member
Regardless of there being enough supply, people are still happy to pay more money for the cards. People are making big profits by reselling these. I don't agree with the deficit of knowledge, but with that demand is inflated more than it should be because of that. If everyone knew about these cards and there would no corrupt sellers, $10 may work, but currently people are buying the cards off those sellers because they don't realise.
One can argue that the other contents have a negative value as a means of justifying the $30 valuation of that single card. Its a viable defense.
The argument could be put forward on environmental grounds.
nnaann
New Member
Its not because we know that they don't have a negative value. Its a possible theory, but not one thats true. Unless anyone wants to pay me to take their WC cards off them that aren't Lv X's? I think if enviromental things are a problems, people do more damage driving to so many tournaments then buying spare WC cards.
I suspect a couple of people are trolling this topic.
They seem to be taking the position that someone should buy an empty milk carton from me for $50 because I also have some nuclear waste that I kept in it, but I've taken that out, so now the negative value of that has raised the value of the milk carton to $50.
It's about the most ridiculous argument I've even seen.
They seem to be taking the position that someone should buy an empty milk carton from me for $50 because I also have some nuclear waste that I kept in it, but I've taken that out, so now the negative value of that has raised the value of the milk carton to $50.
It's about the most ridiculous argument I've even seen.
DarkJake
New Member
Huh?
Here's a simple check if supply is adequate: if you go to your local Target and you see 20+ of these WC decks, then it is adequate. Not to mention that this topic has been all about people being ripped off thinking that these cards are legitimate, so the S/D curve that you're arguing for may very well be for the playable version of the card, not the WC edition. Also, one would assume that the marketing team of TPCi would detect a rise in demand and match it with a rise in price.
To expand on negative value: If someone is being fooled that these cards are playable, then they will most likely want the rest of the deck. If someone wants to collect 'rare' cards, then they will most likely want the rest of the deck. The only reason that the seller does this is to trick multiple people and to compound shipping while they're at it. It's much easier to hide "World Championship" edition when you're selling individual cards.
nnaann
New Member
Urgh that was unclear, I mean I morally don't agree with the deficit of knowledge. If everyone was aware, the current price would be fine but since the cards are selling for money then the deck, that shows that poor knowledge of the situation leads to a rise in demand.
If someone was actively seeking to purchase said milk carton, and the alternative was to purchase it alongside said nuclear waste, thereby facilitating the production of further nuclear waste, then I can see the justification for a $50 valuation of said milk carton.
Suffice it to say it would take a fool to buy said milk carton at said price.
Shiny Noctowl
New Member
You've failed to prove that the other cards in the WC deck have a negative value, which would be necessary to justify the $30 value for the individual card.
With this, you're basically admitting that you're wrong.
No, you wouldn't need to prove that they do. You'd need to prove that it is possible for them to. And again, no, I'm admitting that it is ridiculous to buy at that price, yet perfectly justifiable and highly profitable to sell. It's only the consumer that loses out in the end. Big deal.
If the WC cards are all put up on ebay, they'd sell for over $150 for the contents of the $10 deck. Tell me what has a negative $140 value here. Your theoretical argument is contrived and ridiculous. And it is a big deal that people are being ripped off. The people that are being ripped off are the inexperienced that will leave the hobby as soon as they enter once they perceive it to be an unsafe place filled with sharks.
This practice is very widespread and is gaining momentum on ebay with multiple sellers. The results are being bolstered by the fact that a search of completed auctions will show high prices for WC cards, compromising one of the reality checks a buyer can use to inform himself. Some recent ones:
Ashley is at it again, having gotten over $20 for the last two she put up
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-RARE-poke...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a59b5707
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-RARE-poke...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a5ee6a0f
From 3779markb $12.50 with 18 bidders
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-RARE-poke...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a55bd650c
and his new one
http://cgi.ebay.com/SUPER-RARE-poke...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3a562523d5
Note that Mark and Ashley are both from Fort Wayne, IN and seem to share similar ad copy, font and style. A note to the District Attorney of Allen County in Indiana may be in order. They even have a website with an email address: http://www.allencountyprosecutor.com/ Great, I have a project for the holidays!
From Menoknow3
http://cgi.ebay.com/FLYGON-LV-X-Pok...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item518f5844c9
From Indigomeow
http://cgi.ebay.com/3-Flygon-1-Flyg...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca8977e31
From Allansindy
http://cgi.ebay.com/UXIE-LV-X-146-1...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item35a5b85dcf
From Zhengnguan ( Lugia ex WC cards for $40 and $50!)
http://cgi.ebay.com/LUGIA-EX-ultra-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2557ca3960
http://cgi.ebay.com/LUGIA-EX-ultra-...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item2303f17a88
I'd like to hear from someone at TPCi about this whole thing. How big is the World Championship deck business and is it worth the reputational risk to the game to keep making them if this sort of thing is going on? Stopping printing them will eliminate most of this after the next rotation.
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Mis-representing the value of a product is not only immoral, but illegal as well.
In a free-market system, ethical advertising is essential. These are prime examples of deceptive advertising.
I invite you to browse the following FAQ page on the FTC website about truth-in-advertising:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/adv/bus35.shtm
The "bottom line" is whether the advertisement "misleads" the consumer, causing potential "material" injury to a "reasonable" consumer. Such is the case in these eBay ads.
In a free-market system, ethical advertising is essential. These are prime examples of deceptive advertising.
I invite you to browse the following FAQ page on the FTC website about truth-in-advertising:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/adv/bus35.shtm
The "bottom line" is whether the advertisement "misleads" the consumer, causing potential "material" injury to a "reasonable" consumer. Such is the case in these eBay ads.
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This makes me wonder about the jurisdiction here. These are arguably national ads and as the product is delivered through the US mail, should the local county prosecuter, the FTC, or the US Postmaster General be notified? Whose ball is it?
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