Buy stuff with OzBargain and resell on eBay?

Brick50 on 24/11/2012 - 11:39
Last edited 25/11/2012 - 08:02 by 1 other user

Hey guys,

Would just like your opinions. Do you think its okay to buy stuff with ozbargain and then resell on eBay?

I found this guy, And he seems to be selling a lot of very similair items ;)

Final Fantasy XIII-2 - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Final-Fantasy-XIII-2-Collectors-E…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/84812

Brainwavz M4 - http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Brainwavz-M4-IEM-Earphones-Metal-…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/84049

Belkin AV200
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Belkin-Surf-200Mbps-AV-Powerline-…
http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/84740

I probably missed some more stuff, This is all from the same seller. Do you think this is fine or is it the wrong thing to do?

Edit: add clarification.

General Discussion

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Comments

    • Domingo on 24/11/2012 - 12:49
      +13

      I don't see him advertising goods - this post is suggesting that another user buys bargains here and then resells on ebay. The OP is asking what everyone's opinions are of that.

    • Brick50 on 24/11/2012 - 12:56
      +2

      mpublic1, You have been a member for 2 years and posted 3 comments. Please read everything properly so I don't have to think you are the one that needs to be removed.

      • ozhunter on 24/11/2012 - 16:00
        +15

        To be fair, your post wasn't that clear.

      • kingofduck on 26/11/2012 - 11:40
        +23

        Ouch, that's hurt!
        I have been a member for years. Although I visit the site almost every day 'n' enjoy reading others, I rarely post.

        I don't think it's nice to link that fact that s/her rarely post to that s/he misunderstood your unclear message.
        You has just discouraged and discriminate low profile member to post more.

  • retiredfeline on 24/11/2012 - 13:30
    +11

    Do you think its okay to buy stuff and ozbargain on ebay?

    You mean "buy stuff with OzBargain and resell on eBay", right?

    I think you were too eager to use ozbargain as a verb. It has a particular meaning, that is for a group of people to clean out an online deal posted here in next to no time, sometimes with side effects such as taking down servers, etc.

    I don't see what the problem is. It's their stuff, bought legally. Maybe this is what some people do in lieu of a job. Good luck if the buyers are silly enough to pay too much for them. Or maybe the buyers don't want to join the scrum. Or maybe the seller has to move house in a hurry. If you think Brodening is unfair, you should pester the merchants to impose more equitable distribution.

  • Moots on 24/11/2012 - 16:15

    I have admitted to doing this once. This was from the Dicksmith sale and I sold most of the items on eBay although I had a lot of trouble. There was 2-3 people buying all my items and not paying for them. They sent me a message saying sorry I found it cheaper at Dicksmith, Pretty much rubbing it in. I also had people windging at me that I purchase most of the stuff and was accused of being a employee of Dicksmith.

    It has it's pro's and con's. If he makes some money good on him.

    At the end of the day, the business he purchased it from is happy, and OzBargain has done it's job by creating a sale.

    • scotty on 25/11/2012 - 08:14
      +56

      OzBargain has done it's job by creating a sale.

      Sorry I don't think creating a sale is our job here. OzBargain's job is that more people can know about a good deal. Buying with sole purpose of reselling on eBay is legally fine although not really of OzBargain spirit, which is sharing with others where the good deals are.

      • bargdebarg on 27/11/2012 - 21:22
        +7

        Hear hear. It is not the spirit of the bargs to sell only to resell on EBAY

      • machej on 28/11/2012 - 15:16

        Another badge for Scotty. :D

  • ProspectiveDarkness on 24/11/2012 - 16:33
    +7

    As far as OzBargain rules go, there's nothing against it.

    I'm sure some will disagree with me, but personally, I think it's reprehensible (and I know: their legal rights, none of my business, blah blah blah - this is just my opinion). I would never buy something from OzBargain with the sole intention of selling it for a profit… it seems a bit dishonest, and others who may actually want/need the original deal are left without (see DSE gaming 'deal'). I mean, imagine if everyone were to do this; deals would be sold out in minutes from people 'Brodening', and bargain hunting would become an utter nightmare.

    I suppose that's blurring the matter a bit, since the eBay seller above isn't selling 10+ of each product, but the point still stands, and I'm sure some people would do this.

    I mean sure, in the end it's up to the buyer whether or not they want to pay the eBayer's price, but I still think that the eBayer is, to some extent, taking advantage of those oblivious (or those who missed the original deal, for whatever reason).

    • voteoften on 24/11/2012 - 22:20
      +11

      I disagree. If you are going to go down the track of it being wrong because it deprives someone who "may actually want/need the original deal are left without", then you are valuing the person who is left without as having a more important status or need than someone who wants/needs to make some money. This sort of value judgement won't stop. The next person will say that the person who was able to get in on the deal has more money or more spare time and the person who misses out needs the deal more as they have less money or less time. Or if I buy some crap for my daughter who has too much crap already (in some peoples opinion) I am depriving some other kid who doesn't have as much crap. You just can't say that someone doesn't have a right to make money in order to allow someone else to save. You are imposing your values on a marketplace and it lacks logic.

      • ProspectiveDarkness on 24/11/2012 - 23:19
        +5

        I disagree. If you are going to go down the track of it being wrong because it deprives someone who "may actually want/need the original deal are left without", then you are valuing the person who is left without as having a more important status or need than someone who wants/needs to make some money.

        Yes, I do think the person with a legitimate want/need for the product itself is more important than the person who just wants to make money from it, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.

        Everyone needs money, and most people have jobs to fulfill that need. I don't think the cause of the resellers to go above and beyond that, and start making money off others, is entirely justified.

        You just can't say that someone doesn't have a right to make money in order to allow someone else to save. You are imposing your values on a marketplace and it lacks logic.

        I said no such thing. I thought I made it explicitly obvious that this is my opinion, nothing more, and yet you seem to be misrepresenting it as a factual assertion. Just how am I imposing anything on anyone? I'm of the opinion that, yes, the person reselling for profit is less important than the person buying to save money. That's my opinion, and obviously you have yours.

        • andy19363 on 26/11/2012 - 12:20
          +1

          Everyone needs money, and most people have jobs to fulfill that need.

          Some people's jobs is buying and selling stuff….. Harvey Norman and Dick Smith are two that spring to mind…..

        • ProspectiveDarkness on 26/11/2012 - 16:07
          +3

          I was referring to consumers. Obviously retailers sell products to make a profit - but they don't use OzBargain as a supply channel, which is the issue at hand.

        • King Tightarse on 01/12/2012 - 12:19
          +1

          I get your point PD but isnt that the very nature of retail?
          Every shop, except charity stores buys low and sells high. That IS retail. So in many ways we can say retail is a con? Well perhaps it is… but now we have the net, we have the ability to research and source goods much cheaper and reveal the truth about the rip off prices retail has been charging us for years, especially in Australia. So a lot of the mystery of pricing is gone now. Flip side, the onus is on the customer to research a price they are happy with.
          I say its a free market. If someone can make a go of buying goods on Ozbargain or anywhere for that matter and selling them honestly (IE paying all their fees and taxes) then good luck to them.
          Its a free market!

          EDIT:
          What I am saying does not apply to cases of Brodening. That is just straight out greedy and can deny other Ozbargainers.

  • spal on 24/11/2012 - 18:32
    +3

    I can understand some could give in to an impulse buy and find they don't have any real use or need of a product. However this seems to be a bit more than that. I would see this as brodenizing an opputunity and not really good eithical business practice. It is my opinion in response to the op.
    BTW good spotting.

    • dealman on 26/11/2012 - 09:30
      +4

      I can understand some could give in to an impulse buy and find they don't have any real use or need of a product.

      That pretty well defines , almost every purchase I have made on OZb

  • ryan-m on 25/11/2012 - 09:50
    +12

    It's a disgrace. Ozb is not his personal wholesale channel. This is a community for helping each other find things they want or need and take advantage of the good price. It is completely against the spirit and an insult to the people who posted the deal.

  • tryonthis on 25/11/2012 - 16:08
    +13

    It's crossed my mind a few times but I just can't be bothered with it on a small, casual level.

    It's the effort of listing it on eBay, going to the PO, paying for postage + eBay fees + PayPal fees, and as other have mentioned - dealing with non-payers and those that are unhappy with their item and demand a refund. eBay is now setup to protect buyers more so than sellers.

    All in all, it's not worth the time and effort for a few $$ here and there on a small-time scale. I'd rather pick up extra hours at work than go through so many loops selling stuff on "Fleebay".

    • retiredfeline on 25/11/2012 - 22:08
      +2

      I know exactly what you mean, having sold a few (second hand, non-OzBargain) things on eBay. I'm out of it now, too much effort. I doubt if the seller in question is getting value for their time.

  • scotty on 25/11/2012 - 22:02
    +10

    Just to add to what I said this morning, I suspect that for those who buy from deals listed on OzBargain and then resell on eBay — they probably hope less people would know about OzBargain. Otherwise their inflated price would no longer be favourable, thus less profit for them.

    That wouldn't win any approval from someone who is trying to run and build this community :)

    • counterbargainglobal on 26/11/2012 - 11:56
      +1

      +1

      • ryan-m on 27/11/2012 - 07:52
        +16

        You know there is a button for that?

        • dr_ rusko on 28/11/2012 - 15:30

          sorry to get all technical on you… but if you look under the post you will see a votes button - if you press the one corresponding to scotty's post you will note that counterbargainglobal did indeed vote (and prior to your comment I might add)

        • ozhunter on 28/11/2012 - 16:19
          +1

          I believe ryan-m is saying there is no need to comment "+1." Good that he did it, but it was pointless to comment it as well.

        • dr_ rusko on 28/11/2012 - 16:30

          perhaps he really wanted to do +2 but b/c of the limitations of OZB he had to split his votes?

        • ozhunter on 28/11/2012 - 17:37

          Well he is 1 person, so you can only +1 or -1.

        • dr_ rusko on 28/11/2012 - 21:43

          some people are greedy… 1 is not enough :P

        • [Deactivated] on 29/11/2012 - 02:54

          +1

  • counterbargainglobal on 26/11/2012 - 11:56
    +10

    I consider anyone who buys off Ozbargain information and sells on Ebay to be a GREEDY AND PROFITEERING individual.

    Every sale bought to be resold takes it away from someone who actually would use the bargain genuinely.

    If they want to buy low and sell high they should stop being lazy and go find they're own suppliers like what retailers do.

    Thanks!

    • tonyjzx on 26/11/2012 - 12:18
      +1

      i dont have a problem with it

      its a free world… i dont care what you do with the item once you bought it

      if you're willing to put up with ebay, good luck to you

    • chloden on 26/11/2012 - 12:45
      -5

      What a load of rubbish. If the "someone who actually would use the bargain genuinely" got off their lazy butt and looked for the bargain instead of just shopping on ebay then the opportunity to make the profit wouldn't be there in the first place.

    • tsunamisurfer on 26/11/2012 - 13:00
      +2

      Surely what people do with their rightfully purchased property is their business isn't it?

      You could extend your logic to ANYTHING bought and sold.

      Any seller of any product could then be construed as greedy for having the nerve to make a profit.

      • tonyjzx on 26/11/2012 - 14:47
        +3

        its against the spirit and i wouldnt like it if someone did a Broden and bought the lot and 'deprived' other people of a chance… but even so… that's life

        move on

        there will be offers you miss all the time

  • Ultraman on 26/11/2012 - 12:21
    +5

    It's all based on your perspective. Commerce wise, this is just arbitrage at work which is what ebay made easier for the masses. But by Scotty's vision for his website, it is against the spirit of Ozbargain.

    Is the negativity to "mini-brodening" just a leftover from when true brodening was possible? There is much less opportunity to do a proper broden these days with bargains being limited by quantity. Like others have said, the ROI would seem to be minimal if any, especially in quantities of one or two of each item.

  • [Deactivated] on 26/11/2012 - 12:59
    +3

    Its against the spirit, in that we FREEly share the deals here.

    But that said how the hell can anyone stop it. Like do the people selling the stuff use their ozbargain name, and even if they did, and we stopped them, they can still visit the site, look and sell.

    A little prayer…

    God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
    The courage to change the things I can,
    And the wisdom to know the difference.

    • ryan-m on 27/11/2012 - 07:56

      It's not Sunday school mate. Stay on topic.

      • [Deactivated] on 27/11/2012 - 14:08
        +8

        Ah there's always one. If your read it closely it is on topic.

        Guess leading with the "prayer" word gets some lit up.

        Simply put

        There is no way we can tell who "abuses" the system, hence, knowing what can change and what can't.

        BTW quoting something , which in this case is a prayer, doesnt imply anything about my views in life.

    • dr_ rusko on 28/11/2012 - 15:31

      where is that from?

  • xyron on 26/11/2012 - 14:40

    There are soooo many people trying to flog their Pentax Q cameras on eBay at the moment for $250+, almost all of which would have purchased knowing about the deal through OzBargain for ~$190.

  • retiredfeline on 26/11/2012 - 14:52

    It's also worth noting that OzBargain information often comes from somewhere else, an announcement on the website, a FB page, an email, a flyer. Do we try to "fix" all those channels too? No, if the merchant has set up the sale in a particular way, then it may favour the swift and there's little that can be done about that.

    What I have no patience with are merchants who send out a "sooper-secret" code to a select email list, which in fact turns out to be non-unique or useless for restricting admittance, and then later bitterly complain that some rotters "leaked" their code.

  • AG_ACT on 26/11/2012 - 14:55
    +4

    I'm sure I'm gonna get flamed here… but I've sold things I've bought thanks to Ozbargain, I didn't really see any issue with it…. I bought it, I didn't like it, I sold it…. sometimes I've come out better of, usually worse off. So long as you don't make a habbit of it, I don't see anything wrong with it.

    • lonewolf on 28/11/2012 - 10:53
      +5

      The issue at hand seems to be the intention and the use of ozbargain with that intention. In your case you didnt intend on buying the items on the sole purpose of making a profit out of it by reselling it once the item was out of stock / ozbargained.

  • leeroys_dad on 26/11/2012 - 16:12
    +3

    absolutely nothing wrong with reselling. purchasing an item during a sale and reselling for little profit (but still below RRP) is doing the new buyer, who typically would not know about ozbargain/the sale, a favour by giving them a lower price than what they would normally buy one for

    • voteoften on 26/11/2012 - 16:23
      +1

      As far as I'm concerned, whether it is above or below the RRP, it makes no difference.

      • leeroys_dad on 26/11/2012 - 16:29
        +1

        well above or below RRP, it doesn't matter. if the buyer receives the item for a price less than the market price, it's not an issue. if it's more than the market price, then it's the buyer's fault.

        it would be different if someone set up a website and charged buyers a subscription fee to access info which was just pulled from ozb

        • Eivad on 27/11/2012 - 17:38
          +3

          Actually gotbean is right. The fact that the buyer chose to buy the item on ebay meant that it either beat or matched the next best price he/she could find. This in turn increases the buyer's consumer surplus, making them happier than they would be otherwise.

          The idea is in line with creating a free market - it's just the value judgments behind this idea that make us feel angry with these resellers.

  • Shwayne on 26/11/2012 - 16:53
    +2

    It's very unethical, seeing as it's a community to enhance peoples lives.

    If the purpose of the site was to find low price items to resell it would be some kind of merchant community.

    Is that even legal practice for a business?

    • Eivad on 27/11/2012 - 17:41
      +2

      It's not illegal. People can validly use public information to purchase goods for low prices and resell to the community for higher prices.

      • Shwayne on 29/11/2012 - 00:26

        I know consumers can, but can a business?

        For example, can KFC walk on over to the corner shop and buy all their Pepsi bottles to resell?

        • voteoften on 29/11/2012 - 00:42
          +6

          of course.

  • freespirit on 26/11/2012 - 18:31
    +3

    I don't sell my bargains. I either use them or give them away as gifts. I also want to add that I'm extremely grateful for this site. It certainly helps the family budget and makes it easier to buy the odd little treat for the kids. Thanks Scotty! :)

    • ryan-m on 27/11/2012 - 07:54
      +1

      Ah god damn. I just neged your comment unintentionally, an the mobile site doesn't let you change it. Lame. The buttons should be a tapable size!

  • rohanp16 on 27/11/2012 - 11:37

    Not sure if this scenario has been covered,

    Person A buys certain products from a limited time sale advertised, with the intention of selling it later. Some people missed out on that sale (not necessarily because the product was out of stock, but because the sale period was over) and are still interested in that product but are not willing to pay RRP.

    Person A sells it on eBay or gumtree or even the selling forums here (is that allowed ?) for a bit of a markup, but lesser than RRP.

    What do you all think ? :)

    • scrimshaw on 27/11/2012 - 11:45
      +2

      What you just described is Brodening — buy all the stock, resell when the demand is high for a profit. Not in the spirit of OZbargain, but it's not illegal either. In fact, lots of people do this, on eBay.

      In practice though, this does not happen very regularly because most firesales usually have a very limited number of stock, or have a limit on the number of goods you can buy per customer.
      And then you have to assume the risks and responsibility as a seller — for example if you bought then sold 20 Playstation 3's, and if some of them are DOA or fail within warranty period, how do you deal with RMA/warranty issues?

      And second, all it takes is a Google search to find out that the stuff the seller is peddling could've been had for a cheaper price.

      • rohanp16 on 27/11/2012 - 11:57
        +1

        Not 'all' stock, say the sale had a specific time period.

        For instance, if something goes for around 200 and someone buys it here for 100 during some sale. A week/month down the line, I need/want that product at a bargain price so I'm searching for it and that person sells it for 150, I saved 50 and seller makes 50. I didn't need/want it earlier so didn't bother looking for it, plus the sale has ended already anyways.

        What about this circumstance (disregarding the risks as a seller you mentioned) ?

  • voteoften on 27/11/2012 - 11:53

    For those who think it is wrong to use OzB info, how about someone who finds a deals, buys extra to resell and lists the deal (not their ebay items) on OzB. According to your logic, this person would be in the wrong. They'd be better off not listing the deal on OzB.

    Individuals are going to look after their self interests. It might be that it is best for them to make a bit of money. Others may be too busy or highly paid elsewhere to bother trying to do this.

  • counterbargainglobal on 27/11/2012 - 12:06
    +4

    This is OZBARGAIN … NOT…. OZSUPPLIERS

    If they want to inflate prices by buying out all our bargains and selling it on ebay they can stuff off…

    Ebay is a hole full of inflated prices of products because Ebay doesn't charge for the item being listed.

    Therefore, they can buy here/ clear out a product here and list an item full price on Ebay for months without paying earning a decent profit.

    Once it's sold out cheaply on Ozbargain people naturally turn to Ebay.

    • tsunamisurfer on 27/11/2012 - 12:15
      +3

      Can you please show me the Ozbargain Charter of Rights that protect members from missing out or the Stone Tablet that says 'Thou shall not buy sh!t to sell' ?

      People get lucky all the time.

      People miss out all the time.

      Its called Life.

      Please be mature enough to accept it.

    • cwongtech on 28/11/2012 - 01:07

      Regarding all the comments about being OzBargain and not OzSuppliers, there is a reason why some sales have a limit imposed on how many of the same products in the sale can be sold to one customer to stop this sort of occurrence. The onus is really on the original merchant, whether they care or not about people missing out, it is not really up to the community and too difficult to enforce, although it is heavily frowned upon with the high-horse riders in OzBargain.

      If you want to, take a look at an example of our highly-welcomed Logitech reseller, LTS, (logitechshop). Almost every item they have listed in their sale has a limit per customer.

  • tonka on 27/11/2012 - 13:08
    +3

    I can't judge,
    seems a good way for say a pensioner or disabled person to make a few bucks when they have limited options.
    A person may have a more urgent/legitimate need for the few dollars they make trading than the person who is after a bargain (quite often luxury items) for themselves.
    In this case I only can only admire self sufficiency.

  • andy19363 on 27/11/2012 - 13:26
    +2

    NO, this is'nt a site to advertise your goods but rather for ppl to share bargains they have found with each other???
    If they want to inflate prices by buying out all our bargains and selling it on ebay they can stuff off…
    This is a community for helping each other find things they want or need

    Some might consider leeching deals without posting any to be worthy of similar indignation….

  • Ultraman on 27/11/2012 - 14:26
    +5

    A big LOL @ how humanity is wired. Not many people can think past the seven sins these days.

    Ok, putting aside whether it is still worthwhile to MINI-broden posted deals to resell on ebay… Like I said above, there is nothing wrong with arbitrage which likely existed as far back in the dim dark days of the stone age. It's what merchants/traders did sailing around the world, just that Ozbargain makes it easy to spot commodities able to be resold here in Oz. Like it or not, Ozbargain is a useful tool for all.

    Why exactly are some so vehemently against using said tool to find items to buy and put up for sale on ebay? Isn't that what ebay is for? And Ozbargain is a tool that makes arbitrage even easier. All part of commerce.

    Because if it is wrong, then that means our capitalist society is wrong too? So if you think it is wrong, then ask yourself why you think it is wrong. And it's not because it is against the spirit of Ozbargain any longer, because proper brodening is just not possible for bargains that can only easily be gotten in quantities of one or two.

  • rayray78 on 27/11/2012 - 14:30
    +3

    from the big picture point of view i dont see anything wrong. obviously the buyer on ebay sees value in buying the item otherwise they would not fork out their money. Who is to say that the ebay seller does not need the cash more than the ozbargainer who would otherwise have bought and used the product?

  • The Gent on 27/11/2012 - 17:23
    +1

    Immoral, but not illegal.

    Like re-selling band tickets on Ebay for more…

    • cwongtech on 28/11/2012 - 01:05
      +1

      That's called ticket scalping :)
      In the commerce world and as other people have put it - it is just arbitrageurs at work, taking advantage of price-differentials to make a profit.

      • The Gent on 28/11/2012 - 13:32

        Yeah, I don't know the legality of it here, but I know in England, it's legal.

        • ticket scalping, that is.
  • wukachuka on 27/11/2012 - 20:39
    +4

    It's actually pretty risky for the seller i would think, because there is always the chance they will get stuck with the product they bought to sell…

    • The Gent on 27/11/2012 - 21:42
      +1

      Nah, I reckon if you got it at a decent enough price (which generally you would on here) you could at least break even.

      Someone's gonna want it.

    • Eivad on 28/11/2012 - 15:24
      +1

      It's definitely risky, these sellers can only estimate the demand for a particular item based on google searches and forum posts (unless they are an expert in the item's particular domain). Sometimes (due to miscalculation, or just bad luck) they get it wrong (could be that the price kept decreasing, or demand wasn't as high as they expected) and they stand to lose a whole load of money from a transaction.

  • bargdebarg on 27/11/2012 - 21:23

    No. It's not right. Also, learn to proof read.

    • The Gent on 27/11/2012 - 21:42
      +6

      *proof-read (or proofread, but never two separate words).

  • lead_org on 28/11/2012 - 12:14
    +3

    Hum… arbitrage has been around for a long time, not a big deal. One usually don't really don't get much money from each transaction, they have to sell a lot to get a decent living out of it. Also, there is a risk that these things can not be sold.

  • Kugz on 28/11/2012 - 12:40

    I bought the Ultrathin Logitech Cover from LTS when it was $40 because it was a great deal and I have a lot of friends who could of perhaps used it - didn't intend to sell it or make any money off it, just break even. Well it's been some time since then and no one wanted it so I sold it on Gumtree and made $15 off it.

    I don't see any problem with that.

  • tim_geo on 28/11/2012 - 16:00
    +2

    Special item with 1000 stock made public on OzBargain, is it in the spirit if one keen individual who does this as a day job snap up all 1000 stock and sell it on eBay with say 30% mark up? The public can no longer access the original deal as it's sold out in 2 minutes, now the next cheapest is 30% more expensive on eBay.

    Is it in the spirit of OzBargain? No
    Is it legal? Yes
    Would the OzBargain community be happy? Discuss…

    • retiredfeline on 28/11/2012 - 16:36
      +2

      I would blame the merchant. It would be a stupid merchant that allows this. It creates bad will and doesn't increase the customer base. These days your scenario is mostly hypothetical. And as I said before sales announcements don't come solely from OzB. It could also get FB'ed.

      • tim_geo on 28/11/2012 - 16:58

        True it's hypothetical and an extreme, but in practice it could be something like 20 orders of 10 items each that would consume 20% of the stock, now if there were a few people operating like that it would be an annoyance I think.

  • Geewhizz on 29/11/2012 - 06:54
    +1

    To buy something and resell isn't a bad thing as such. I seriously considered the 12 months telstra dada and modem pack that turned out to be a pricing error. I'm not really interested in the telstra data, but the modem seemed like it might have been worth having, so I contemplated ebaying the data recharge, in order to decrease the cost to me of the modem. The person who wanted the data would have gotten it cheaper than they could through Telstra, so we'd both have been happy. I can see nothing wrong with that.

    Buying out a large portion of a deal with the specific intention of selling off, on the other hand is a bit sucky, but it happens. Is it any worse than claiming deals to which you're not really entitled though?

    • Ultraman on 29/11/2012 - 17:12

      Ok gonna use some codes here:

      CDNE = Claiming deals not entitled {Is it any worse than claiming deals to which you're not really entitled though?}

      LPSO = Large proportion & selling off {Buying out a large portion of a deal with the specific intention of selling off} or as I think of it doing a mini-broden.

      Before you read any further - everyone, ask yourself this question - which do you think is worse? Why?

      IMO, CDNE is worse than LPSO, because arbitrage (LPSO) is a normal every day business practice. e.g. Yes, KFC could walk over to 7/11 and clear out all the coke bottles going for $1 each, but luckily 7/11 has a limit of 1 bottle per customer (KFC is a customer).

      CDNE on the other hand could include a lot of the hacks and so called "bargains" that are shared here in Ozbargain? If you agree with this aforementioned bit, and are all for CDNE but totally against LPSO, then that seems like hypocrisy to me because (IMO) CDNE is worse than LPSO.

  • ajwhi on 29/11/2012 - 22:02

    Like people above have said, if its just one or two items then who cares. Maybe he/she is short on money or perhaps they had buyers remorse. It's a different story if they grab a whole bunch of stock with the sole intention of reselling it. Then I think it's a different story…

  • T1OOO on 30/11/2012 - 08:36
    +2

    imo i wish people the best that try to do this,.. imo the time and margine isnt worth it,… what is worth it is me using this site and saving $$$$….

    when you factor in the time listing, costs, paypal fees, shipping, ect.. its not worth it.

    i only did this once in 2008ish?

    i bought 2 dell monitors 30" for $1099 and sold one for $1500.. nice profit for me ;-) these were like $1899 or 1999 from dell usually..

    SO being the smart chap i was i decided to order 5 of them the next sale.. 5x400 = $2000 profit for me right!

    WRONG,.. by the time i came back from my trip to eu a month had passed and people caught on to this and the normal price was about that much and the demand that drove the price to $1500 had plummeted,.. I sold a few for $1200 and the last one I think I got rid of it for barley $1000 ,.. I took out shipping, insurance, fees listing and paypall and all in all I made pretty much nothing, and I had to pay instest on them for a few months as I didn’t want to list 5 at once, rather let 1 run for a few weeks just to attrack people, but when others were also doing the same thing it was even worse…

    At once stage I got greedy and wanted to get 30 from dell at a bigger discount, boy im glad I didn’t do that or id be trying to still ship them…

    You can also get 27” 2560x1440 monitors for $350 which means I would have had trouble moving them to this day (30 of them) and made a big loss and had to pay a lot in interest…………

    End of story, if anyone wants to do it, go ahead, there isn’t any real margins for lower items either imo, unless you really find a great deal….

    All in all nor worth the time

  • the urbanite on 30/11/2012 - 09:42

    It's pretty clear that a lot of people on this website wouldn't bother posting if they knew their deals were to be vacuumed up by commercial re-sellers. Hence, I think it is unethical as they would be talking advantage of a online community. Every website has an implicit rules guiding the community's behavior; so does OzBargain.

    Also, I think most of the counter-arguments can be summed up as "Because I Can" and that discouraging commercial re-selling is against an imaginary "Spirit of Capitalism" (to which the OzBargain posters never signed up to). Commercial retailers like Woolworths go to long lengths to protect the secrecy of the prices they pay their suppliers (such as farmers).

    • retiredfeline on 30/11/2012 - 09:54
      +2

      People in a state of moral panic keep bringing up these commercial reseller folk devils who buy up everything as if they were rampant, but is there any evidence that this happens to any measurable extent? Remember that the merchants who post here and other social sites are on their guard against massive buys because they don't want that.

      As for those who spend their time buying 5 here, 10 there, with multiple identities, well good luck to them. There are better ways to earn money after the overheads and time have been taken into account. And 90% of the stuff isn't Brodenable in the first place. You try and buy 300 cases of beer at DM or stash away 20 burritos from Mad Mex. Good luck.

      Finally remember that most information from OzB comes from somewhere else. It does perform an aggregator function though.

  • ode1online on 30/11/2012 - 14:54
    +1

    good luck to them.
    Its a lot of effort IMHO
    I sell stuff on ebay from time to time
    but never considered buying something to sell cause I think Ill make money

    Just try to make an upgrade less costly
    EG. Sell AMP for $1200 buy new AMP for $1800 etc
    However some people do spend way to much for an item on ebay I guess cause they think its the only way of getting it.

  • penthius on 03/12/2012 - 16:14

    You will never stop it. Its like freecycle, I have been using it for years, gave some good quality toys and furniture away hoping someone could really benefit from it only to find it pop up on ebay and then looking at some of the people who did it, all of their listings were all from freecycle too. Disgusting especially when you would get dozens of emails sometimes from so many people who could really use the item.

    As for OZB items, anyone remember the Colorado $10 sale? I caught the tail end of it and got 4 or 5 things , very lucky but unlucky to miss out on shoes especially as the bigger sized shoes are so expensive these days that it would have been a dream to get such a bargain - anyway there was a seller on ebay selling them for $69 a pair, they had dozens and they also had many other OZB deals. There's no proof who they are, there is no law against it, its just wrong, unethical I guess.

    I have been blessed by OZB and have driven some distance to secure some bargains and I guess others have too - but if I was ever going to list anything on ebay (and i have not yet) then I would have to start it off at what I paid for it - thats just me personally- and then the rest would be up to the bidder and how much they wanted to pay for it.

    • altomic on 04/12/2012 - 09:46

      freecycle scammers. can't stand them. they should be shot. there is a couple in my local area that everytime I list something then they just happen to need that item. I ignore them now.

  • altomic on 04/12/2012 - 09:44

    I bought the toy story 3 tv game thing from COTD when they were $4 each and had a free shipping deal. I bought one and then thought I hadn't changed my address from the last time I had bought from COTD (4 years ago or so)so I just bought another. turns out that as I had used paypal it grabbed my paypal address so the first one came to my current address followed by a second a few days later.

    Didn't need 2 so I sold one on ebay.

    made enought cash to offset the cost of the first and buy a 6 pack of beer.

    I can live with that.

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