Selling trident for a profit - okay or not?

[paphater]

To me this is no worse than selling like new/unused items for the same price or $10 cheaper than retail. It makes no sense to me whatsoever why someone would take that deal but people do. I do think think it should be required to let the buyer know about the warranty. I think the site could do more to protect it's members but that is a whole other topic.

I also think it would be totally fair for the site to take a cut on all items posted at or above retail price. Whether it's $850 for a Trident or $1,700 for a torch.

 

[HCl+NaHO=]

This should be fun, assuming it doesn’t get pulled.

I see tons of for sale threads on people with Neptune Tridents and they are selling them for $200+ above retail. There are people who say how unfair and wrong this is. Others think it’s okay.

What do you think, is this okay?

There is a saying

Something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it

The addendum is Something is also worth what something someone is willing to sell it for

When there is a meeting of minds on the value, the sale takes place. Hardly anything more ethical and just than that. No force, no coercion, and a mutually beneficial transaction takes place.

 

[Breadman03]

This should be fun, assuming it doesn’t get pulled.

I see tons of for sale threads on people with Neptune Tridents and they are selling them for $200+ above retail. There are people who say how unfair and wrong this is. Others think it’s okay.

What do you think, is this okay?

Not only was it not pulled, but Rev put it on the email blast. As far as right or wrong, it's a luxury item. Let them sell for what they can get.

I could t agree more with another comment I read on this thread regarding corals from Indonesia. I’m struggling to see the difference.

As for warranty related questions; I’m curious how Neptune will handle possible warranty claims for new devices. If a device is given as a gift, should the warranty not apply to the registered user and not the purchaser? This is a different topic I know.

I don't know how Neptune would treat it, but I think the recipient of a gift should be treated as the original purchaser.

 

[K7BMG]

This is crazy.
The real problem is people want one and they don't like or want to wait.
So instead of putting out the real complaint of the problem they complain about what ever they think will catch attention, so they can be heard.

This is not an immoral or unethical issue at all nor will it ever be.

The only real wrong doing I see here is the fact that with a limited release such as the Trident is, and EVERYONE KNOWING its was going to be a limited release then it should have been a ONE PER Person, Household, Business, ETC, sale.
That's the truly and ONLY unjust part. I am not sure if that's a real problem as well.

To all you complainers about scalpers or turn around sellers for profit go pound sand.
You reasoning is flawed, and hypocritical.
Not a single one of you would turn down an offer above the price you paid for something.
You know it, I know it, and so does everyone else.
Case in point, you buy a house and have no intention of selling for more than you paid for it? (RIGHT)
Actually you should be ethical and moral and sell it for what you paid for it or even less as its used now?
Perfect logical sense. Like it or not it is the same principal, and that's a fact Jack.

The person who pays more for something well so what, it is after all, their dollars to spend.
Or should we now make laws restricting what a person can spend, and on what they choose to spend it on?

For the warrantee BS, that's also a lot of BS.
Put any company name here ->___________ (In this case its Neptune) They do this for several reasons, BUT in this particular case its the companies (Neptune's) way of helping the consumer from this problem, if it is a problem, BUT its not.

In the end this is just about people who want one now and have to wait.

 

[DaneGer21]

How I acquired multiple tridents is not the point. I’ll also add that I did not say in this morning’s sale nor in the first trident sale that the unit was a gift. Please re-read my sale posts. It simply eludes to the fact that I had a new trident that was for sale. To say otherwise is calling me a liar and I only ask that you have facts before you making an assumption.

As for helping the community; some people would argue that giving the opportunity to buy a trident right now is helping the community. Whether you like it or not, some people don’t want to wait for things and will pay a premium to get it. That is their business and they should not have to hear how you would never do it for whatever reason(s) you may have.

Everything is not always about you...

 

[DaneGer21]

This is crazy.
The real problem is people want one and they don't like or want to wait.
So instead of putting out the real complaint of the problem they complain about what ever they think will catch attention, so they can be heard.

This is not an immoral or unethical issue at all nor will it ever be.

The only real wrong doing I see here is the fact that with a limited release such as the Trident is, and EVERYONE KNOWING its was going to be a limited release then it should have been a ONE PER Person, Household, Business, ETC, sale.
That's the truly and ONLY unjust part. I am not sure if that's a real problem as well.

To all you complainers about scalpers or turn around sellers for profit go pound sand.
You reasoning is flawed, and hypocritical.
Not a single one of you would turn down an offer above the price you paid for something.
You know it, I know it, and so does everyone else.
Case in point, you buy a house and have no intention of selling for more than you paid for it? (RIGHT)
Actually you should be ethical and moral and sell it for what you paid for it or even less as its used now?
Perfect logical sense. Like it or not it is the same principal, and that's a fact Jack.

The person who pays more for something well so what, it is after all, their dollars to spend.
Or should we now make laws restricting what a person can spend, and on what they choose to spend it on?

For the warrantee crap, that's also a lot of crap.
Put any company name here ->___________ (In this case its Neptune) They do this for several reasons, BUT in this particular case its the companies (Neptune's) way of helping the consumer from this problem, if it is a problem, BUT its not.

In the end this is just about people who want one now and have to wait.

So emotional

 

[Tjm23slo]

The only negative, for everyone else, is aquarium equipment is not like other electronics. Rarely does a piece of new equipment go down in price. Neptune should be watching and $599 or $649 could become the new retail price since the market can bare this price.

 

[MartinWaite]

Supply and demand. Neptune is selling them for a profit so......

Neptune selling for a profit now that's the understatement of the year! IMO.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

This should be fun, assuming it doesn’t get pulled.

I see tons of for sale threads on people with Neptune Tridents and they are selling them for $200+ above retail. There are people who say how unfair and wrong this is. Others think it’s okay.

What do you think, is this okay?

I'm in the HVAC industry. But you know the onions we buy at the store, they're 800 to 1000% markup. You wanted guess what fruits and vegetables are marked up to. That's free market at work. Just like we're free to buy.

 

[ca1ore]

I'm in the HVAC industry. But you know the onions we buy at the store, they're 800 to 1000% markup. You wanted guess what fruits and vegetables are marked up to.

If you do it based on the originating farmer, then yes that’s true. But there’s a ton of other costs throughout the rest of the supply chain to consider. So it’s apples to oranges (sorry, couldn’t resist). If somebody wants to scalp a trident online, and there’s a willing purchase partner, so be it. It’s availability arbitrage, so no value being added that I can see - but then I would neither sell nor buy. The latter strikes me as foolish. If Neptune announced they were making no more, then that’s one thing; but by the endof the Summer I’ll bet everyone who wants one will be able to get one .... for $600.

 

[KrisReef]

The world would be a wonderful place if everybody kept their hands in their own pockets?

Some folks would answer; "Yes" while others would think about it and answer otherwise.

It's only a problem if you let someone put their hands on you when you don't want them too.

"Honey, this ain't one of those."

 

[LARedstickreefer]

This should be fun, assuming it doesn’t get pulled.

I see tons of for sale threads on people with Neptune Tridents and they are selling them for $200+ above retail. There are people who say how unfair and wrong this is. Others think it’s okay.

What do you think, is this okay?

Capitalism is natural. Go for it.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

If you do it based on the originating farmer, then yes that’s true. But there’s a ton of other costs throughout the rest of the supply chain to consider. So it’s apples to oranges (sorry, couldn’t resist). If somebody wants to scalp a trident online, and there’s a willing purchase partner, so be it. It’s availability arbitrage, so no value being added that I can see - but then I would neither sell nor buy. The latter strikes me as foolish. If Neptune announced they were making no more, then that’s one thing; but by the endof the Summer I’ll bet everyone who wants one will be able to get one .... for $600.

I'll tell you a true story, when the Angel went to the world series, I know some one who bought 42 tickets at $98ea. and sold them for $700 dollars each. That was my brother, so was there value in that, to some yes, others no. But, they all sold.

 

[Breadman03]

I'll tell you a true story, when the Angel went to the world series, I know some one who bought 42 tickets at $98ea. and sold them for $700 dollars each. That was my brother, so was there value in that, to some yes, others no. But, they all sold.

I hope he bought a nice cut of steak. Nice move on his part!

 

[Ben Henwood]

Eh...If your dumb enough or desperate enough you will pay the price for it. IMO...If its all its cracked up to be its worth waiting for.

 

[Dr. Dendrostein]

I’ll pull mine off my tank and send you extra reagents for $850

Do you have lay-a-way plan? Like Zody's, or Two Guys.

 

[Hermie]

Why do people care what others do with their money?

because it affects other people's lives indirectly

 

[danoo]

There are two different questions to me.

I don't think it is reasonable to argue that people buying the Trident's hoping to re-sell them later are doing anything immoral. In addition to all the effort to actually re-sell the unit, they are also taking on risk that the price may drop in between when they purchase it and can re-sell it, and no profit is guaranteed.

On the other hand, what they are doing is generally detrimental to the hobby as a whole. Imagine if the practice were taken to the full extreme and one person bought every available Trident and then sold them for an increased price while scarcity was still an issue. They are adding extra cost and delay to the broad group of hobbyists, with the benefit going directly to themselves. Again, this benefit doesn't come without risk, but the benefit also doesn't come without a cost to other hobbyists as a whole. Certainly a potential buyer could just wait out the reseller until scarcity wasn't an issue, but they've still been delayed due to the practice.

So to me the right question is not whether the practice is right or wrong, the question is whether the forum should allow people to sell Tridents for above list price. I'd say the answer should be no, because the forum shouldn't be supporting behavior that is detrimental to the hobby as a whole. However I don't think it is a particularly big deal one way or the other as this seems like a fairly one-off situation.

 

[happysalt]

I think i've ironed out why this bothers people. I believe that people should be allowed to do what they want and if someone is willing to pay over MSRP for the trident then we can't really say anything about it.

I think the action in this entire chain that bothers people is the person buying the trident with no intent of using it but to turn a profit off a fellow reefer in our community instead of just allowing that person to purchase it themselves. It is just interjecting yourself into a transaction where that was never really necessary just to make a small amount of money off someone. The reality is I don't think that the couple of hundred of dollars you made flipping the trident was consequential in your life yet you did it anyways. It just can be percieved as petty.

Thats why I think it bothers certain people...

 

[stevieduk]

whats a neptune trident ? a three pointed spear ?