Price Police Last Call

mclemore

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Ok...

Well I've posted draft rules that involve banning the price police. Most are supportive, a couple people would prefer I let the PP be.

Since the rules are just 'draft', I thought I might be useful for me to try some price policing myself to see if I really think it is protecting newbies.

So here I go.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TOMMERVIK-PACMAN-ARCADE-VIDEO-GAME-VINTAGE-MACHINE_W0QQitemZ200362051535

Pacman painting. BIN $12,000,000 but will accept an offer.

Seller also has a gumball machine painting for the same price.
http://cgi.ebay.com/TOMMERVIK-ORIGINAL-GUMBALL-MACHNE-PAINTING_W0QQitemZ200317120892

I think the price might be a tad high and that a newbie might get ripped off.

Um.. Do I feel better for protecting a newbie? No, I just feel guilty for suggesting someone might have mispriced their item for sale... after all, there might be some 'retail' buyers out there that might not care about asking for a 2 for 1 special.

I wonder how many pounds $12,000,000 in quarters would weigh... ok I looked it up. So each quarter weighs about 5.670 grams, so $12m worth weighs 6000 pounds.
 
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The title on that auction is misleading as all hell too. At first I thought it was just a really, really, really bad photo until I looked at the section listing. The completely different painting in the description section is a classic too, nice find. :)
 
mclemore you forgot the obligatory pp photo.:D
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mclemore you forgot the obligatory pp photo.:D
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As gay as the price police are I think getting rid of the excuse to post this picture would be a shame. :(

Every time I see that and then see the CheapBastardVille, USA I start laughing somewhat uncontrollably.

I guess I'll just have to call 911 the next time I see a price out of line. :D
 
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One useful thing about the PP - they sometimes let you know not to bother reaching out to an unreasonable seller. Every once in a blue moon that comes in handy, but for the most part, I am indifferent.
 
Ok...

Well I've posted draft rules that involve banning the price police. Most are supportive, a couple people would prefer I let the PP be.

Since the rules are just 'draft', I thought I might be useful for me to try some price policing myself to see if I really think it is protecting newbies.

So here I go.

http://cgi.ebay.com/TOMMERVIK-PACMAN-ARCADE-VIDEO-GAME-VINTAGE-MACHINE_W0QQitemZ200362051535

Pacman painting. BIN $12,000,000 but will accept an offer.

Seller also has a gumball machine painting for the same price.
http://cgi.ebay.com/TOMMERVIK-ORIGINAL-GUMBALL-MACHNE-PAINTING_W0QQitemZ200317120892

I think the price might be a tad high and that a newbie might get ripped off.

Um.. Do I feel better for protecting a newbie? No, I just feel guilty for suggesting someone might have mispriced their item for sale... after all, there might be some 'retail' buyers out there that might not care about asking for a 2 for 1 special.

I wonder how many pounds $12,000,000 in quarters would weigh... ok I looked it up. So each quarter weighs about 5.670 grams, so $12m worth weighs 6000 pounds.

What are you smoking... that's art. 1 of a kind item. How you can compare a 1 of a kind item to a mass produced arcade game is beyond me. If it was was painted by a famous artist, who knows, it might be worth it. Plus the guy has it listed taking offers. You would have to be pretty dumb to click buy it now...

I do think Price Police posts serve a purpose if they are handled properly. They do help people decide on what's a fair price for a game. If a person does a search from outside this forum, they will find posts within this forum. I think we as knowledgeable collectors have a responsibility to police our own.

The way I see it, price police posts only effect the listing person and the posting person. Where you have problems is when the listing person gets offended or when the posting person makes an outrageous reply.. I do believe people should be punished for their comments if they are out of line.

For example: If the listing person posts a star wars UR for $10K, I would think the price police should be all over it.

But if you want to play price police you need to handle it properly. You should have real info to back your position. I think examples of ebay, CL, retail sales, sales between collectors and auctions are fair examples(you need to list them). If the PP poster can not provide reasonable and current examples to support their position, they should be punished (banned for a period of time).

I think as a rule, if a person says a game is worth $250, You should be willing to sell your personal one for $500 (in the same condition). If condition is a factor in your PP post, then you need say that. If a person is not willing to sell their game for 2x what they think its worth, then they are full of crap. Such a PP poster should be punished.

I am all for people posting their games at whatever price they feel like. There should be no punishment for asking outrageous amounts for your games... But, if your going to ask an insane amount for a game, you should have some reason to back it up. Star Wars was signed by george lucas, proto #1, prop in a movie, ect.. If not, expect to get a PP post. But if the lister gets offended by a reasonable PP post and retaliates in a public forum, then, I think the lister should be punished..
 
If you need the PP to tell you that 10k is outrageous for a SW upright , then you shouldn't be allowed to surf the net unsupervised to begin with. At some point we have to let natural selection take place. Do we really need the PP for the 6500.00 Moonwalkers and 10k SW uprights ?
 
I hope you guys realize that most of the reason prices of things are sometimes outrageous on ebay is to attract lookers and page hits. Seller has no intentions on selling the high priced item as all he wants is people to look at his auctiva scroller and/or other items for sale list.

Ebay's listing policy is allowing him to place a high priced ad for .15-.35 where thousands of people just like you will look at it and think he's nuts. He doesnt care what you think but he did get your attention and as long as you are looking at his other items for sale then his mission is accomplished.

IMO no policy needs to be involved.
 
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I do think Price Police posts serve a purpose if they are handled properly. They do help people decide on what's a fair price for a game. If a person does a search from outside this forum, they will find posts within this forum. I think we as knowledgeable collectors have a responsibility to police our own.

No, a buyer has a responsibility to research prices on his own. If he doesn't feel like researching prices and is fully willing to pay an "inflated" price that's his prerogative. He might just be an "eager" buyer and money isn't an issue.

Bill, you must not have been visiting the forums in the last week or so when all this PP stuff has been debated to death. I don't think it's even a debate anymore. Mclemore has decided, and most agree.
 
...I wonder when "opinions" will be a bannable offense here? Oh, it sounds like they're starting to be. What is a PP post other than another persons opinion?

This is rucking fidiculous...

...and I only say that because I enjoy making the PP images... but come on people... this is getting REAL stupid... REAL fast...

EDIT: I think I need to clarify my position... I think any attempt to ban people based on expressing their opinion is counter-productive... but I DO NOT support thread hijacks...which is what the real problem is. Example: Lets say I post a Ms. Pac Man for $800.00 with a photo. I don't have a problem with someone saying "$800.00 for that condition? Give me a break... I'd pay $500 at best." OBVIOUSLY, this is a price police response...but it's a personal OPINION. Same with a response like: "Meh...I picked one up for $500 last week in similar condition."... another response that I feel shoulds not be ban-worthy. It's the guys opinion. Where we need to draw the line is when that Price Policing becomes obvious HIJACKING of the thread. Example: "Why pay $800.00 for you Ms. Pac when you can pick a nicer one up from me for $700?" or "www.whatever.com has the same part for less dough"... etc. Basically, when it becomes an attempt to thwart a sale in support of making said sale elsewhere... I have a BIG problem with that.

I realize that I won't like everything I read...or everything someone posts. I can either live life offended by such posts or I can simply ignore them...
 
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No, a buyer has a responsibility to research prices on his own. If he doesn't feel like researching prices and is fully willing to pay an "inflated" price that's his prerogative. He might just be an "eager" buyer and money isn't an issue.

Bill, you must not have been visiting the forums in the last week or so when all this PP stuff has been debated to death. I don't think it's even a debate anymore. Mclemore has decided, and most agree.

I may have missed it, but I still think its wrong to kill PP. How can people make an informed purchase when they will see 10 listings for ms pacs that don't sell at $1k-$1200. Then someone dumps in an $800 ms pac and they might say wow, thats a deal.

I think people dislike the stupidty that PP brings out. If rules are in place to deal with it, then it would not be a problem.
 
Maybe PP posts just need some guidlines. I admit my PP post was a bit over the top and ruffled some feathers. I should have approached it from a better angle and kept my wording as neutral as possible.

I do think they can be useful to buyers. Really.. I think some confusion comes from posts asking about general value of a game. By and large the KLOV community places a much lower value than the retailers on parts and whole games. That means that when someone comes across a price thats 2-3 times or more what its valued at here they come back with a PP post.

IMHO
 
So is the idea to ban only negative price policing? What about supportive/positive price policing? I've seen for sale threads posted where people will follow up with: "Great price, someone should jump on that!" Should those opinions be silenced as well?
 
I've heard of online banking but online baby sitting? I think people need to grow the fuck up. This is my opinion which is protected by the First Amendment.
AND I QUOTE:
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances"

Now the mods aren't Congress but seriously people how is this REALLY any different?

Who cares lets move on. Mods should be dealing with threads that are of a possible threatening nature. Outside of that let the cards fall where they may.
 
Maybe PP posts just need some guidlines. I admit my PP post was a bit over the top and ruffled some feathers. I should have approached it from a better angle and kept my wording as neutral as possible.

I do think they can be useful to buyers. Really.. I think some confusion comes from posts asking about general value of a game. By and large the KLOV community places a much lower value than the retailers on parts and whole games. That means that when someone comes across a price thats 2-3 times or more what its valued at here they come back with a PP post.

IMHO

There is nothing stopping a newb from posting a thread ASKING for input on price in the general forum. There is nothing stopping a newb from typing "Ms. Pacman price" in the search bar, or on google.
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, from what I can tell, it looks like the PP banning is only in the specific FS forum. Sounds like you can still discuss the crazy craigslist posts, or ebay auctions, and probably even FS posts all you want in the general forum, so Frizz, the price Police/gestapo pics are still needed :D
 
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