Amazon Sellers Are Marking Products As 'Collectible' To Get Around Price Gouging Rules (theverge.com) 60
Amazon has suspended thousands of third-party sellers for price gouging during the COVID-19 pandemic, but sellers have found a loophole to avoid detection when raising prices: labeling their products as "collectibles," even if there's no conceivable way they could be. The Verge reports: Take this Bowflex dumbbell set, which my colleague Casey Newton encountered while browsing Amazon. Before it sold out in mid-March, Amazon had been selling the weights for $279. This week, the only available weights were from 20 sellers who were offering the dumbbells for between $899 and $1,275 (with free shipping). All had listed the item as "collectible." The automated systems that detect price gouging appear not to monitor products if their condition is listed as "collectible" rather than "new."
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The collectible loophole has existed for some time, sellers say, but before the pandemic, it was rarely used, because sellers only ran into price ceilings when an item was unusually popular and in short supply [...]. But with COVID-19, entire product categories -- cleaning supplies, webcams, home gym equipment -- saw unprecedented demand. Supply-chain disruptions meant some items were already running low, and safety concerns in Amazon's warehouses meant they took longer to restock and ship out. Amazon, and then sellers with normally priced goods, quickly sold out. The remaining sellers raised their prices, sometimes deliberately and sometimes using automated repricing software, and started running into price ceilings. As Amazon's marketplace came under strain, mechanisms that typically work in the background were brought to the fore.
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The collectible loophole has existed for some time, sellers say, but before the pandemic, it was rarely used, because sellers only ran into price ceilings when an item was unusually popular and in short supply [...]. But with COVID-19, entire product categories -- cleaning supplies, webcams, home gym equipment -- saw unprecedented demand. Supply-chain disruptions meant some items were already running low, and safety concerns in Amazon's warehouses meant they took longer to restock and ship out. Amazon, and then sellers with normally priced goods, quickly sold out. The remaining sellers raised their prices, sometimes deliberately and sometimes using automated repricing software, and started running into price ceilings. As Amazon's marketplace came under strain, mechanisms that typically work in the background were brought to the fore.
loopholes are yummy (Score:2)
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It always happens
It happens even more when the rules are stupid.
Why is Amazon controlling the price of dumbells?
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Why is Amazon controlling the price of dumbells?
The question answers itself. It's dumbells all the way down.
Are these out of production by Bowflex? If so, and demand is steep, then they are collectibles. The price is no dumber than the $hundreds I've seen anime DVDs listed for.
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Either that, or they fear running afoul of an anti-gouging ordinance in one of the many, many jurisdictions in which they operate.
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Imagine society if loophole abuse was met with "Don't get cute with me, you know damn well what the law's intent is."
Ban them all (Score:2)
It's the only way to make sure.
Re:Ban them all (Score:5, Interesting)
But what is essential? Is an new TV essential? What if that new TV is being used as in a live streaming setup for a worship service so that your parishioners can stay home? Is a new laptop essential? What if it is replacing one that died, and you need it to do your job? What if those dumbbells are needed because you are recovering from a car accident, and your physical therapy center is closed because of the coronavirus?
Nearly everything you can think of could, at least under the right circumstances, be essential for someone. And that's why this nonsense should not be tolerated.
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it's been proven you cannot leave it up solely to the free market.
When was this "proof" established?
When have price controls ever worked better than market prices?
Re:Ban them all (Score:4, Insightful)
Ever compare the price of insulin in America to the rest of the world?
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Ever compare the price of insulin in America to the rest of the world?
Can I sell insulin without being arrested?
Can I buy insulin without a prescription? From a seller of my choice?
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No, selling insulin without licenses and shit is illegal like most parmaceuticals, and distributing your prescription is illegal under federal law.
And yes you can, but you need to make sure you get the right insulin and the right dosages, which is likely beyond your knowledge, and current versions of insulin are magnitudes more effective. Take the risk if you want.
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1 quart, 1 gallon, 5 gallon (Score:1)
> ? What if those dumbbells are needed because you are recovering from a car accident
$300-$1,00 dumbbells.
I'm reading your post in my garage. Next to me is my paint shelf. It contains 1 quart cans of paint and 1 gallon cans, with the 5 gallon cans at the bottom. That's 2 pound, 8 pound, and 40 pound weights on that shelf.
The shelf next to it has different weights, and the shelf next to that other weights. Gee over in my masonary section are the concrete blocks which my handyman pinned out have handle
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You're right.
We all have garages with all of those items ready to be safely lifted and used in all the ways dumbbells can be put to use. Why didn't we all think of that?
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"What if that new TV is being used as in a live streaming setup for a worship service so that your parishioners can stay home?"
Church is not an essential service. The worshippers can read the Bible for themselves. That works without any electricity, let alone streaming. And as a positive side effect, it just might cure them. Not of Covid, but of religion.
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Clearly you have never been poor. If you had been, you'd know about all the food banks, clothing distribution centers, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, office skills training programs, literacy programs, etc. that are run by churches across the country. And you'd know that many of those essential services are not only housed in buildings owned by churches, but are also paid for in large part by donations by people who attend those churches and put money in the collection plate on Sunday morning. Withou
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That's not what I said. At all. I said church is not essential, not churches are not essential. English, motherfucker, do you speak it? Apparently not.
If people want to make donations to keep churches operating to help the needy they can do that without attending services. And if they can't bring themselves to do so, then they can just stop calling themselves Christians.
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What if that new TV is being used as in a live streaming setup for a worship service so that your parishioners can stay home?
Actually, they can stay home either way.
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ROFL. I should have said "so that they will stay home." :-)
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It is when they do it on essentials when they are in short supply that they need the permanent bans.
Price controls on masks disincentivize the production of more masks.
Ramping up PPE production is expensive. It requires paying workers overtime, using poorly trained new workers to run extra shifts, deferred maintenance on equipment.
Why should a PPE producer incur those costs if a fair profit is denied?
Re:Ban them all (Score:4, Informative)
No, they really don't.
First, the manufacturers are unlikely to crank up their prices, because even the slightest hint that they might be using this crisis as a way to bring in extra profit is the quickest way to guarantee public outcry that will bankrupt them, a fact that makes this entirely moot from the perspective of encouraging manufacturing.
Second, even if that were not the case, nobody is talking about anything that would constitute a price control on the manufacturer. This is just about price gouging by resellers. No sane marketplace would refuse to allow the resellers' price to increase if the manufacturer's price increased to cover increased cost of manufacturing, and the manufacturers know that they will sell every unit that they can make right now, so the only thing that disincentivizes ramped up manufacturing is not knowing how long that will be true, and whether they can recover any increased plant construction costs by then. So what we're talking about cannot realistically have any impact on whether manufacturers choose to manufacture more PPE, period.
What price caps do have an impact on are the middlemen. In an environment where once they sell out, they might not have anything to sell, there is some possibility that limiting their ability to raise prices might mean that they have trouble making ends meet in the future. That said, it seems likely that most of these middlemen are, in fact, just random people who are going out to their stores, buying them off the shelves, and reselling them at a profit, which means that the price gouging isn't actually protecting a business model, but rather encouraging abuse thereof. Those folks are leaches, and don't deserve to profit off of their rent seeking. And for the actual legitimate middlemen, there are PPP loans available. So preventing that impact really isn't worth doing.
Either way, for resellers selling off existing stock, cranking up the price constitutes price gouging, which is illegal in most places. So preventing that sort of behavior isn't just the right thing for Amazon to do; it is, in fact, their legal responsibility, assuming Amazon doesn't want to end up paying a lot of very, very large fines in the near future.
Assumptions Exploited (Score:2)
It is because gullible fools assume they will get the best price on amazon and do not check. You shop on Amazon and you buy locally at a reasonable price, which will often be better than a scummy rip off Amazon price exploiting your gullible assumptions. Shop on Amazon and buy elsewhere.
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It is because gullible fools assume they will get the best price on amazon
Amazon rarely has the best price on anything.
The point of Amazon has always been selection and convenience, not low prices.
Amazon Marketplace is a cesspool.... (Score:2)
...and too many of the sellers are shit.
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the best solution is (Score:2)
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I hear you, but for some people it's not really practical.
I myself don't buy a huge amount of stuff off of Amazon but the things I do buy would cost quite a bit more, if I could even find them locally (which, in many cases, I can't).
Not to mention the whole pandemic-thing going on right now....the fewer stores I go into, the better.
A couple of clicks and a day or so later $item appears. That's hard to beat.
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Pretty much this. Even if most places were open, shopping locally isn't an option for me beyond fresh groceries. I have a severe injury to my right foot that leaves me unable to drive (if I even still owned a car). Public transportation is NOT an option right now, and never was for significant purchases.
Now, I NEVER buy from Amazon marketplace. Only directly Amazon sold, Prime items.
IF there are other options out there that make sense, and can deliver in what I consider a reasonable time (not two weeks to a
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maybe there are (Score:3)
This is may be an accurate representation of collectable. All collectable means is that it is not sold for commodity use, but is a limited product sold to people who are willing to pay the markup to have it, like a pair Jordans. Many people buy these new not to use, but to collect. They may be worn, but only special, with care. Obviously most consumable, like toilet paper, food, and the like are not collectible, though some foods are. Have you seen the prices charged for Reeses Easter Eggs?
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It occurs to me that if you cure two with a rod (still at home depot?) you get a paired dumbell.
If you don't mind sacrificing buckets, of course.
Line the buckets with a plastic bag from a shopping trip ( check for holes first), then put the cement in the bag and let harden. When hard, dump the block out
of the bucket. Repeat as many time as desired. 1 bucket still intact and reusable.
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" and you have handles, too..."
Those handles can't handle more than about 50 lbs before they (or the bucket section where they install) go to shit. I know, I've blown through at least a hundred during 6-ish years of mountain-killing and collecting.
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If they wanted to, Amazon could solve the problem by rationing essentials. But they won't because they make more money by allowing people to buy and hoard as much as they want and then sell them back on Amazon at inflated prices.
And Amazon always comes out looking like the good guy.
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allowing people to buy and hoard as much as they want and then sell them back on Amazon at inflated prices.
"Hoarding" is only possible if the price is controlled or if future demand is unanticipated. Otherwise, the price will ALREADY BE HIGH and there will be no profit.
If the future demand is unanticipated, then the "hoarder" is shifting future demand to the present, causing the price to rise sooner, incentivizing additional production, discouraging waste, and diminishing the future shortage.
"Hoarding" is a public service. It should be encouraged by allowing people with foresight to profit.
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Exactly. Price gouging is in the context of things needed, or at least useful, to survive, during an emergency.
Fluff like exercise weights (or tickets to a concert for that matter), full steam ahead I say.
And even for needed items, it's heavily debated. Easy is the politician preening how nasty the gouging of gas is, or ice in a hurricane region. Harder to grasp is how it hauls much more of the needed stuff in, and very quickly.
People from New York load up ice trucks to drive down to Florida right after
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It also depends how heavy the dumbbells are. If they only go up to like 40 or 50 lbs per dumbbell, sure you can get them for under $100. I got a set around Christmas in the $300 range, but they go up to 105 lbs per dumbbell. 2 5 lbs and 2 2.5 lb plates per dumbbell, and the rest as 10 lb plates. No name brand. Metal weights are expensive.
Auction (Score:2)
Dayum, I got collectable TP (Score:2)
Suggestions on the best way to sell this stuff?
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Old as the hills (Score:2)
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A lot of things are more expensive (Score:2)
Given the cost of production per unit is higher right now, it's not too surprising. But it's driving prices up on all sorts of products.
I bought three bags of potting soil today - they were easily 60-70% more expensive than they've been in the past (I doubt that, prior to this year, the price of potting soil has increased more than 5 percent over the past decade).
Not to mention the high shipping (Score:2)
Things that cost $1 and can fit in an envelop have shipping of $40 or more.
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eBay tried to stop that by setting a maximum postage cost on some items, but it was too low for valuable ones and didn't allow for enough packaging to avoid damage.
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Should simply be that if the shipping cost exceeds the cost of the item, it is automatically added to the item's cost in the listing.
Art Installations and Social Commentary (Score:2)
I consider my "price gouging" to be an art installation / performance art and social commentary:
https://www.lulu.com/en/us/sho... [lulu.com]
I actually wanted to price it at a "million dollars" but the system would not let me, so I reduced my desired price by a cent.
For may years now, I have wanted to open a "Million Dollar" store at some point. A store where every item is priced at a million dollars. From a pack of chewing gum, to a pair of socks and anything else in the store. All one price, all a million dollars.
Aro
I get pissed off that collectibles are overpriced (Score:2)
Seriously, some of these people are selling things before they're even released and jacking the price up by 500% or more. How do they get their hands on them before the general public? Do they even have their hands on them or are they just hoping they can buy some cheap and then resell them for more and if they can't they'll just cancel the order.
I'm not paying $40 for something that should retail for $8 and I'm not paying $265 for something that should probably be about $20. I guess someone is willing.
Collectable Toilet Paper! (Score:2)