Hoarding question...

Will

Will

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Define it in your terms.

I remember getting blasted for buying 5 of a certain game, 1 for me, 1 to flip to pay for both, and 3 to pass along here to those that wanted to pay cost plus sh.

Now it seems that if you give it a week and stuff is still there, buy away cause you gave others the chance? Or if you wait till the last day and buy whatever is left thats a possible hot commodity, its ok?

Im just trying to get a handle on the rules cause it seems like they get changed from time to time by people that deem said hoarder " a good person".
 
I would say there are no rules and people will bitch regardless. Overall, if you buy one for yourself, one to sell for profit and the rest for people on the site you are not doing a bad thing. I guess it may depend on how much you charge people here for them. If it is a little above cost, I don't see a problem.

I'm sure people would say that if you found it for $2 you should have to sell it for that price to us since we are all CAG. IMO, that is a stupid mentality but one that seems more and more popular here.
 
I guess this should apply to all types of hoarders:
Buy as many as you want, but just leave one copy for me at the store because I can't order online! :)
 
Im sure this thread will end in flames. I have no problem in helping others...I leave more than I take and that doesnt seem to be good enough regardless of my intentions. It just seems that people that bitch are mostly ones that have no way of getting in on the deal but at the same time if one of their buddies did the same as me, they would be a good guy for helping others while Im still being baked.

I dont believe in grabbing every copy of said hot title and never will. Ill grab what I want, one to flip and cover cost of both and a couple others to help those that cant get in on it.
 
Hoarders suck but if you can get away with it and make some money in the process then have at it - this is America (for most of us).
 
I would just use better judgement.

If there are two copies of a rare game on the shelf, grab one and sell it.

If there are 20 copies of FF XII for 3.99, buy a few but don't take all of them.
 
Yeah basically what others have said. If you walk into a store and there are 2 games don't be a dick and take both, or buy both and trade the other at cost.

If there are 20+ games then by all means help yourself to 5-6 copies. Also it really does make sense to wait a few days before you buy everything to give other people a chance to get the games. I mean I walked into a EB and left with 113 penny guides and i didn't feel the least bit of guilt. Many of the guides I got were pennied out over a year ago. In cases like that people have had MORE then an ample chance to get in on the deal.
 
I just pick up whatever I want for myself/friends/family and then pick up a few extras of the more popular items. Honestly, why leave all of them there? It's not like there's only 1 or 2 hoarders in this world, there are thousands in every city. So if you leave them there, some fucker will just pick up the rest for his/her own profit.

I just pick up as many as I can and share it here for cost (I don't usually charge extra since I was already there and make plenty of trips to the post office, I only charge extra if I'm requested to make a special trip to pick something up). If there's a CAG nearby looking for it, he can pick it up for cost.

I only call it hoarding if you pick up multiple copies and then try to sell them off for anything more than a $2 profit.
 
[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']
I'm sure people would say that if you found it for $2 you should have to sell it for that price to us since we are all CAG. IMO, that is a stupid mentality but one that seems more and more popular here.[/quote]

I remember I bought Bubble Bobble PSX at a yard sale for $3, and a guy that wanted to buy it got pissed when I said $35 shipped.
 
[quote name='javeryh']Hoarders suck but if you can get away with it and make some money in the process then have at it - this is America (for most of us).[/QUOTE]

Pretty well said. Honestly anyone that buys up multiple copies of a hot clearance game and then comes on here to brag about it is either trolling or very ignorant of how the average CAG is going to react.
 
Most of the hoarders I've seen in the Bay Area are shady as hell and have absolutely no qualms about taking every single TMX Elmo, every Wii, or every DS Lite they can get their dirty little hands on. Either they're gonna be making a ton of money or I am, so there's no question in my mind about how I should act when i find something good. I think that every CAGer who snaps up a great deal scores a point for real gamers against the people who don't know shit about a gaming product other than its market price. If one CAGer loses out because of another CAGer, that sucks...but at least it wasn't some other turd.
 
Bragging on here about hoarding something and getting the inevitable flame war is precisely why they post here. It's fun!

If they want their ass kissed they go to FatWallet.
 
I say quantity plays a big factor. I mean if you get 1 game at a garage sale that no one else had a chance to get charge the limit. If its a game like the TRU ones where they are common and your trying to make a $20-30 profit then your being a hoarder.

if its like the Digital Devil Saga's that were on sale at TRU a while ago its middle ground. Most people here who got them sold them for more then they paid and less then ebay prices.

A perfect example is the Sears misprice for the 360 HD's. Very few people actually got them and alot of people were mad if you tried to make a profit off them. Most people sold them for between $50-70 for new HD's that retailed for $100.
 
I snagged 5 of those HD's myself and sold a few here at discount and ebay'd the rest. Paid for a anime convention I went too.

The point is the people who get mad are typically the ones who expect that after every sale they will have people offering them the rarest games at cost or in some cases below cost. I mean there is nothing wrong with making a few dollars for your trouble. You went to the store, got the deals and should get something for it based on how rare it is.

I wasn't here when this happened but I remember people mentioning that during a big CC clearance a few years ago someone on CAG was nice and sold a person here Disgaea for $5 which he couldnt get out of niceness. He turned around and sold it on ebay for like $60.
 
Im guilty of hoarding some kmart titles (half life 2, ape escape 3, neopets) and I don't feel bad, because those titles had been sitting there for months and months and months and not even the kmart employees knew they were as cheap as they were. Traded them in over a few days, and got some games I actually wanted... Does that make me a bad person? NO.
Hoarding is fine when no one is watching, once someone who wants something you've got 50 copies of and they're dirt cheap, that's when youre an asshole for not sharing with that person.. other than that, hoard away.
 
This Reminds me of my toys r us trip last night.....I had 2 copies of metal saga in my hand..... some guy was looking for it...so I gave him a copy I don't know if he really wanted the game or not but I didn't want to be an ass and take both
 
I look at it this way:

If a store was handing out free $20 bills, would you intentionally leave some behind for the "next guy"?

No, of course not. This is essentially what stores are doing when they offer items at less than market value. A $5 game that is worth $30 on eBay is basically a free $20 bill.
 
[quote name='Zing']I look at it this way:

If a store was handing out free $20 bills, would you intentionally leave some behind for the "next guy"?

No, of course not. This is essentially what stores are doing when they offer items at less than market value. A $5 game that is worth $30 on eBay is basically a free $20 bill.[/quote]

Have you ever had to read a thread where asshats incessantly go on about enjoying their new hard to find $20 bills while you sit at home without one? Games aren't $20 bills and it's not as cut and dry as all that.
 
I agree with you, Zing.

People shouldn't be asshats and sit here bragging about how they bought 10 Wiis, but I don't see any problem with the fact that they bought 10 Wiis with the intent to resell them.

It sucks for us and other people who may want a Wii, but hey, it's fair game.

Like someone else has already said -- people will bitch regardless. Do what you think is right.
 
[quote name='Zing']I look at it this way:

If a store was handing out free $20 bills, would you intentionally leave some behind for the "next guy"?

No, of course not. This is essentially what stores are doing when they offer items at less than market value. A $5 game that is worth $30 on eBay is basically a free $20 bill.[/quote]

Yes, I would leave behind some twenty dollar bills for the next guy if the store was handing them out for free. If a store were doing that, they'd likely be doing it to foster goodwill amongst it's customer-base, so being a greedy asshole is doing nothing but cutting off your nose to spite your face... with fewer "happy customers" the business is less apt to maintain a suitable level of profitablity, and thus go out of business.... meaning no more free $20 bills in the future.

Toys R Us is dumping these to keep their margins happy, but it also has the benefit of producing customer goodwill, and making people remember that "Hey, I got this good deal at Toys R Us... maybe I should stop there today".
The more people you have happy with the service and continuing to buy product at full price, the more likely Toys R Us is to continue with such an aggressive price cutting policy.

Therefor, if there were only say, 2 people per each Toys R Us to benefit from this sale, you'll have fewer of the bargain hunter ilk that will even bother to add Toys R Us to their normal route... leading to few full price purchases, and a Toys R Us less likely to be so agressive about cycling product. Even a few years ago, Toys R Us was known to let product rot on the shelves at full price for long after it had stopped being a viable title.

People are so short sighted, really.
 
[quote name='JSweeney']Yes, I would leave behind some twenty dollar bills for the next guy if the store was handing them out for free. If a store were doing that, they'd likely be doing it to foster goodwill amongst it's customer-base, so being a greedy asshole is doing nothing but cutting off your nose to spite your face... with fewer "happy customers" the business is less apt to maintain a suitable level of profitablity, and thus go out of business.... meaning no more free $20 bills in the future.[/QUOTE]


Get off your high horse.
 
[quote name='hhhdx4']Get off your high horse.[/quote]
High horse nothing. I'm being practical, but my motivations are just as selfish as the assclown that wants to make that one big score, but just like in all things, the slow, gradual way is the most likely to pay out, and pay out bigger over the long term.

Anyone who has watched the site for a long enough period of time would come to a fairly similar conclusion.

It's just like the excercise where a big stack of dollar bills is placed before a group of children, and if there are any dollar bills left after the children take from them, they are doubled. If the children are patient and don't succumb to avarice, they all benefit in the long run, each making far, far more than they would individually.
If there is one particular greedy child, they'll get a few dollars, and more than the other children... but far, far less than the would in the long run if they worked with the other children.
 
[quote name='Zing']I look at it this way:

If a store was handing out free $20 bills, would you intentionally leave some behind for the "next guy"?

No, of course not. This is essentially what stores are doing when they offer items at less than market value. A $5 game that is worth $30 on eBay is basically a free $20 bill.[/quote]

I'd take the $20 bills and trade them to other CAG's who had gotten different $20 bills at other stores
 
[quote name='Brian9824']I'd take the $20 bills and trade them to other CAG's who had gotten different $20 bills at other stores[/quote]

Hmm. A "child" working with other "children" to enrich the group? Hmm. Why, that's just crazy enough to work! :)

(Not that I'm calling you a child... it's just to reference the given example :) )
 
Most of my buying has been done at the kmart sales where, as many people have said, kmart was very happy to have me pick up all of their old games that had been sitting in the case for months unsold, these games were sitting there and sitting there, heck even some of them sat there during the christmas season, i even handed a lady a 3$ copy of drill dozer (that was priced 21$) because she was looking for games as a christmas present and was about to buy a crappy movie game for 19.99 then i handed her the drill dozer and told her it was 3$ and she was really happy, plus a kid will be having a better christmas with a better game because of me. There was plenty of opportunity for the employees to buy the games and plenty of opportunity for the customers because the games were out in the open for everyone to see. Most of the people shopping for games are just parents looking to get a lower priced game for their kid to play or as a gift.

Some of the other posters have it down, if you buy a lot of the same title, you will not profit as much because everyone else is doing the same thing and reselling them which makes the ebay price go down, then in the long run you lose money on those 50 copies of game x that you bought because TRU decided to clearance them, plus losing the ebay fees on your auctions which can add up to be a lot. You have to do it in small quantities if you want to make money. So sometimes you have to laugh at the hoarders because they are really losing money when they think they are making it. Its also not fun to be stuck with a pile of 50 worthless games.

Of course the cag'er can also benefit from the hoarder because this leaves easy access to games that you cannot find, you can get them for a lower ebay price if there are more copies on the market, if you want to play them if people hoard and resell!

If i am buying games its usually for myself or my friend in the UK (must think about him since certain games are not readily availible in europe, in which case i find something he wants he gets charged the actual price plus a couple bucks for my trouble).

As far as the clearance sales, stores could also prevent hoarding by placing a limit such as one game per person, if they do not place the limit then they obviously want it gone as fast as possible to make room for more stuff, hence the low price. There are also various other ways to prevent hoarding that the retail stores could be implementing if they cared enough to stop hoarding, which they most likely do not.

That person has me beat too, usually i just pick up one extra copy of the game for profit if its something i know that the market is not flooded with and something that will sell, you will make more and lose less in the long run this way, plus its less work than bringing home a batch of worthless games.
 
There is one thing I've noticed on this site, and that it is this:

Hoarding to sell on Ebay, even if you're only buying one copy extra is wrong and horrible. Prepare to get flamed because you're "not following the CAG way" and you're a horrible person.

Hoarding to flip to EB / GS / other local store, that's ok, and encouraged! Grab as many copies as you want to dump off at a game store for new games! I've never once seen someone get flamed for saying "Oh yea, I picked up a couple to flip to Gamecrazy!".

Hell, I've seen numerous people so far talk about how the PS2 RPG games at the TRU sale flip to Gamecrazy / Gamerush for good credit and they are doing that, yet, apparently that's ok according to the CAG code.

It's just something that's always puzzled me.

Making $$ for your benefit is horrible, but making fake $$ (credit) is ok.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']There is one thing I've noticed on this site, and that it is this:

Hoarding to sell on Ebay, even if you're only buying one copy extra is wrong and horrible. Prepare to get flamed because you're "not following the CAG way" and you're a horrible person.

Hoarding to flip to EB / GS / other local store, that's ok, and encouraged! Grab as many copies as you want to dump off at a game store for new games! I've never once seen someone get flamed for saying "Oh yea, I picked up a couple to flip to Gamecrazy!".

Hell, I've seen numerous people so far talk about how the PS2 RPG games at the TRU sale flip to Gamecrazy / Gamerush for good credit and they are doing that, yet, apparently that's ok according to the CAG code.

It's just something that's always puzzled me.

Making $$ for your benefit is horrible, but making fake $$ (credit) is ok.[/quote]
I think it's an issue of critical mass, Roufuss.
Most people are pretty ok on seeing that some grabbed 5 copies of a game, or even multiple copies of most of the games. But when they see someone that's grabbed 10+ of each title (many of which they probably wanted), it begins to rub them the wrong way. Then they think back to the halcyon days before CAG found it's way to Gamefaqs, Kotaku, Joystiq, Bloomberg TV, etc, where deals were fat and plentiful, and thanks to benboxer and other people who worked in the stores and a relatively smaller userbase, you could just stumble into huge scores all the time with little effort.

All of this is tinged by jealousy, but when some people start getting to a certain point, you begin to wonder if these people are behaving in a way that is contrary to what is for the best of the group.

However, I've always though that little bit of hypocracy was odd... that ebay sales are in some way worse than flipping for credit, especially since ebay sales (especially when a bunch of lemmings are running them) are more likely to come in at a lower price.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']There is one thing I've noticed on this site, and that it is this:

Hoarding to sell on Ebay, even if you're only buying one copy extra is wrong and horrible. Prepare to get flamed because you're "not following the CAG way" and you're a horrible person.

Hoarding to flip to EB / GS / other local store, that's ok, and encouraged! Grab as many copies as you want to dump off at a game store for new games! I've never once seen someone get flamed for saying "Oh yea, I picked up a couple to flip to Gamecrazy!".

Hell, I've seen numerous people so far talk about how the PS2 RPG games at the TRU sale flip to Gamecrazy / Gamerush for good credit and they are doing that, yet, apparently that's ok according to the CAG code.

It's just something that's always puzzled me.

Making $$ for your benefit is horrible, but making fake $$ (credit) is ok.[/quote]

Now that you mention, it is pretty true. Id like to add to this. Guys say when you hoard to sell on ebay is wrong since your taking it away from one who wants to actually play it, well if you hoard and trade in to GS/GC its even worse...why?

1. Taking the game away from one who wants to buy it in the first place at the clearence price.

2. Giving it to GC/GS to resell @ a price thats going to be higher than a "hoarder's" ebay price.
- People then buy the game USED @ a unfair price.
 
I was also baked for buying wild arms 4 at cc when it hit the 8.96 price. I hit 4 stores grabbing a 3 or some from each because they had 10+. I did that from seeing alot of requests for it. So even though I left behind more than I bought, it was still considered hoarding even though none were flipped for profit. Those that ended up not being bought were returned.

So is it ok to grab a few here and there to help others out that dont have the access?
 
I think finding common games at insane prices and scooping them all up is definately bad but finding a long lost cache of rareness is another thing. I found 2 sealed copies of MvC2 (xbox) at an FYE a few months ago. Straight to Ebay for about $400. I don't think it's hoarding in this case, it's more like striking oil. They had been there for years.
 
I got put on blast for picking up 8 copies of Fatal Frame III at TRU last Sunday, the last day they were $9.98, and when I come here to trade for other games from the later $9.98 sale, CAGs in my own tradelist called me a hoarder.

Explain how that is hoarding.
 
I'm only human, and the thought of selling a $30 game that you bought for $10 is appealing. I'm sure even the most respected CAGs have given into temptation and bought multiple copies. When I first joined here, all I could think about was getting multiple copies of every game and having "get rich" schemes in my head. Slowly I'm realizing it isn't worth it. The money you make is a fraction of a normal job. And if you want to make big bucks as a power seller, you literally have to sell 24/7 so it becomes a real job.

Now I try to split up helping CAGs and helping myself. This past week, I've sold a Zelda CE guide to a CAG at cost (which I'm still waiting for payment daroga! ;)), I've sold 2 copies of Metal Saga to 2 CAGs at cost, a copy of Atelier Iris 2 at cost, 2 copies of Dawn of Sorrow at cost, and selling an Advance Wars and Point Blank at cost. But for my selfish side, I plan on eBaying a Dawn of Sorrow and 2 Advance Wars for around $30 each because I want to make a profit. I think in the end, no matter what you do, there is always someone ready to call you out, so it is what it is.
 
[quote name='Kendro']I'm only human, and the thought of selling a $30 game that you bought for $10 is appealing. I'm sure even the most respected CAGs have given into temptation and bought multiple copies. When I first joined here, all I could think about was getting multiple copies of every game and having "get rich" schemes in my head. Slowly I'm realizing it isn't worth it. The money you make is a fraction of a normal job. And if you want to make big bucks as a power seller, you literally have to sell 24/7 so it becomes a real job.
.[/QUOTE]

For some of us, like myself, I don't buy alot of extra copies to get rich or hopefully strike oil (maybe like 1 sale out of 20 has that one game that will get you lots of money).

For me, I buy games for myself, then, if the opp. presents itself, I will buy an extra to sell to break even. I buy two copies of a game for $10 a piece, sell one of them for $20, and bam, I have a free game for a tiny fraction of extra work.
 
I bought the last 2 copies of Samurai Champagne or whatever to trade in at GR. Do I feel bad? No. Who the hell wants that game?
 
[quote name='djkunai']I got put on blast for picking up 8 copies of Fatal Frame III at TRU last Sunday, the last day they were $9.98, and when I come here to trade for other games from the later $9.98 sale, CAGs in my own tradelist called me a hoarder.

Explain how that is hoarding.[/QUOTE]

Youre another example. You did what many would consider hoarding but because it was the last day, some people tried to give you a pass.

It was your situation that made me ask this question. Some say those that bitch the most are the ones that have no shot at getting in on the deal so theyll find someone they can flame. Im trying to understand where people draw the line as far as what is/what isnt.
 
[quote name='Roufuss']Here is a PERFECT example of what I was talking about:

http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2525994&postcount=1187

Now, is everyone gonna flame him? Probably not.

But if he put that $450 of clearance games on Ebay, watch out![/QUOTE]

I'd flame him, but I'm beyond the point of truly caring about all of the drama that happens because one person clears out an area of it's games. I'm fine just buying one or two extras of the "rarer" clearance games to trade for what I inevitably don't get. I never ever sell on CAG or E-Bay though. I only trade. There are times I'm willing to "buy" clearance games, but even then it's usually at cost, tax, shipping, and two bucks worth of gas.

There are still some great CAGs here (as evidenced by the fact I have copies of .Hack, Grandia 3, and Castlevania on the way to my house), but long time CAGers know that a good portion of this site has turned into "I get mine, fuck everyone else" as they go off to either e-bay, gamerush, or where ever else.

Edit: I read a few more of his posts and got mad then I flamed. So yeah....
 
[quote name='Will']Youre another example. You did what many would consider hoarding but because it was the last day, some people tried to give you a pass.

It was your situation that made me ask this question. Some say those that bitch the most are the ones that have no shot at getting in on the deal so theyll find someone they can flame. Im trying to understand where people draw the line as far as what is/what isnt.[/QUOTE]


Okay, consider this:

I go into a BestBuy, Circuit City, and TRU and buy EVERY copy of Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition. Is that hoarding?

Also, what about this:

It's the last day of a huge YMMV sale where I can pick up Zelda Twilight Princess for $25, so I pick up 15 copies. I sell 8 of them at cost to CAGs, and flip 7 on eBay for $40 each. Is that hoarding, considering the fact that people on eBay and CAG would have ended up paying MSRP had I not hooked them up, but still took a profit?
 
[quote name='djkunai']Okay, consider this:

I go into a BestBuy, Circuit City, and TRU and buy EVERY copy of Midnight Club 3: Dub Edition. Is that hoarding?

Also, what about this:

It's the last day of a huge YMMV sale where I can pick up Zelda Twilight Princess for $25, so I pick up 15 copies. I sell 8 of them at cost to CAGs, and flip 7 on eBay for $40 each. Is that hoarding, considering the fact that people on eBay and CAG would have ended up paying MSRP had I not hooked them up, but still took a profit?[/QUOTE]


Thats what Im trying to get to the bottom to. I thought I did what would be considered a good deed by the CAG community only to get flamed while others do it or worse, in some people eyes, and yet they get a pass for various reasons.
 
[quote name='Will']Thats what Im trying to get to the bottom to. I thought I did what would be considered a good deed by the CAG community only to get flamed while others do it or worse, in some people eyes, and yet they get a pass for various reasons.[/QUOTE]
You did a good thing. Don't worry too much. The only time I consider hoarding bad is when someone strips a store of tons of copies of all of the most popular things the first day or two. If it's been up on here a few days and I just don't see it I don't blame them for stuff being gone, I blame myself. If you're helping other CAGs get the game, you're doing a good thing. A lot of people, like myself, joined because of the awesome Circuit City $5 sale a few years ago on July 4th that happened to leak early. Some guy near here went and bought EVERY copy of all of the rare to semi-rare games. The clerk told me he walked out with a full cart full and spent like $1,000. That is pure hoarding and I will key someones car if I ever met someone doing that. Oh Disgaea :whistle2:(

If it's the first day or two of something on here and there's 3 copies, leave one. If it has been a week and theres 10 copies still, buy 9 for all I care. I'm all about leaving one for others just incase. Even if a strictly eBayer gets it, it's only one but a CAG could get it so it works out.

If it's the last day of a sale or whatever, rape the store. My friend and I took a few Toys R Us stores to town the last day of the big coupon sale where most stuff ended up being free two years ago because there had been a full month for people to hit it. I made a few hundred off of Gamerush because of it.
 
[quote name='gizmogc']I bought the last 2 copies of Samurai Champagne or whatever to trade in at GR. Do I feel bad? No. Who the hell wants that game?[/QUOTE]

me.
and the game is call "Samurai Champloo", not "Samurai Champagne".
Just because you dislike a system or game doesn't mean it is trash
I guess you could be right 1% of the time (some games are suckie), but you're still wrong most of the time.
 
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