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Black Friday Bartering

VaderGCP

By VaderGCP
in 2005

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DragonSlayer1500

DragonSlayer1500

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Posted

I have to say that I am so proud that Mugs is such a wonderful person. You are so right, Mugs. I personally feel that even though we are all looking for great deals, it is still the CHRISTMAS SEASON!!! If you use this sort of situation to "get ahead" you are making yourself no better than all of the selfish, ignorant people we have to deal with all year. I am so proud of all of you who do as I do, if the chance is given to me and not someone else to get the hard to get items, I take them. Then in turn for my good luck, I will GIVE them to someone who wants or needs them. GET SOME HOLIDAY SPIRIT and SOME RESPECT FOR YOUR FELLOW MAN, and QUIT BEING SO GREEDY. You may need something from someone one day and not be able to pay for it, WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND!!!

:shitfan: What if someone is selling the tickets for their grandmother who is going in for cancer treatments/chemotherapy and they need the money to help pay for it? Who's to say that it's being greedy?

 

I'm not trying to say that I'm doing it for those reasons but perhaps the only reason I'm spending the time to do it is for money that I have a desperate need for. You might want to remove the log from your own eye before worrying about the speck in your neighbors. :gd_soapbo

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Gporter34

Gporter34

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It is greedy and that is the bottom line. Are you going to claim that is the only way to get the money? I doubt that. Excuses are like a....well I'mm sure you've heard it before. I don't know you personally and I have no idea what kind of person you are, but I know that those actions are greedy, inconsiderate, and selfish. There are no excuses for that.
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DragonSlayer1500

DragonSlayer1500

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You say greedy...I say capitalistic. Is it greedy when stores mark-up their items after buying them from a warehouse? Is it greedy when you see a good deal on something and then go sell it on EBay? If not...I fail to see the difference. I could just as easily buy the ticket items I have and sell them on EBay for even more money than I'd get by selling the tickets.
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NewDoc

NewDoc

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I didn't want to turn this thread into an argument, so this will be my last post in it. If you'd like to continue the discussion, feel free to PM me.

 

How much is my time worth? Well let me think... how much did I charge a fellow Gottadealer when I made two trips to Kohl's and went to two different post offices to save her $15-20 on a pair of shoes? Nothing. Actually I told her I'd cover the shipping, so it cost me $8.

 

How much did another Gottadealer (DigDoug) charge me when he used his own Buy.com account to order a GPS for me so he could use his coupon and save me $15? Not a dime.

 

How much do Ross and Brad charge for the hours they spend working on this site and answering people's questions here in the forums? Nothing, of course. Many people here know Ross and Brad from another site, Anandtech, where they've been offering the same help they do here for years. I remember a time when Ross even set up a temporary 800 number so people could call him up and ask him anything they wanted. What a guy! He never asks how much his time is worth.

 

That's what this site is all about, helping people out. Taking the information they freely provide and using it to make a profit off my fellow man just doen't sit right with me.

 

You have no idea what an entrepreneur is.

I'm not going to turn this into an argument either, just simply clarify things for you, since you appear to need it.

 

How much is my time worth? When consulting it is at a rate of at least $200/hour, though I have worked with people for much less, depending on their circumstances. Supply and demand determines this for me. How much did I charge when I drove over 350 miles (each way) to pick up thumbdrives, hard drives, media cards, computer cases and dvds for people and then delivered the items to them where the people worked? The price listed on the register receipt. How much did I charge when I picked up dvd drives on clearance at Staples, which I found with no assistance from any website or anyone else, then brought them back to people 3000 miles away? The price listed on the register receipt. How much did I charge the person looking for a digital camera at the office supply store (which many people will be boycotting this BF) when that person was unsure about digital cameras as they were being pushed by the salesman to believe that the Kodak cameras were the absolute best buy at $250+? Nothing. I spent some time telling them about the $100 MIR on the Fuji3100 which they were able to buy for $50 AR when I could have used the camera myself. I even gave them a competitor's coupon to use to offset the taxes on the camera. I received an e-mail from the guy months later thanking me for all my help and he said how much they loved the camera, especially the fact that it cost them $50 AR, but most of all he appreciated the help I gave him in finding it in the first place since the salesman would never have pointed him in that direction. There are many more instances of this over the years. You are not the only one who does things for people without any other compensation. It doesn't matter to me if the person is a member here, at another website, or have never been online before in their life. It also doesn't matter if using the information that is freely available to make a profit off my fellow man just "doen't" sit right with you either, just don't make yourself out to be holier than thou when you know nothing about anyone other than words in a posting. If people want to spend their time waiting in line, buying up the sale items and then reselling them on ebay or through other channels that is their own personal choice. If someone winds up being #11 in line and there are only 10 sale items in the store, oh well. It has probably happened to all of us at some point in time and it can be disappointing, but life goes on though. If you really want the item, show up earlier to get your spot in line.

 

As for knowing what an entrepreneur is, you just might be surprised at the number of people, including yours truly :), who do know what an entrepreneur is today. I have worked with and advised a number of them over the years. You, of course, obviously are so much more enlightened than anyone else could ever hope to be.

 

ND

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KBsDarling

KBsDarling

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But if you take it home and sell it you are doing so on your own property. If you sell there, I am pretty sure it is against the law. You cant just set up a money making business on someone elses property.

 

I do think it is amoral to do this but thats my personal beliefs. I would be more concerned w/ not what people on msg boards think but with what the laws are. Both my BB and my WM wont even allow Bell ringers. They are NOT going to allow you to scalp their tickets.

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starshine

starshine

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I have not resold stuff for a profit but the year they had the 20 dollar game boys at KB my mom and I got two and she desided that she didn't need one so we resold it to the next person in line that needed one for the some price we paid. Also we have made deals with people in line that needed more then the limit of an item and we didn't need the limit or need the item we would get one and give it to that person. We did that once for a lady who needed three gamesboys for her kids and the limit was two so we got the other one for her. It never hurts to make friends in line. But I would never take a ticket I didn't need and then resell for a profit that is low!
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DragonSlayer1500

DragonSlayer1500

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But if you take it home and sell it you are doing so on your own property. If you sell there, I am pretty sure it is against the law. You cant just set up a money making business on someone elses property.

 

I do think it is amoral to do this but thats my personal beliefs. I would be more concerned w/ not what people on msg boards think but with what the laws are. Both my BB and my WM wont even allow Bell ringers. They are NOT going to allow you to scalp their tickets.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. There were a couple people that sold a particular ticket last year at the same Best Buy I'm going to this time around. The actual plan isn't to walk up and down the line screaming "Ticket for $20, ticket for $20". I plan more to stand in the section where the item would normally be sold. The people that don't have a ticket or may not even know about the tickets will be there looking for it. I'll point out that I have a ticket that I might not be using. Let the offers come in from that point.

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satidwell

satidwell

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i guess this is why we live in the land of the free so people can do as they want when they and haow they want only thing is that wheather they have compassion for their fellow man some things dont matter like if you are going to make a profit on ebay because of the fact those thing were BOUGHT at some time or another these tickets are FREE there are just some things that are not morally correct and i guess it also just depends on if you hold your self to a certian standard!!!!
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saturnboy01

saturnboy01

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What makes this whole thing even funnier. I'm going to be at Best Buy...9:30PM Thanksgiving night with about 7 other people. We're ALL taking every ticket offered...Can you say "monopoly"?

 

No, That is fair because you are going to be waiting your ass off all night. Unlike those other assholes that are going to "selling or bartering" the tickets that is just wrong. I dont give a shit what other people do with their tickets they just **** the rest of us over when they try to get tickets for something they dont even need? What is the point in doing that besides making money for yourself and screwing the rest of society over? hmmm :gd_devild

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VaderGCP

VaderGCP

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Is it a little unethical? Possibly.

 

People are acting as if you're going to get the ticket and laugh as you rip it and throw it in the trash. You might just end up giving it to someone without selling it or bartering it. Do you really want to spend another 10 minutes arguing over someone over how much you want for it while in those 10 minutes the checkout line could grow easily from 30 minutes to an hour and a half?

 

What I DO find disturbing is people buying the items BEFORE Black Friday and then hoping to just walk in and get the price adjusted or price matched. Unlike the people who froze their butts off that night they just walk in with their reciept and hope to get the deal that they didn't earn.

 

And let's face it, we EARN these deals by the patience we have in line.

 

But if you go a week before BF and buy something, you've already deprived someone of a chance to get that item because some other person didn't know you could do that.

 

Sure you're not making money but is that fair to the other Black Friday shoppers who didn't know/didn't have the funds for the original item price at the time?

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alimfp

alimfp

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Posted

I wouldn't barter, it's just not my thing. I have GIVEN stuff to people. A few times I got the last of a certain item and someone next to me looked in need - so I gave it to them. One time I had bought the item already (a pair of socks with a certain cartoon character on them) and a lady was talking to her sister outside the store about how her DD wanted them and she couldn't find them - I gave them to her.

 

I don't care what others do, but it's not my thing.

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missyjane

missyjane

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Posted

I just want to share a little story..

 

I bought some Frisch's children's meal tickets around Halloween. You get 8 of them for $1.00. I only did it because our waitress said that they were having a contest (My daughter won't order off the children's menu because she loves the Buddie Boy!) The other night we went to Frisch's for dinner and I remembered that I had those coupons. I just started walking through the line and handing them out to the parents. I felt really good, like I was playing Santa.

 

Just wanted to lighten the thread and thank all of the members here for posting their finds. I have saved hundreds of dollars in the past month and I couldn't have done it without you. So Thank you all.

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denisekraemer

denisekraemer

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Is it a little unethical? Possibly.

 

 

What I DO find disturbing is people buying the items BEFORE Black Friday and then hoping to just walk in and get the price adjusted or price matched. Unlike the people who froze their butts off that night they just walk in with their reciept and hope to get the deal that they didn't earn.

 

And let's face it, we EARN these deals by the patience we have in line.

 

But if you go a week before BF and buy something, you've already deprived someone of a chance to get that item because some other person didn't know you could do that.

 

Sure you're not making money but is that fair to the other Black Friday shoppers who didn't know/didn't have the funds for the original item price at the time?

I have no problem going early, buying the item and then going back for a price adjustment. I can't be in 5 places at once and I am not with a buddy. Isn't this one of the advantages of visiting this site? We can check out the ads early and plan everything early. ONCE AGAIN EACH MAN OR WOMAN FOR THEMSELVES!!:lolrun:

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stiltman

stiltman

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my deal was at frys. when the grand opening was about to happen and the ps2 was a very hot and in limted numbers. limited to 1 per person with a game of choice. the guy in front needed 2. we opted to get the 2nd one for him. (with no strings attached stright up as priced) in doing so he told us we can have the game we were shocked it was a nice suprise we were all happy.
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alimfp

alimfp

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Posted
Keep the snitty immature pokes out of this, please. I think most of you do have valid points, but not everyone is comfortable or okay with the idea of what this thread is about (including me). That's our deal. Now if you (general you) want to go out and do this, fine - no one is stopping you! :)
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suzifli

suzifli

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What makes this whole thing even funnier. I'm going to be at Best Buy...9:30PM Thanksgiving night with about 7 other people. We're ALL taking every ticket offered...Can you say "monopoly"?

This is really sad, Black Friday gives people the opportunity to give some great things for Christmas, and your greed and insensitivity is so far from the spirit of the season it's scary. :mad: :mad:

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