Redisplay Messages: Compact | Brief | All | Full Show Messages: All | Without Replies| Author: | calebfishn  | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:33 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 65 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| Profit is not harming the planet. Exploitation is.
There are command and control economies in various totalitarian states of the
world in which the profit motive is reduced. Are those economies less harmful
to the environment, or more harmful?
Is it better for a society to convert forests into charcoal to be used for cooking,
and thus pollute the atmosphere with carbon smoke, or for an enterprising person
to invest in developing cleaner forms of energy that benefit people and the environment
in exchange for a profit/return on her investment? People are not going to invest
the time and money needed to bring environment-saving technological improvements
without getting a return on their investment.
Without profit motive we are left with two alternatives: Coercion by the more
powerful to force the less powerful to "work" without profit, or a global return
to a hunter-gatherer society.
Which one of the two do you advocate?
|
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| Author: | leggodtshop | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:24 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 60 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, firestar246 writes:
| | In Announce, patpendlego writes:
| |
Yes, and that same profit is killing our planet. Because all profit eventually
is made on natural resoources taken from our planet at low or no cost at all,
harming nature, killing woods, animals, plants, etc.
Buiness may survice on profit, our planet is not.
|
Don't want to get into this hornets nest, but just want to point out that
every item you mentioned is a renewable resource and are being renewed. It doesn't
help out a lumber company if they destroy all the trees,
|
But that is exactly what is happening! The rainforests are largly gone and NOT
renewable anymore, only and only for short term profit.
as that would then end
| | their business pretty quickly. So the good companies will make sure they don't
just destroy, but rather harvest and replenish.
|
Every company must first make profit before they can renew what they used, and
no company has ever renewed ALL or even MORE than they destroyed. There is no
perpetual mobile.
|
|
| Author: | tons_of_bricks | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:17 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 59 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, patpendlego writes:
| |
Yes, and that same profit is killing our planet. Because all profit eventually
is made on natural resoources taken from our planet at low or no cost at all,
harming nature, killing woods, animals, plants, etc.
Buiness may survice on profit, our planet is not.
|
Don't want to get into this hornets nest, but just want to point out that
every item you mentioned is a renewable resource and are being renewed. It doesn't
help out a lumber company if they destroy all the trees, as that would then end
their business pretty quickly. So the good companies will make sure they don't
just destroy, but rather harvest and replenish.
|
|
| Author: | leggodtshop | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:06 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 74 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, firestar246 writes:
| | In Announce, psusaxman2000 writes:
| |
What I've found recently is that there is a lot of animosity when
people tend to not get or find what they want. To me it sometimes feels like
a sense of entitlement and not realizing that you can't always get what you
want.
|
That's the big issue right there, at least in my opinion.
People don't seem to understand the importance of profit anymore. They think
that if someone buys something to resell it at a higher value, that they are
cheaters, scammers, scalpers. They don't seem to understand that profit is
needed for a business to survive.
|
Yes, and that same profit is killing our planet. Because all profit eventually
is made on natural resoources taken from our planet at low or no cost at all,
harming nature, killing woods, animals, plants, etc.
Buiness may survice on profit, our planet is not.
|
|
| Author: | tons_of_bricks | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:03 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 57 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, calebfishn writes:
| |
Profit is not only needed for the survival of an individual business, it is essential
for making any type of consumer good dependably available and affordable. Just
think about Soviet Russia in the 1970's where people lined up for hours hoping
to find a loaf of bread and a bottle of vodka on the grocery store shelves. Without
incentive, people are not going to work at making consumer goods available and
affordable. Without the ability to profit from their work, Bricklink sellers
would not be spending hours sourcing, sorting, and listing parts for the AFOL
community to purchase. The variety of parts and sets available on Bricklink would
be much less and pricing would be variable and unpredictable.
For those who think that profit is immoral when it comes from selling toys, let's
all be thankful that Lego doesn't think that way, or we'd have no lego
at all.
|
This is what I like about (most) of the sellers here: they actually have a head
on their shoulders and a brain in it.  You hit the nail on the head.
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:01 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 48 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| .
| |
I've seen one and only one instagram comment where I posted the price guide
image next to a rare figure part and someone commented "rip off".
Just because they see it as a toy and not a commodity doesn't mean they're
right.
|
Yeah. It's funny how lego is just a kids' toy when someone wants something
cheap, but it's a valuable collectable when it is in their hands.
If they want a palantir for their LOTR collection, they can buy a 20c Zamor sphere
in red and yellow instead of a black and lime one. It's just a toy, after
all.
|
|
| Author: | tons_of_bricks | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 15:00 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 45 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, waltzking writes:
| |
IMO its more so the anti-capitalist (or communist) teaching of youth that has
created the idea that profit is bad, and everyone deserves the same outcome...thus
anything they want they deserve to get, and anyone who gets more than they wanted
is (quote) "scalping scumbag."
I once even ran into a buyer on eBay who I had to give a basic lessen in economics
to after he "felt terrible" he sold something to be for more than he had paid.
When I enlightened him that likely everything in life he ever bought had the
seller making a profit (be it Amazon, Walmart or a private seller), it was
like a light bulb moment for him... I just don't get how he reached adulthood
not realizing this absolutely basic component of a free market? Seemingly schools
noways are not even teaching basic concepts, but rather indoctrinating youth
with who knows what instead!!!
Rant over, but I honestly think it all stems from a disconnect on the way the
last generation or two has been taught. Especially in well-to-do societies where
a large sum of the children have been pampered and treated like self-serving
royalty, rather than trainees facing graduated real-life challenges aiming to
help them become the leaders they need to be for the next generation. Global
warming won't wipe us out nearly as quick as such lack of knowledge and training
will.
Jonathan
|
I have to agree 110% with you here!
|
|
| Author: | calebfishn | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 14:54 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 70 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, firestar246 writes:
| | In Announce, psusaxman2000 writes:
| |
What I've found recently is that there is a lot of animosity when
people tend to not get or find what they want. To me it sometimes feels like
a sense of entitlement and not realizing that you can't always get what you
want.
|
That's the big issue right there, at least in my opinion.
People don't seem to understand the importance of profit anymore. They think
that if someone buys something to resell it at a higher value, that they are
cheaters, scammers, scalpers. They don't seem to understand that profit is
needed for a business to survive.
|
Profit is not only needed for the survival of an individual business, it is essential
for making any type of consumer good dependably available and affordable. Just
think about Soviet Russia in the 1970's where people lined up for hours hoping
to find a loaf of bread and a bottle of vodka on the grocery store shelves. Without
incentive, people are not going to work at making consumer goods available and
affordable. Without the ability to profit from their work, Bricklink sellers
would not be spending hours sourcing, sorting, and listing parts for the AFOL
community to purchase. The variety of parts and sets available on Bricklink would
be much less and pricing would be variable and unpredictable.
For those who think that profit is immoral when it comes from selling toys, let's
all be thankful that Lego doesn't think that way, or we'd have no lego
at all.
|
|
| Author: | yorbrick | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 14:50 | | Subject: | Re: Co-op type store. | | Viewed: | 34 times | | Topic: | Selling | |
| In Selling, Dirkpeek writes:
| | Hi all,
I have a small bricklink store where I sell stuff from my joblot buys that dont
interest me. It's mainly sets and figures.
I've had a couple of my friends and acquaintances ask if they could list
some of their sets. I said I'd be interested for a small percentage of the
final cost as I'll have to put time and effort into it. Has anyone done this
before? If so how did you work out payment etc? I'm not worried about payment
from my friends, it's the acquaintances I'd be sceptical about.
Is it worth it or am I open to a world of pain?
Any help is appreciated
Hendrik.
|
Minifigs are not so bad as they are quick to check. But sets, you need to make
sure every part is there in the correct colours. It is your reputation so you
need to do that. You should also have them on hand, so you can post them when/if
sold.
If you do it, insist on having the items in hand and you pay them when the items
sell.
|
|
| Author: | waltzking | | Posted: | Jul 28, 2021 14:50 | | Subject: | Re: Lego Resellers vs. The AFOL Community | | Viewed: | 66 times | | Topic: | Announce | |
| In Announce, StickyBrickit writes:
| | In Announce, musen2100 writes:
| | In Announce, StickyBrickit writes:
| | I'm part of several non-BL Lego groups such as some of the FaceBook AFOL
groups plus some groups that are local to me (in the UK). I've noticed that
there is a range of opinions on people who sell / resell Lego and that (strangely,
IMO) some opinions can be vehemently negative. This can range from the odd comment
about how resellers are missing the "point" of Lego (i.e. it's a toy, it
shouldn't be resold for profit) to some downright nasty comments about me
being a "scalping scumbag" and that I'm "ruining the hobby, driving up prices,
taking food out of children's mouths" etc (not kidding about that last one!)
Tbh I'm never that bothered about any negativity as I'm sure you get
it everywhere, but I do think it's strange in that I guess people just misunderstand
how the market works. I can only set my own prices and not the general market
value, so if I overprice my Lego it won't sell, and if I underprice it then
I wouldn't make any money so there would be less Lego available (as I'd
be out of the market).
I guess Lego does retain it's value well when resold so maybe people are
angry about this, but I don't know of any resellers that are raking it in
at other people's expenses. In fact for the hours we put in I'd say we
generally don't get paid all that well. Especially when I put in extra time
for customer service (making sure we're good/very good at all aspects of
what we do, it takes extra time for which we don't actually get paid).
Just wondering if anyone else has come across this sort of negativity and accusation
that we're all driving up prices and making Lego unaffordable for most people
(I'd actually argue the opposite is the case as we provide an alternative
to buying from Lego themselves who would basically have a monopoly if resellers
didn't exist!)
|
I am assuming you are also talking about older sets. For me after learning about
bricklink I have been able to get sets that I couldn't afford when I was
a small child. I can afford them now but without resellers I wouldn't be
able to buy them. Recently I have finally been able to obtain the 10143 UCS Death
Star II New for $550 by buying the parts. That is incredible. I also got the
6211 here for a bit over $150 (no minifigs, but new). Without any resellers this
would never have been possible, ignore the hate comments, you resellers are awesome
.
|
I get comments around everything new and old, rare and common, but the worst
ones usually relate to new sets that sell out quickly and people can't get
them at RRP and instead have to pay the initial inflated price when they get
relisted. I get this is annoying for people, and tbh not something I do, but
I still don't think the people doing it are really doing anything "wrong"
as it's a free market and people can buy what they like and try to resell
it for whatever they like.
|
IMO its more so the anti-capitalist (or communist) teaching of youth that has
created the idea that profit is bad, and everyone deserves the same outcome...thus
anything they want they deserve to get, and anyone who gets more than they wanted
is (quote) "scalping scumbag."
I once even ran into a buyer on eBay who I had to give a basic lessen in economics
to after he "felt terrible" he sold something to be for more than he had paid.
When I enlightened him that likely everything in life he ever bought had the
seller making a profit (be it Amazon, Walmart or a private seller), it was
like a light bulb moment for him... I just don't get how he reached adulthood
not realizing this absolutely basic component of a free market? Seemingly schools
noways are not even teaching basic concepts, but rather indoctrinating youth
with who knows what instead!!!
Rant over, but I honestly think it all stems from a disconnect on the way the
last generation or two has been taught. Especially in well-to-do societies where
a large sum of the children have been pampered and treated like self-serving
royalty, rather than trainees facing graduated real-life challenges aiming to
help them become the leaders they need to be for the next generation. Global
warming won't wipe us out nearly as quick as such lack of knowledge and training
will.
Jonathan
|
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