le Rahib wrote:Can someone give me a grammatical explanation of the "Unknown amount of Complementary Copies (spelled wrong).  Labeled "Complementary" in the upper left corner" (from this board).

You should see the Uncomplimentary Copies. They're the ones that read "you're a horrible DM and your players are morons."

ExTSR wrote:I've sold a dozen or more of 'em (as auctioneer), and have never seen one marked "Complementary." [sic]

Numbered (the 300) sure, DM Copy (a dozen tops) occasionally, Designer's Copy rarely (sold Allen Hammack's Inverness during our final year at GenCon Milwaukee iirc), but this... no, never.

i've been wracking my brain about where i bought my complementary copy from, and i have to believe i got it at a gencon auction, but i don't remember the specifics i'm afraid.

the Inverness Designer (Author's) copies I do remember buying. I bought one in 2001, and then his other copy came up the next year and Frank said "You never see this!" and as he started to think about that statement (perhaps remembering the sale from the year prior) I cheekily blurted out "Except for the one you sold me last year!".

Freebies don't always stay free?

==

Invincible Overlord wrote:

ExTSR wrote:For a 12th printing? Disagree.

(Note that the text is there but hidden by their polkadot template; you'll have to dig for it.)

Yeah... it's in nice condition.. clean... but $25 would be a lot more reasonable that $50...

I didn't read anything in the sale description about the obviously removed price sticker on the cover and the marks near the spine might require explanation given those "nibbles", too?

Invincible Overlord wrote:
Yeah... it's in nice condition.. clean... but $25 would be a lot more reasonable that $50...

Later prints for all supplements I've sold recently tend to go for about $20-25 in FN-VF condition. 1st prints have gone around $45-ish.

And in neither case have the sales been easy. They tend to run more than once.

At least once a year, I feel compelled to point out the difference between wholesale, current market value and a reasonable retail.  The fact that many of you here are willing to wait anywhere from days to years to buy at wholesale or even below... neither changes the current market value (at a given point in time), nor the reasonable retail.

Most product lines, including rpg's are subject to both seasonal adjustments and to temporary demand spikes.  (For instance, when a prominent blogger mentions an item and the readers decide to go buy one.  There is nothing wrong with retailer/resellers buying and pricing inventory expecting to profit from the seasonal adjustments and demand spikes.  

If any of us realize $25 for an item at auction, that has very little to do with a retailers expectation of the current market value in two weeks, six months or three years.  Thus, arguments about whether an item is worth $25 or $50 in vg condition or $45 versus $200 (for a first print supplement in vg condition) are both valid and neither argument is invalid.

Further, retailers are unlikely to care about the bargain shoppers opinion because they are not profitable customers.  That's business.  Second, the retail customers seldom care about the bargain shoppers opinion because they are not willing to wait for an item simply because the bargain shopper thinks they *should.  I expect that every person on this forum has bought items at retail or retail+ from time to time and been happy with the purchase.  I also expect that every *retailer on this forum has sold things at auction that brought *wholesale or below.  

Some of you are unaware that businesses can buy in demand inventory new from manufacturers for anywhere from 50% to 60% of the suggested retail price.  Commonly, small businesses and online businesses compete to sell these items at a 10-20% discount with very fast turn around.  Some products will sell out in a few hours (ie. hi demand bestsellers or Ipod skins).  Margins for such items are even narrower and if someone wants to risk their money and ship dozens of items daily for very low margin but fast returns... it is certainly possible.  

Meanwhile, when one can achieve margins of 10-40% on items that can be easily purchased by the case....  why would any retailer/reseller work on margins smaller than that for lower demand items that may sit in inventory for months or years.  Those who attempt to do so usually end up broke.  They can't personally ship enough to make it work... and if they add employee costs to the mix so that they can ship more, then their profit margins evaporate.  

I am probably tilting at windmills with this post.

But, there is nothing wrong with waiting for a bargain.  There is also nothing wrong with retailing items at double the price one normally expects to pay at auction.   These are not ethics or fairness issues that recur in the forums; this is simple routine business.  The perspective of many on Acaeum is tilted toward the customers' desires to buy things as cheaply as possible.  I understand vilifying retailers for bad packing, irresponsible listings, excessive (unadvertised) shipping charges, etc.  But, to attack the retailers for simply requiring the margins required for a business to survive... is unreasonable.

/rant off

Pipswich

Yeah, $2500 white boxes are silly.  There are only very rare circumstances where very large multiples are rational.   Usually, they result from a liquidator *dumping an item that is clearly going to be of interest to collectors down the road or a reseller anticipating dramatic market changes in advance.  But, for things that are actively traded weekly...  trying to increase the margin with the asking price, rather than because of a lucky very low purchase price, is silly.  Still probably not an ethics issue, just a seller wasting their own time and resources.

DiscoDadda wrote:
Thanks for posting... I snagged one I've wanted and... paid retail+ ? but am happy  :jocolor:

** expired/removed eBay auction **

Cool! It looks like both of those two different hex pads were sold. I realized after I posted that the seller is actually a member here.

Here's a Wild Things, but unfortunately has some markings in it


** expired/removed eBay auction **

dwarf wrote:For those who enjoy shrinwrapped AD&D modules, here is a sealed T1-4 later print. High price (starting bid $140 and BIN $195), but IIRC the few sealed copies sold last year ended each above $300.


** expired/removed eBay auction **

Already sold !

dbartman wrote:From the same seller as the TOEE.  This isn't too bad for a Red Sonja.  Not easy to find in SW.

** expired/removed eBay auction **

Yes, and reasonable starting price. Already one bid ...

Same seller has put more SW items. I wonder if the immediate purchase of the TOEE for $195 does not explain his new BIN price for some SW modules : $275.