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Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

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Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#161

Post by simonh »

nostrademons wrote: post #81
mrfusion wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not getting how a shortage helps the companies? (Do I have to buy your book to find out?..)

If they sell the hot item then they make only the margins for that one item. If they "sell out" of the hot item, then parents either buy an alternative (you can't just get your kid nothing for Christmas), or they buy the accessories for the hot item with a promise to get the hot item once it becomes available again. Then after Christmas, they actually get the hot item, because the kid still wants it (and their one fr…

There's no way they can be sure the customer will buy another item from their own product line instead. Surely they're more likely to buy a competitor's product?

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#162

Post by simonh »

morgante wrote: post #152
paulgerhardt wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not my book. I'm just citing sources because I was very incredulous when I heard this is common practice. It only works if you have THE hottest toy of the season - something like a product from Star Wars for instance - you create intense demand for the product but limit availability. Simultaneously you provide alternative, inferior substitute product(s) in the same franchise that's less desirable. The parent HAS…

> It reads like a conspiracy theory. I'm not sure what makes this a conspiracy. It's a producer deciding managing supply of their product to maximize total revenue—not colluding and not doing anything sinister. It's capitalism 101.

How does a company ensure that their product is 'The' hot item of the year? What if several companies decide to do this? It's bullshit.

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#163

Post by TeMPOraL »

qznc wrote: post #144
smaili wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of why I still prefer brick and mortar. Yes you may have to camp out, but it definitely has a better success rate than trying to compete against machines.

The goal is to resell the stuff. Those traders are just gambling that the resell price is higher than the original price.

It's the first time I saw "snipers" in this context. "Sniper" is the name we use in Poland for scripts set up to bid at eBay-like auctions. They are the reason I never buy anything from an auction (where I have to bid), and I stick only to buy-now, retail offers. It's because on any auction it's guaranteed that there is always some schmuck that will outbid you by 1¢ at the last microsecond with a sniper script. Proliferation of those scripts makes auctioning a waste of attention and emotional investment.

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#164

Post by switch007 »

jakobegger wrote: post #127
mikiem wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm that this is a thing... a bigger thing than one might think. I run an IaaS cloud provider and I know off the top of my head several customers of ours who each maintain a fleet of VMs to do this for a variety of products. Eg: Limited edition shoes, show tickets, etc. Some of our customers who do this keep the VMs running and some fire them up only when needed. Some use custom software and scripts and som…

How do you know that people are doing this with your VMs?

Jeez put away the pitchforks. Many providers offer support, too and therefore would have a relationship with the customer.

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#165

Post by TeMPOraL »

SN76477 wrote: post #120
cjdulberger wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Reminds me of the initial release of the Wii. Seems like a strategy to create scarcity and increase demand.

Possible, but Nintendo do not seem like the sort of company that needs to use direct marketing tactics to sell their products.

Doesn't need, but - if it leads to increase in sales or brand exposure (via increase of press covering the situation) - it may as well engage in such tactics anyway.

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#166

Post by pluma »

morgante wrote: post #153
typicalrunt wrote: post #2

I grok capitalism and even like it. But there are times where it is difficult to like it. In this case, people rushed to buy this product for the sole purpose of reselling it for 8x. What's wrong with our society that some people can be so morally bankrupt and bereft of good sense. In the end, I think these scalpers won't sell for 8x because anintendo will just pump out more product. Still, it is sad to see this happ…

What exactly is "morally bankrupt" about buying a mispriced good and reselling it at a proper price? People get very morally righteous about scalping, but I don't understand why at all. Resellers are correcting a distortion in the market and providing a value-added service.

The only value they add is amplifying the scarcity.

How it normally works is this:

* Some person sells something locally for $x

* There is demand outside that location for the same product

* Someone buys the product locally for $x and sells it elsewhere for $y > $x

* Customers are provided access to a product they would otherwise not be aware of or not have access to, the reseller makes money from the margin, the producer can produce and sell more product, everybody wins

How it works in this case:

* Some person sells something for price $x at a limited quantity

* Someone buys up all the product for $x and resells it for $y > $x

* Customers are prevented from accessing the product at the original price, the reseller makes money from the margin, the producer doesn't gain any advantage, only the reseller wins

Can you honestly not see how this is different? It's morally bankrupt because it offers no value to anyone and entirely profits from the charity of the producer who sells a product below market value. And in the worst case the reseller ends up with tons of unsold product and is forced to dump it later or even throw it away completely (which depending on the margins may still turn a profit overall).

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#167

Post by nostrademons »

simonh wrote: post #161
nostrademons wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they sell the hot item then they make only the margins for that one item. If they "sell out" of the hot item, then parents either buy an alternative (you can't just get your kid nothing for Christmas), or they buy the accessories for the hot item with a promise to get the hot item once it becomes available again. Then after Christmas, they actually get the hot item, because the kid still wants it (and their one fr…

There's no way they can be sure the customer will buy another item from their own product line instead. Surely they're more likely to buy a competitor's product?

They don't have to, as long as more buyers do than choose to not buy the "hot" item after Christmas. In general it's a good thing to increase the size of your industry, as long as you capture some (not all) of that increase.

Also, I wouldn't bet on them being more likely to buy a competitor's product. Brand recognition counts for a lot, particularly with toys & other discretionary purchases. Some will, of course, but most people once "primed" will buy something close to what they initially had in mind.

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#168

Post by groovy2shoes »

smaili wrote: post #121
mikiem wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can confirm that this is a thing... a bigger thing than one might think. I run an IaaS cloud provider and I know off the top of my head several customers of ours who each maintain a fleet of VMs to do this for a variety of products. Eg: Limited edition shoes, show tickets, etc. Some of our customers who do this keep the VMs running and some fire them up only when needed. Some use custom software and scripts and som…

Reminds me of why I still prefer brick and mortar. Yes you may have to camp out, but it definitely has a better success rate than trying to compete against machines.

> it definitely has a better success rate than trying to compete against machines.

For now... ¬_¬

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#169

Post by TeMPOraL »

eridius wrote: post #31
DanielleMolloy wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also this year's Fire Emblem Limited Edition (really frustrating, the box is excellent – they are now sold for at least 2x the original price) and probably any 3DS special edition. But consumers with too much money are also helping this "economy" with their purchase decisions. That eBay NES Classic in the parent comment was just sold for $610, more than 10x the retail price, and there are many other offerings. Just t…

It's worth pointing out that "sold" doesn't actually mean the buyer has any intention of paying. It seems fairly common in this scenario for people to put fake bids on products like this for whatever reason. And the winner in that particular action has a 0% positive feedback rating, which doesn't exactly inspire confidence.

> It seems fairly common in this scenario for people to put fake bids on products like this for whatever reason.

One popular reason may be "boosting" the auction. A common practice is that when someone puts an item for sale as an auction, they will ask a friend to bid on that item when the auction seems to be settling on too low a price. If it happens that after one of such boosts nobody else bids and the friend ends up winning, the friend will just pick "personal collection"/"cash on delivery" as payment/delivery options and never pick the item up; the original owner will wait few days and post the item on an auction again.

Re: Amazon sells out of the NES Classic Edition in less than a minute

#170

Post by TeMPOraL »

simonh wrote: post #161
nostrademons wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If they sell the hot item then they make only the margins for that one item. If they "sell out" of the hot item, then parents either buy an alternative (you can't just get your kid nothing for Christmas), or they buy the accessories for the hot item with a promise to get the hot item once it becomes available again. Then after Christmas, they actually get the hot item, because the kid still wants it (and their one fr…

There's no way they can be sure the customer will buy another item from their own product line instead. Surely they're more likely to buy a competitor's product?

This was a strategy practiced long before the invention of e-commerce. It works perfectly for brick-and-mortar shops because physical distance to the toy shop (in winter!) guarantees more return customers.
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