brianNH said:
Why cant you understand this?
I'm going to go ahead and switch my initial statement about it being a personal beleif to it being a statement of bladeforums policy:
"Don't register gimmick or troll accounts
If you are found out to have one, expect to be permabanned."
http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/faq.php?faq=faq_rules_posting#faq_faq_rules_posting_troll
perhaps this does not fall under this rule. perhaps it does. if this account was started solely to adress this information without connecting it to his/her original account - i consider that a secondary gimmick account. as i said, for that matter, i consider any secondary account to be a misuse of the system (adding to server space/bandwidth wear (albiet minute), and adding to a sense of unease and possible confusion to those viewing it.)
brianNH said:
Reasonable non gouging may not be enough? That's fine but your advocating gouging here (make note to one self). Why cant making a sacrifice and selling at a fair price be enough?
It may be valid to you, some call it screwing. More justification for gouging. "I've got to feed my family, I'm gonna stick it to someone".
Price gouging is price gouging, period, and the reason doesn't matter. So, according to your philosophy price gouging is ok so long as it's for tuition expenses, rent, or food, and everything else would be for "momentary gains" which would then make it wrong then?
Of course it does because you believe gouging is ok. Whether people agree to pay the price or not is insignificant and does not address the issue at hand as to whether gouging is fair, moral, or a nice thing to do all of which I already know the answer to.
So you've never believed in gouging but now because your financial situation changed you do?
a man tries to sell me a worn down breifcase thats worth 25$ - but he price tags it at 2,000$ saying "i need the money real bad". good luck to him. im not buying it.
if its a nice breifcase that i've been lookin for a while, and i'm willing to pay 2,000$, but later regret because i could have bought it new for 600$, is it really his fault for my buying it off him?
buying a knife thats available at a set price knowing that it is in demand and then turning around and selling it for a higher price is a type of money making. since this is not a required commodity for sustainance of life (food/water/shelter/etc), i see it as being what the market will bear.
for these items price gouging at this level is legal. wether its "good" or "fair" or "reasonable" to want to get as much money from a transaction or not - you are within your legal right to do so.
your absolutely right, it screws the consumers who aren't able to get their orders in as fast as the price gougers. but im not going to fault him as being evil or villanous for it - i just wont buy from him at that high price.
does needing the money now reflect on how i conduct my sales? yes it does. but if i had considered the moral ramifications of price gouging when i didnt need the money, all of my statements made here would have been the same. its a legal way of doing bussiness in this case, and it only exists as long as the market will bear it.
as far as "I've got to feed my family, I'm gonna stick it to someone", if im making money in a completely legal way, i'll do what i can. these are not life and death commodities -
you choose to buy them at these prices, you dont
have to.
brianNH said:
Of course you would hope that people kept prices low, especially if you're on the buying end. But at the same time, you have a list of specific criteria to suit your needs which would justify people selling high (porking)?
Oh sure. By using the "high pork factor" method, you could sacrifice less.
I really hated to screw over that old lady that bought my used car, but I had to do what I had to do, I got bills you know, and she paid every penny I asked with a smile so it was ok.
I just sold an FSH with an Okuden sheath. I added up the cost of the knife, the sheath, and the total shipping I paid. I considered the fact I sliced one or two things, and I also considered the demand. All things considered, my asking price with shipping was less than what I paid by about $50. At the same time, I have bills up the wazoo, 2 sons in college who I'm always giving money to, unexpected bills, and the list goes on. I probably could have charged $100 or more and gotten it. Why didn't I? because I DIDN'T THINK IT WAS FAIR. Using your logic Seth, asking another $100 would have been fair and justified because I meet specific financial criteria, however, if it was for "momentary gain" (i.e another knife) it wouldn't have been right.
if you had used the money solely to buy another knife for personal pleasure, and you were already in a position of financial security - i'm not going to call you bad names for it. if you find someone who is willing to buy your product at your inflated price (given the nature of these knives, their availability on the boards and on ebay, as well as the company store (all of wich exhibit examples of lower prices)), you've made a legal transaction where someone agree'd that that knife was worth that amount of money to them at that time.
if you were doing it just to be a prick and make people give up more money then they had to - your still doing it in a legal manner.
brianNH said:
I think the original poster meant no harm, and his point was simply a message to take care of your fellow Hogs and try to be
fair. Immidiately he was challenged. Ever hear the old saying "the guilty dog barks first"?
What this boils down to is a moral issue and there are 2 sides of the fence here. Being fair, and being a weasel. Anyone who challenges and uses weak, twisted logic to argue what the original poster wrote may just as well sign up for being on the "weasel" side.
Seth, I wish you luck in school and with finances, however, I cant subsribe to your theory, or anyone elses for that matter of overcharging due to financial situations or just because people are willing to pay. Basically, what this says is it's ok to screw people if they let you.
heres the thing - i havent yet said that you should price gouge. when i read his post, i felt that there was one side presented with a complete lack of even the possibility of other factors playing into it.
i dont like it when people present something in a completely one sided way, and i dont like it when people say "you are a bad person for doing this, this is a bad action that should never be done" without having a good reason and explanation as to why.
if it was food or a necessity - you are denying people their ability to live their life. you literally physically harm them by raising your prices higher then would seem necessary.
these are not such things. these are high end knives that you dont
need to buy. if you buy something like this at an inflated price when there are other knives of the same size, function and use for 1/10 of the price available to you in a matter of days -
you are responsible for it.
i dont sell above what i purchase things for, but it would help me if i decided to. if this was needed food in a natural disaster - i'd state plainly and clearly that i was intentionally screwing people who had no way of saying no. if i sold a busse knife that msrp's at 237$ for 400$ - the buyer should know what he's getting into. it is not my responsibility. i'll state clearly and plainly that i am raising the price far above what i put into it, and i'll take whatever moral critisism i get for it. however - even given my direct admited role in raising the price - you, the buyer, have to agree to purchase it at said price. without your active participation my "screwing of the consumer" can never take place.
as of yet, i have not made any sales of that nature - but im not going to deny my role in them should i do so, or the nature of what the other parties are doing.
i do not choose to beleive that i am "better" then someone when they try to use a legal system of making money that raises the price of a non necessity commodity. i am not "above" anyone. if you choose to do so, you are doing so for a reason: and anyone who accepts it is taking control of their own actions to do so. all parties are willing participents in this legal manner of doing bussiness.
And this is the most PG13 pic I could find. 
