Greed

[bambshelle-0]

I don't know how many discussions there may be about this already but I'm feeling so frustrated.

I love ebay, I love the American way and I love my grandchildren. 

But I hate the people who buy up all the popular toys and resale them at exbobitant profit.

It is the holiday season and y'all are making it more difficult for my granddaughter to get the toys she wants.  She has been through a lot including abuse and a long hard custody battle. Her dolls and toys are her comfort items. 

I hope every walmart employee or whoever is buying the toys all up and resaling them at extreme prices enjoys their profits knowing that a little girl who has to go to therapy because of things done to her by other hatefilled adults will be disappointed by Santa this year too.

[centexcompsvcs]

"Wow. 

Way to select a category of people at random and throw them under the bus with no justification whatsoever.Maybe karma is at work here."

Op is not incrrect: Walmart employees, Walmart managers, Toys R US employees, Best Buy employees all pull this business every single year.  In just the same manner as  many Goodwill store managers will pick through donations and place  the "good stuff" aside for themselves. I have witnessed the back storeroom "stashing".

[rustictrollop]

 In just the same manner as  many Goodwill store managers will pick through donations and place  the "good stuff" aside for themselves. I have witnessed the back storeroom "stashing".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When I see obvious signs of "stashing" which usually happens at thrift stores the day before a 1/2 price sale, I move the items and hide them somewhere else, especially if it's a hot item.  My bad.  I know.  But fair is fair.  If people are going to wait in line, I like to level the playing field.  And you can always tell the "stashers" the morning of such a sale.  They've been in the night before, put everything in place, and make a beeline to their stashes.   

[centexcompsvcs · Accepted solution]

"Wow just, wow, way to teach a kid the true meaning of Christmas"

How do we know the depth of this child's teachings and intuitive feelings about the true meaning of Christmas? She may well already have a solid beginning knowledge base on the teachings and scriptures of the Bible?

One of the main reasons we have the custom of giving and receiving presents at Christmas, is to remind us of the presents given to Jesus by the Three Wise Men. Can gift giving become the focus of Christmas instead of thanking the Lord for the gift of His Son (John 3:16)?  Yes, it can.  But does giving gifts have to take away from the true meaning of Christmas? No, no it does not.

If we focus on the esteemed gift of salvation the Lord has given us , giving to others is a natural expression of that gratitude. The key is our focus: Is your focus on the gift, or on the ultimate gift-giver, our gracious Heavenly Father? "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." (James 1:17).

So is it so wrong for her grandmother (the OP) to want to express her gratitude by giving her grand- daughter a gift that will surely be cherished and appreciated?

“She has been through a lot including abuse and a long hard custody battle. Her dolls and toys are her comfort items”

 The “long tug of war” divorce/custody battle has most certainly engendered feelings of insecurity, distrustfulness, sadness, self-blaming and loss of self-esteem for this little 6 y/o girl.  The ‘abuse” factor only compounds and adds to these issues exponentially.  It is no wonder that she has a difficult time fitting in and making friends.

Would our heavenly Father, or any of us for that matter, begrudge this little girl the inner comfort, solace  and joy that a yearned for toy might bring her? I wouldn’t and I wish the OP great luck in finding that special toy for this little one.

[lookng2015]

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@rustictrollop wrote:

 In just the same manner as  many Goodwill store managers will pick through donations and place  the "good stuff" aside for themselves. I have witnessed the back storeroom "stashing".

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------When I see obvious signs of "stashing" which usually happens at thrift stores the day before a 1/2 price sale, I move the items and hide them somewhere else, especially if it's a hot item.  My bad.  I know.  But fair is fair.  If people are going to wait in line, I like to level the playing field.  And you can always tell the "stashers" the morning of such a sale.  They've been in the night before, put everything in place, and make a beeline to their stashes.   

---

I find the same thing when I make sure I hit the store late the night before "discount day" = )

[*madison]

And I do think that buying a hot toy in order to resale it at Christmas is morally wrong. It's bad,it's evil.

-----------------------

If you think that's evil, you need to watch the news on TV or read the news a bit more often, and then you'll know what evil really is.

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@centexcompsvcs wrote:

"Wow just, wow, way to teach a kid the true meaning of Christmas"

How do we know the depth of this child's teachings and intuitive feelings about the true meaning of Christmas? She may well already have a solid beginning knowledge base on the teachings and scriptures of the Bible?

One of the main reasons we have the custom of giving and receiving presents at Christmas, is to remind us of the presents given to Jesus by the Three Wise Men. Can gift giving become the focus of Christmas instead of thanking the Lord for the gift of His Son (John 3:16)?  Yes, it can.  But does giving gifts have to take away from the true meaning of Christmas? No, no it does not.

If we focus on the esteemed gift of salvation the Lord has given us , giving to others is a natural expression of that gratitude. The key is our focus: Is your focus on the gift, or on the ultimate gift-giver, our gracious Heavenly Father? "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." (James 1:17).

So is it so wrong for her grandmother (the OP) to want to express her gratitude by giving her grand- daughter a gift that will surely be cherished and appreciated?

“She has been through a lot including abuse and a long hard custody battle. Her dolls and toys are her comfort items”

 The “long tug of war” divorce/custody battle has most certainly engendered feelings of insecurity, distrustfulness, sadness, self-blaming and loss of self-esteem for this little 6 y/o girl.  The ‘abuse” factor only compounds and adds to these issues exponentially.  It is no wonder that she has a difficult time fitting in and making friends.

Would our heavenly Father, or any of us for that matter, begrudge this little girl the inner comfort, solace  and joy that a yearned for toy might bring her? I wouldn’t and I wish the OP great luck in finding that special toy for this little one.

---

Thank you for your perspective~~well said~~thank you for sharing.  God bless you.

[18704d]

I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but we get one like this every years.

If it hasn't been already stated earlier, please understand:

It's possible many of those resellers need that item more than you do.

They may need the profits from reselling to keep a roof over their heads

and food on their table.

Thanks,

Lynn

[castlemagicmemories]

---

@centexcompsvcs wrote:

"Wow just, wow, way to teach a kid the true meaning of Christmas"

How do we know the depth of this child's teachings and intuitive feelings about the true meaning of Christmas? She may well already have a solid beginning knowledge base on the teachings and scriptures of the Bible?

One of the main reasons we have the custom of giving and receiving presents at Christmas, is to remind us of the presents given to Jesus by the Three Wise Men. Can gift giving become the focus of Christmas instead of thanking the Lord for the gift of His Son (John 3:16)?  Yes, it can.  But does giving gifts have to take away from the true meaning of Christmas? No, no it does not.

If we focus on the esteemed gift of salvation the Lord has given us , giving to others is a natural expression of that gratitude. The key is our focus: Is your focus on the gift, or on the ultimate gift-giver, our gracious Heavenly Father? "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights..." (James 1:17).

So is it so wrong for her grandmother (the OP) to want to express her gratitude by giving her grand- daughter a gift that will surely be cherished and appreciated?

“She has been through a lot including abuse and a long hard custody battle. Her dolls and toys are her comfort items”

 The “long tug of war” divorce/custody battle has most certainly engendered feelings of insecurity, distrustfulness, sadness, self-blaming and loss of self-esteem for this little 6 y/o girl.  The ‘abuse” factor only compounds and adds to these issues exponentially.  It is no wonder that she has a difficult time fitting in and making friends.

Would our heavenly Father, or any of us for that matter, begrudge this little girl the inner comfort, solace  and joy that a yearned for toy might bring her? I wouldn’t and I wish the OP great luck in finding that special toy for this little one.

---

Not only do we give gifts recalling the Wise Men who brought gifts, but because our Heavenly Father gave us the greatest gift of all, His Son.

Blessings to all for Christmas and always!  And I hope this little girl gets the desires of her heart.  

[foundonbay]

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@18704d wrote:

I haven't read all the posts in this thread, but we get one like this every years.

If it hasn't been already stated earlier, please understand:

It's possible many of those resellers need that item more than you do.

They may need the profits from reselling to keep a roof over their heads

and food on their table.

Thanks,

Lynn

---

This is very true, Ive done it a few times with something I knew was a hot item because I needed the profits to pay bills

[discountme]

I’m a reseller of not toys that are no longer available. I have a disabled child to care for. I also list the items near cost and fees, sometimes with nothing extra. It’s the buyers who bid the items up, in my case. Also, I hit up the stores in August/September and spend my money to put these hot items on layaway so I can resell them later. Why should I be shamed for planning ahead when these items are available to all? I think it’s ludicrous that buyers don’t plan ahead and pay retail for items they know they’re going to want later then want to complain about those who did.

[ozarkjoe]

The high price is inevitable for high demand objects.   Any blame rests with the manufactuers for not making enough and the retailers for charging too little money.   If price does not reflect supply and demand then you get shortages.  The product goes to those with the right connections or those who wait in line.  This used to happen with concert tickets in the old days.  People would wait all day to buy a ticket.  People also used to wait in line for gasoline.  That is wasted time that could have been used for productive work.   Market prices result in more efficiency.  

[imakesugar]

SQUISHIES THIS YEAR. They are a soft foam that they can squeeze. Spinners are on the way out. Too many broke. Those instant cameras that take Fuji film, and accessories are hot. Shopkins are on the way out. 😉 pam

[lookng2015]

I think fidget spinners are already out. I think Shopkins will stay though. Seems like any small tiny collectible toy is still in. Most of the squishies are also small. Anything small that can be a stocking stuffer always works for resale at Christmas = )

[lookng2015]

I do have to wonder how a seller can have literally dozens upon dozens of exclusive to a particular store 'hot toys' for sale. They even show them all stacked up in their listings. It's not like they're a wholesaler for those as they're only sold through those particular stores.

[myangelandmyprincess]

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@sharingtheland wrote:

I haven't bought any "hot" toys for resale in quite some time.  If I did, however, it would be because I needed the income and not because of any greedy shenanigans on my part.

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Amen to that. Instead of seeing all these sellers as nefarious maybe consider some need the money to buy any toys at all.   I recently sold a ghostbuster pack for double what I paid because I needed the money to get by and I New that item would do it quick