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Price Gougers on Ebay taking advantage of lockdown

SuperStroke
Et Tu Brute? said:
The last few years my morning cereal has been Grape Nuts Flakes. Last year that particular product vanished from the shelves as soon as the whole COVID panic started so I had to switch to something else. But for a while you could order Grape Nuts Flakes from a few sellers on Amazon. At one point the prices got up to nearly $100 a box. I mean it's an OK cereal but c'mon who can get $50 or $75 worth of good out of a box of cereal that only has like a dozen breakfasts in it?
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I just bought a box of regular Grape Nuts in the grocery store last week. Odd. I was looking for it recently and couldn't find it. I assumed they just stopped making it. I guess there was a shortage but I was on their website and they claim there is no longer a shortage.
 
gmiller598 said:
I just bought a box of regular Grape Nuts in the grocery store last week. Odd. I was looking for it recently and couldn't find it. I assumed they just stopped making it. I guess there was a shortage but I was on their website and they claim there is no longer a shortage.
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We've not had any trouble finding it these past couple months. There was a period from about May, 2020 through January, 2021 where there was a shortage. Apparently they recently added some production capability.
 
Isn't that what Ebay is for to make money? Supply and Demand its been that way since the dawn of time.
 
I would not call it price gouging because golf equipment is not an essential good like water, gasoline, food or rent. But I have noticed prices of goods in general creeping up. I think there are still deals to be had for savvy shoppers, but overall prices have been on an increase, in my opinion.

Just wait until you see what happens in the car market over the next few months and possibly years. Used car prices are already increasing to unbelievable levels, and new car manufacturers are having supply chain disruptions.
 
It’s not just golf clubs. Excercise equipment now goes for ridiculous money. I just sold a spin bike for pretty much what I paid for it. Used motorcycles also have some ridiculous asking prices. That’s the beauty of eBay though. Stuff will sell for what people are willing to pay. If folk are willing to pay top dollar, or even over, why wouldn’t you try and get it.
 
Iceman! said:
I look at pricing from 2nd Swing for used equipment and in some instances, you can buy a new one for $10 more.
Makes me scratch my head a little bit.
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2ndSwing has always been high, even pre covid . My guess is it’s because they are a brick and Morter who later went online. They just take their store used club prices and list it on their site or eBay. It’s Just a different model than the normal ebay discounter.

It’s pretty much like if galaxy or PGASS took their used bin clubs and listed them on eBay. They would be overpriced too. Essentially their pricing structure is to take Pga value and then double it so that they get a 100% return on the trade value they gave someone for a club.

It’s also why some clubs that retain good value like a ping will often be priced higher used than a new ping club. I’ve seen that time and time again at 2nd swing and used racks in shops.
 
If someone is willing to pay what they are asking then by all means make your money. Kind of like the car dealerships that add a popularity tax on some of their cars. If some sucker is going to pay the dealership another $5k because they want the popular car then they can have it. I laughed at the guy at the Kia dealership when they wanted $10k on top of the sell price for a Telluride.
 
echico said:
If someone is willing to pay what they are asking then by all means make your money. Kind of like the car dealerships that add a popularity tax on some of their cars. If some sucker is going to pay the dealership another $5k because they want the popular car then they can have it. I laughed at the guy at the Kia dealership when they wanted $10k on top of the sell price for a Telluride.
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I only buy a car once a decade or so and don't keep up with current trends very well, I'm sure. But when my wife was last car shopping a few years back one of the candidates was a Hyundai. I was kind of dumbstruck to find that the Hyundai was so popular at that time that not only was the sticker price higher than a similar Toyota, the Hyundai dealers were charging the sticker price plus "dealer add ons" with absolutely no haggling.

I know I must have sounded like some dumb hick or something but I asked the sales guy, "So you're telling me people are paying $1,200 more than sticker price? For a Hyundai?". He just laughed and said I must not understand how good the Korean cars were now.

I probably am a dumb hick. But dang...
 
It used to be that when a new model of clubs came out the old stock was sold off at about 30% discount meaning you could get a used set for about half retail after a year now people are trying to get over 75% of rrp on old stock more than they are new in the shops if you can get them. Roll on when Furlough finishes and people are back to work that way you have room to move on the course
 
Supply and demand, don't pay it if you don't want to. Things don't sell they will come down.
 
My approach is usually just to list something on eBay for .99 (no reserver), and let the market dictate what it's worth. The high demand for golf clubs is certainly nice for resale value.
 
Not on Ebay, but I sold my TM Rocketbladez before Christmas for $300. I paid $299 for them 5 years ago. I wasn't gouging, I just priced them according to others available online.
 
It is so bad cause manufacturers can't get clubs to retailers to even stock and sell. I doubt if any retailers have clubs in there stores now, Then their orders keep getting pushed back again and again. Customers get tired of the wait and cancel.

That said try to find a decent video card for a gamers desktop computer, that market is even more crazy, price wise!
 
lil'mike said:
It is so bad cause manufacturers can't get clubs to retailers to even stock and sell. I doubt if any retailers have clubs in there stores now, Then their orders keep getting pushed back again and again. Customers get tired of the wait and cancel.

That said try to find a decent video card for a gamers desktop computer, that market is even more crazy, price wise!
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Yup! There’s a great article on the homepage about those delays too! ;)
 
I mean, if people are willing to pay the asking price, why not? And if not, no harm no foul.
 
I looked at buying a net when the first lockdown hit just to smash some balls in my back garden to keep things moving. 5 - 10 times the going rate, and they were selling out almost instantly! Fair play to the retailers, supply and demand at work, but just was a bit too rich for my blood.
 
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