[QUOTE]Originally posted by catskilleagle:
I'm not sure what there is to get upset about. If someone can get $5 or $200 for something he got for free, because someone else, who couldn't get there to get the freebie himself, is willing to pay it, that is just someone weighing "opportunity cost" and deciding the item is worth the price. The "opportunist" makes money and the collector obtains some cool item that would have been a hassle to hunt down in person (transportation, food, lodging, time from work, time from family, etc.) for what he thinks is a fair to only somewhat unreasonable price. Let's face it, some freebies are worth more than others later but that is entirely up to each of us. QUOTE.

Well that is pretty much what I alluded to in my post, that collectors bring the worst of it upon themselves after the show when they are willing to pay foolish prices rather than compensation prices for these items.

However there are some things that hurt the hobby in general and one thing that I don't like in particular, which has nothing to do with envy.

The thing I really hate is when I am at that show and I am looking for an exclusive promo or product that has been totally handed out or sold out or somehow never seems to appear at all. Yet they must have been somehow gobbled up by people who were not interested in collecting them, because they are all over the internet after the show. So the receivers or buyers only wanted them to sell and now I, as someone who wanted to collect that item, have to pay the marked up price if I want it. Which I refuse to do by the way just because I was there, so I missed something that I came for.

And that brings us to the general problem that there are collectors who gladly pay prices on free promos and other exclusive products far in excess of what is reasonable and by doing so they shut out other collectors who can't spend that much or rightfully know that it isn't worth it. That's where we hurt ourselves by setting the market price at what someone will spend, when that someone is spending too much.

I agree with you that there are plenty of bargains available and a lot of this very stuff will come way down in price once it is no longer hot. So the sensible approach is not to be upset by anything. Yet there is always selfish behavior and card collectors don't like to feel that they have to settle for what others leave behind. It all depends on how you look at it really.

quote:

Originally posted by Raven:
The thing I really hate is when I am at that show and I am looking for an exclusive promo or product that has been totally handed out or sold out or somehow never seems to appear at all. Yet they must have been somehow gobbled up by people who were not interested in collecting them, because they are all over the internet after the show. So the receivers or buyers only wanted them to sell and now I, as someone who wanted to collect that item, have to pay the marked up price if I want it. Which I refuse to do by the way just because I was there, so I missed something that I came for.

. . . not to highjack the thread, but I found it interesting -- this puts into words how I've felt with some releases I'd been looking to collect.