Confessions of a would-be scalper

[Biomechanoid]

It's been weighing heavily on my conscience. Since I first saw them there, underneath the figures rack at EB. They were dusty and a bit banged up, but they were there and whole. I languished for two weeks over the notion of buying them, specifically to sell them for a profit. I even tried to justify it morally, because I would be rescuing them from eventual damage or worse, and placing them in the hands of collectors that would truly enjoy them...for a fee, of course...sort of like an adoption agency... I did the math, studied eBay dilligently...I even convinced the wife that it was good and ok. I didn't sleep well last night. Today, I resolved to go through with it, but lapsed.

See, there at EB they put out four Sentinels - Marvel HeroClix Sentinels,

not Matrix Sentinels - the week after Christmas. They must have been stuffed in a dark corner of the stock room for a long time, because it's been at least two months since they had any HC out at all, and a year or more since I'd seen any of the giant robots. The coating of dust and cobwebs was a good indication, too. They hadn't been marked down, though. Still said $14.99 on the tag. But lately there's been a surge in the demand, apparently, and I schemed that if I bought all four, put them up for sale and charged an extra buck or two to ship, I could come out with $40-$60 in my pocket. Sure, I'd love to just keep them, but there's no way I could afford that at $15 a pop plus tax. So, this morning I leveled with my wife about the turmoil within, and finally decided to buy whatever they had left of them, and only sell to break even. At best, I would get to keep two and maybe come out a buck or two ahead without upcharging to ship. I still wasn't sure I would go through with it, and told her that we should do all our other shopping before going to get them. Finally, I stood before the toy rack at the games store. I looked her in the eye and gave her one more oppertunity to talk me out of spending $60 some bucks on toys I didn't plan to keep. I secretly wished she would have. I picked them up one by one, blew the dust off, and walked to the counter. I didn't look the cashier in the eye. I couldn't. I pulled out my wallet, got three twenties ready to go as he scanned the first one. He punched something into the computer, then turned to the manager standing next to him. I heard him say something about a discount not working when trying to enter a multiplyer. There was a grunt and a head gesture, but I wasn't paying much attention. He then scanned the first one again, then again...and again...and once more. Then the total, "$60.92." I wasn't sure I heard him right, but it seemed right and I was feeling good that maybe I saved 5% or something. I pulled out the cash and then asked him to repeat it.

"sixteen ninety-two"

I stared at him, still trying to hand him three twenties and a one. He took them, then handed back most of it. I looked at the cash in my hand, with my jaw open, I'm sure, and then he placed the receipt on top of my money.

$3.99
$3.99
$3.99
$3.99

The figs were just put out, minus the $7.99 discount price tag and BUY ONE GET ONE FREE stickers... Had I not been so shocked, I would have spun in my tracks and nabbed two more Battle Aliens with the cash I saved. But that had just made my day, and so I got the wife something at the book store totally out of the blue which in turn made her day. And to top it all off, the Stihlers beat the Jets.

Well, my plans for this plastic has changed completely. I may still sell one down the road, but for now I'm certainly keeping two and I may try to trade one while they're hot as opposed to scalping them. Thank God for unforeseen circumstances that keep me from bad moral decisions. I'm still probably going to hell, though, but tonight I will sleep well.

BTW, if anyone here is interested in a Marvel Sentinel figure, please see my post on the Most Wanted thread... [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img] [img]wink.gif[/img]

[Peter Peeker]

HAHA!
great story, and a damn cool score!