The Morals Associated with Lotteries

I find myself in agreement with Ara, Baldylox, Ravendruid and the others.

 

I like to think of the community as just that, not just other people who share a hobby. I value online friends just as I do real life ones. We are all the same no matter where or how we present ourselves.

 

I also am not naive to think that everyone deals fairly (been on the wrong end of that stick before) or that everyone will act the same way that I do. But I also know that there are good, decent people and that not everyone is out for the almighty dollar (yen, GBP, -insert you currency here-).

 

I choose to not buy from scalpers. I won't deal with those who flip for nothing but profit. I know that many items are very limited and have a high after market demand, therefore a small premium is reasonable. But double, triple or more of the original price? I haven't seen anything yet that I would pay that for and don't foresee it happening.

 

I buy a lot of second-hand dolls. I happily support those who sell at reasonable prices. I don't expect rock-bottom. I don't expect people who won in a click war or spent money with Volks (who held it for 3 months in a lottery win) to make nothing on an item. But you have to be reasonable. That (to me) is not scalping.

 

But there are tons of nice people in the hobby and in the community who are fair and reasonable and who help each other out. I do believe it what goes around comes around. I am probably a bit of a 'pollyanna', but I have met more good than bad in my DD dolly dealings.

 

Just my 2 cents. Probably worth even less.

re: Yuki's face:

 

If this is her original face it looks like Shining Blade Sakuya...

@figureitout & AntElitist:

 

You are, in many cases and even if you might not realize it, always in some way dependent of the kindness of others when you are in a hobby.

Be it when you ask for something as simple as a comparison (hell, how would you like it to instead get the answer "Well, buy the dolls to find it out") or looking at tutorials someone made for free, with their time, to be looked at by people in the hobby to help without expecting to get anything back except for maybe a "Thank you".

The nice people are actually the ones running the hobby, are the ones people know and look up to, not the unfriendly ones that are sitting high up their horses and demand others to kiss their feet.

 

Also ever thought that the reasons others might not be nice to you is because someone wasn't nice to them beforehand? It's a vicious-circle, and you are a part of it with that mind-set.

You can be a non-greedy seller without making a bad deal. There is more than just black and white, and at some point in your life, be it in a hobby or whatever else, you will wish you have been a friendlier and kind person, because you will reach the point where you need some "friendly idiot" to help you.

 

it's obvious that the world is in many ways dependent on the kindness of others. i'm not unkind. stop me in the street for directions and i will give it, even if i don't know you. give me advice on the forums and i will thank you. if i had any advice to give i would give it freely.

 

but when it comes to transactions (buy/sell), i don't view this as something i have to be 'nice' with. i will do whatever is in my best interest.

the same with lotteries. i have a general sense of fairness (ie i don't spam the lotteries with large numbers of entries) but i will have a profit motive if i win more than one.

 

back on topic, the morality of all this. i do follow the golden rule: Golden Rule states that, "One should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself." i'm not going to complain about people selling at higher-than-retail market prices. because that's what i would do and i can understand completely why someone would do it. i have and will exercise the choice not to buy if the price is obscenely high (scalpers) or if i believe i can get it somewhere else for cheaper. there is nothing to complain about there.

re: Yuki's face:

 

If this is her original face it looks like Shining Blade Sakuya...

 

You are right. That is so interesting. I wondered why she is so 'limited/rare' since she was a pre-order.

I'm not a fan of having to rely on multiple entries to get certain items, but I'm not opposed to them. One thing that might actually weed out the multiple entrants is for Volks to require a deposit on each entry. That way, each buyer is actually making a financial commitment to putting forth the rest of the money. Also, it adds a cost to entering multiple times, as they need to front each entry.

 

Having a deposit system also forces the entrant to think "will I actually be able to afford this if I win?" This might also reduce the amount of left over stock that Volks has to maintain if the buyers that win back out. The final entrant count may also give Volks a more accurate count on how many they would actually need to produce if the number of entrants is less than the number they were originally planning for.

 

The deposit amount should be high enough to deter wanton multiple entries, but low enough to not deter someone who really wants to enter, maybe something like $50 or $75.

it still doenst scare scalpers. someone already pointed out there was 1 that had 4 aoko and was selling her for double price. 240k yen for a days work not a bad deal. so they will continue doing that.

As long as there is a limited good people want and people are willing to pay more than retail for it, scalpers will always exist. I don't think there's anything you can do to prevent scalpers in any hobby or market, it's one of the results of having a free market economy.

Only other thing I could think of is working as a community to win all the dolls and leave scalpers with zero

re: Yuki's face:

 

If this is her original face it looks like Shining Blade Sakuya...

That's not her old face. It's her current (pretty) one.

 

This is her old face:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/41769&ref=item%3A22488

 

This is her current one:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/50662&ref=item%3A22488

(It's soooo cute I want to hug her right now!!)

re: Yuki's face:

 

If this is her original face it looks like Shining Blade Sakuya...

That's not her old face. It's her current (pretty) one.

 

This is her old face:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/41769&ref=item%3A22488

That's Moe, they had her standing in for the real one until it was done...

re: Yuki's face:

 

If this is her original face it looks like Shining Blade Sakuya...

That's not her old face. It's her current (pretty) one.

 

This is her old face:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/41769&ref=item%3A22488

 

This is her current one:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/50662&ref=item%3A22488

(It's soooo cute I want to hug her right now!!)

 

Yeah, as waha said that's Moe. I went through the blog to try and find her "first face." Up until the reveal they had Moe and Natsuki standing in for Yuki and Rina. The one I linked was the post where they did the doll reveal.

re: Yuki's face:

 

If this is her original face it looks like Shining Blade Sakuya...

That's not her old face. It's her current (pretty) one.

 

This is her old face:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/41769&ref=item%3A22488

 

This is her current one:

http://myfigurecollection.net/picture/50662&ref=item%3A22488

(It's soooo cute I want to hug her right now!!)

 

Yeah, as waha said that's Moe. I went through the blog to try and find her "first face." Up until the reveal they had Moe and Natsuki standing in for Yuki and Rina. The one I linked was the post where they did the doll reveal.

 

Pretty sure there never was a different head mold shown for her, maybe just small changes in the faceup. During the initial White Album pre-orders they were no pictures available. You were buying blind with an option to cancel later(there was also a second pre-order period with no bonus item). For my part I did pre-ordered her early and remember being happy with the pictures I saw.

Conclusion : you can combine Pre-Order and popularity

I just need to let off some steam.

 

First of all, I love this forum. I love this community. I love that we help each other.

 

Anyhow! I was on the hunt for spare dolls from this past event to help members on here who were not able to bring their dream doll home. Well, I thought I may have found one, from someone who won multiple. I know I have no say in their business and how they sell, but the price they wanted for the spare was OUTRAGEOUS. More than YJ. More than double retail.

 

It makes me think that multiple entries isn't something I'd be opposed to (if it were me entering) as I know I would want to be fair to everyone else (except scalpers). I know what it's like to lose and see others sell what could've been yours for an insanely inflated price. I had to pay a high price for Rise and what sucks is that a piece broke off of her costume, so it's not even like I can contact Volks about it.

 

I personally keep a "black list" of people I feel are scalpers (or similar behaviors), and I do not sell to, trade with, or buy from them.

 

I'm liking this idea.

 

 

I also am very upset about how one person set up a Kos Mos split. It seemed way unfair to me (Note it was NOT conducted on this forum). For what they were getting out of the split it was just not fair

 

 

Sorry for the rant, but it's been bugging me!

If it makes you feel any better, consider this:

 

If what you say is true and this person that won the multiple entries are asking for double of retail/YJA prices, they are highly unlikely to sell the doll anyways. They'll sit there frustrated with the drop in prices since the honeymoon period for the recent dolls are slowly approaching an end.

 

I normally do not (mentally blacklist) people that I feel are scalper-like.

 

Scalpers and uneven trades exist because people have money to spend on them. We can dislike them but we can't argue with money. I can only sadly say that I had more of it.