Actually, there is one very simple solution to the 'problem' of chip-flipping (assuming one considers it a problem). All chip sales always go to the highest bidder. That pretty much kills any profits in the secondary after-market, and by extension, kills any profit-motivated chip-flipping.
Jim@TCR has done some wonderful things for the chipping community in the past, in part by procuring and providing some awesome chips at incredibly low prices. He could have made much larger profits by setting his prices higher, but that's just not how he works. His generous approach has, however, created a secondary market for chip-flippers -- those people who buy at low prices with no intention of keeping/using the chips, instead planning to resell the chips at higher prices for a tidy profit with very little risk.
The downside of the situation is that many chippers who want three things (1-support TCR acquisition/sales efforts, 2-benefit from Jim's generosity to the chipping community, and 3-obtain/keep great chips) are prevented from doing so, because the supply of said chips is not limitless (if they were limitless, there would be no secondary re-sale market). This is where the resentment arises, from chippers who were denied chips because of the profit/greed motivation of others.
The solution is simple, although it may not be much better in terms of affordability. If TCR would sell each and every chip to the highest bidder, then several arguably positive things occur:
1. TCR makes maximum profit on their investment (labor, goods, transportation, and legal costs). I don't think anybody here would argue with this, certainly not me.
2. It kills the secondary chip market, at least in terms of inflated prices. The prices are already as high as anybody is willing to pay, since they were sold on a free market auction.
3. Chips generally end up in the hands of chippers who want them for play/collection, and rarely in the hands of chip flippers (who now have no financial incentive to buy low and sell high.
Personally, I'd rather the massive profits go to the source (TCR) than to the financial mercenaries who buy only to make a profit at the expense of the chipping community at large. The chips themselves will almost always end up where they "should", eventually. It's just a matter of who gets the money.
By extension, this can be emulated by chippers always selling chips at auction to the highest bidder, and forgoing the Buy-It-Now option and selling chips for pre-set prices. It probably won't help with the issue of high prices, but it pretty much takes the dedicated chip-flippers out of the equation.
