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How to be a flipper on PCF (1 Viewer)

People argue about what it means exactly to be a "flipper".

Is it just selling my chips for more than I paid? I don't think so!

I think we generally mean something like this when we call someone a flipper: You are primarily on this site in order to make money off of buying and selling chips.

And what exactly determines if that is the case? Well that's hard to define of course, but like that famous judge said once about porn "I know it when I see it".
 
ChippinUp said:
Since we are on the topic of harvesting live chips…

I would assume everyone has different views on this? Obviously harvesting isn’t as easy as it sounds. Said harvester would need to go through a lot more than 100 chips to make a rack, sorting and returning the poor condition chips etc.

In the case of $1 chips I routinely see these selling for $2-$2.50 a chip.

Is this markup considered acceptable or frowned upon? OP included the 15 live chip ads and I’m curious where this sits with forum members. New or OG members opinions welcome
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I see the harvesters as providing a service. Some chips are harder to harvest than others. As you noted for some chips they may be going through 400-500 chips to get a good rack. Others are easier just go to the cage and buy a rack of good chips. In either case, for me it's a matter of my inability to go to these casinos to get them myself and the law of supply and demand. If someone has the chips that I am looking for, I make a decision of what they are worth to me based on the availability of the chip and the value I personally put on them I either buy them or I don't. I don't hold it against someone if they got a good deal outside of the PCF and resell them on PCF at fair market value. That keeps the chips flowing through our PCF community. I do have an issue with someone that gets a deal on PCF and then tries to flip the chips back to the community or on eBay for a profit a short time later. For me personally, that is simply taking advantage of what I see as the intent of this chipping community and I don't do business with those folks. Just my opinion for what it's worth.
 
Flipping is harder to spot these days since there are so many users/sale ads.

It is funny though when the “Similar threads” feature picks up an ad from when the flipper fist picked up the chips (at significantly less than what they are asking for now).

Maybe cynical, but it’s easier to operate under the assumption that everyone is flipping, and make the decision to buy/sell chips based off of that.
 
Josh Kifer said:
School Studying GIF by hamlet
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That's me when I'm trying to play a new game I've never heard of or understand. Pot?
 
I wonder if the flippers are active on other forums flipping other things.

Pretty sad if this is their main source of income.
 
The flippers definitely provide a service - the WSOP chips are a good example.
But they're also a cautionary tale. Those of us who got in early got burned by the 2nd, 3rd, 9th round releases and much lower prices, which all seemed pretty planned after the fact.
For every time someone gets an "awesome limited time deal" no one else does, I think there will be nine more cases where the smart move is just waiting for the inevitable deals.

Kind of like video game preorders - at this point you're begging to get burned.
 
MatrixExplosion said:
I haven't been here even a year, but I've kept a spreadsheet of all the chips I didn't keep:

Money Spent - $11.005
Money Made - $11,172

$167 PROFIT!

But taking shipping into account, I'm probably $500 in the hole which is not bad at all for such a fun hobby.

One thing I learned early on is that your reputation means everything here. It's not the place to make money off of your fellow members so it's best to let things go at market value, even if it means below your cost.
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accurate GIF
 
MatrixExplosion said:
I haven't been here even a year, but I've kept a spreadsheet of all the chips I didn't keep:

Money Spent - $11.005
Money Made - $11,172

$167 PROFIT!

But taking shipping into account, I'm probably $500 in the hole which is not bad at all for such a fun hobby.

One thing I learned early on is that your reputation means everything here. It's not the place to make money off of your fellow members so it's best to let things go at market value, even if it means below your cost.
Click to expand...
:ROFL: :ROFLMAO: I thought I was the only nutter that kept a spreadsheet of chip spending.

Since Jul 2024 I've spent a small fortune on Poker related goods (chips, cards, dealer buttons, cut cards, table toppers, cases/cages etc). Comes out at over $34k so I doubt flipping will ever recoup that cost. :)

Thats Approx $51,500 in Aussie dollars with crap exchange rates and ridiculous shipping costs...:sick:
 
DrunkleWade said:
:ROFL: :ROFLMAO: I thought I was the only nutter that kept a spreadsheet of chip spending.

Since Jul 2024 I've spent a small fortune on Poker related goods (chips, cards, dealer buttons, cut cards, table toppers, cases/cages etc). Comes out at over $34k so I doubt flipping will ever recoup that cost. :)

If you want to know what it cost me in Aussie dollars with crap exchange rates and ridiculous shipping costs...

Click to expand...

Welcome to the club lol.

It's not perfect because of the exchange rates and whatnot as a Canadian but it should be pretty close plus or minus $100. But doesn't take shipping, racks, dealer buttons, etc into account so :unsure:
 
DrunkleWade said:
:ROFL: :ROFLMAO: I thought I was the only nutter that kept a spreadsheet of chip spending.

Since Jul 2024 I've spent a small fortune on Poker related goods (chips, cards, dealer buttons, cut cards, table toppers, cases/cages etc). Comes out at over $34k so I doubt flipping will ever recoup that cost. :)

Thats Approx $51,500 in Aussie dollars with crap exchange rates and ridiculous shipping costs...:sick:
Click to expand...
all you have to do is send me a request to cut you off and your worries will be over
 
acezag said:
The flippers definitely provide a service - the WSOP chips are a good example.
But they're also a cautionary tale. Those of us who got in early got burned by the 2nd, 3rd, 9th round releases and much lower prices, which all seemed pretty planned after the fact.
For every time someone gets an "awesome limited time deal" no one else does, I think there will be nine more cases where the smart move is just waiting for the inevitable deals.

Kind of like video game preorders - at this point you're begging to get burned.
Click to expand...
Nothing planned on my part. Once I got them, I offered them in samples! The original source was eBay so ofc price was too high.
 
doublebooyah85 said:
Nothing planned on my part. Once I got them, I offered them in samples! The original source was eBay so ofc price was too high.
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Your offering was generous and straight forward - you could have milked the 25s for all they were worth, as one example, but you didn't.
Honestly I didn't really communicate clearly there, and I'm not even really criticizing anyone who offered chips, but more myself. FOMO is stupid. Don't be dumb like me.
 
Jacks said:
I think we generally mean something like this when we call someone a flipper: You are primarily on this site in order to make money off of buying and selling chips.
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I'll agree on that, having been here a few years. I don't hate seeing people profit but its very annoying when its their sole purpose for being on here and buying certain chips. I've definitely sold cards for small profits here and there but I also spend an obnoxious amount of time debating card size and how to keep my apes from chewing on them. Could just be cope but there's a distinction there in my head.
 
ekricket said:
You must have offered some help to him. That’s what I did, offered to talk or help him through a difficult time he was publicly posting about. He sent me a PM that said STOP.
He did not want help, he wanted sympathetic sellers. I’ve been blocked ever since, but who cares, I don’t deal in that space anyway so it’s a nothingburger.
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Offered some career advice…told him sales is probably not worth pursuing. I was blocked before that, though.
 
LowerBama1714 said:
You know you’ve found a flipper when you have insufficient privileges to comment on their shitty singles ads…:sick:
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ekricket said:
You must have offered some help to him. That’s what I did, offered to talk or help him through a difficult time he was publicly posting about. He sent me a PM that said STOP.
He did not want help, he wanted sympathetic sellers. I’ve been blocked ever since, but who cares, I don’t deal in that space anyway so it’s a nothingburger.
Click to expand...

LowerBama1714 said:
Offered some career advice…told him sales is probably not worth pursuing. I was blocked before that, though.
Click to expand...

And now here he is, a failed flipper telling another sad story. Talking to different people who have met him and they never have anything good to say. I'm on the banned list too and like others I could care less. There are always ways around the banned or blocked list and yet I've never bothered to go that route with his sales (here & eBay) simply because it's him. I'd rather go without something I really want then to line his pockets,
 
A lot of people talk about the lack of community in recent years but I firmly disagree. When I joined right after COVID, even though I had been lurking for a while, I was just like anyone, full of dumb questions and full of curiosity. If you come with good spirits I guarantee that a friendly member of the community will help you out.

Within weeks of forum posts in 2022 I had already been invited to a home game that I attended straight away full of PCFers from another country. I had no hesitation in attending and met many great people who I still talk to today. They were very happy in talking about their collections, sharing their stories and letting me in a part of their chipping world. They most definitely get me addicted. The meetup threads are by far my most favourite and viewed.

Even today when I post my shitty or absurd wanted ads, I still get plenty of friendly DMs asking if I needed an opinion on market value or how rare the chip is. Sure there are bad lurkers here and there but overall most chippers are friendly, happy to help and provide advice as well as just talk about chips for the heck of it. It's why I always come back to visit and spend a lot and a lot of $$$. Don't focus on the vocal minority but appreciate the silent majority.
 
chippitydoodah said:
And now here he is, a failed flipper telling another sad story. Talking to different people who have met him and they never have anything good to say. I'm on the banned list too and like others I could care less. There are always ways around the banned or blocked list and yet I've never bothered to go that route with his sales (here & eBay) simply because it's him. I'd rather go without something I really want then to line his pockets,
Click to expand...
I Agree You Know It GIF by CBS
 
I dont even know whom we are talking about can someone PM me?
 

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