What is going on here? W/ sales (2 Viewers)

[Nanook]

I don't get it at all. I'm not calling anyone out in their sales thread because I think that is lame, but what the hell is going on here?

Jim from TCR sells exact same chips for 59c/chip not more than a week ago as many as you wanted and now this guy is trying to sell the exact same chips in the m2m sales area for $500/rack.

Is that what this place is all about now?

Back in the day someone from CT wanted me to get them 5 or 6 racks from my local card room. I did it as a favor and didn't charge a dime. No big deal. I am there anyway.

Another guy here, another thread....
Again not to call guys out, but I inquire as to him harvesting 2 racks of $1's. I ask in a PM how much and he is asking $700 for a couple racks of live ones....

Come on wtf is going on here? Is this a group of guys that loves poker & poker chips or is this just a place where everyone is angling to rip off orhers?

 

[Mojo1312]

I don't get it at all. I'm not calling anyone out in their sales thread because I think that is lame, but what the hell is going on here?

Jim from TCR sells exact same chips for 59c/chip not more than a week ago as many as you wanted and now this guy is trying to sell the exact same chips in the m2m sales area for $500/rack.

Is that what this place is all about now?

Back in the day someone from CT wanted me to get them 5 or 6 racks from my local card room. I did it as a favor and didn't charge a dime. No big deal. I am there anyway.

Another guy here, another thread....
Again not to call guys out, but I inquire as to him harvesting 2 racks of $1's. I ask in a PM how much and he is asking $700 for a couple racks of live ones....

Come on wtf is going on here? Is this a group of guys that loves poker & poker chips or is this just a place where everyone is angling to rip off orhers?

Welcome back.

 

[Perthmike]

Things have changed for sure and not for the better.

It's a money worshipping game now. Sad really.

Out of interest, what rack are we talking?

 

[kmccormick100]

If you’re referring to the HSI NEW primary $100s they were $1.99/ from the Chip Room, we’ll see if anyone is actually willing to pay 2.5x for them at $500/ rack.

There are a lot of members around here willing to pass along good deals, finds and hook other members up. Then there are members looking to profit whenever possible - and as a result a lot of members whom other members place on their “do not deal with” list. Everything settles out, the market bears whatever actual fair prices are, deals are done or refused upon past practices etc. Don’t judge the whole body on the actions of a few, but also don’t expect the good will and generosity that seemed more present on the old “blue wall” when the community was a lot smaller. And keep chipping.

 

[CHP TD]

If you’re referring to the HSI NEW primary $100s they were $1.99/ from the Chip Room, we’ll see if anyone is actually willing to pay 2.5x for them at $500/ rack.

There are a lot of members around here willing to pass along good deals, finds and hook other members up. Then there are members looking to profit whenever possible - and as a result a lot of members whom other members place on their “do not deal with” list. Everything settles out, the market bears whatever actual fair prices are, deals are done or refused upon past practices etc. Don’t judge the whole body on the actions of a few, but also don’t expect the good will and generosity that seemed more present on the old “blue wall” when the community was a lot smaller. And keep chipping.

^^^^^^^
That!

 

[upNdown]

”people are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care but things have changed”

 

[CHP TD]

Sellers also have to add their original shipping costs.

Its also an open market. Its simply a case of offer and acceptance. The right thing sells at the right price.

I've snapped up lots of bargains on the site! Thank you all that helped build my sets.

I look forward to buying many more!

 

[BGinGA]

We need a new forum..... with an application process. No money-grabbers allowed.

 

[MrWitti]

Try to be a good example and ambassador for what u think is the spirit that should be here. Don‘t deal with dishonest people and these guys will thin out. Was his name silk on the blue wall, he experienced the same with his flipping aaand the glass is half full, not half empty

 

[FordPickup92]

We need a new forum..... with an application process. No money-grabbers allowed.

Find it and you can join

 

[Thomacetti]

Try to be a good example and ambassador for what u think is the spirit that should be here. Don‘t deal with dishonest people and these guys will thin out. Was his name silk on the blue wall, he experienced the same with his flipping aaand the glass is half full, not half empty

It took a long time before Silks got kicked officially but he was ex-communicated by the community itself.

We need a new forum..... with an application process. No money-grabbers allowed.

Isn't this already happening in the PM's ?
The real nice stuff sold for cheap often doesn't hit the classifieds anymore since people now are just random buying chips for flipping or trade bait.

But then again...those that have been chipping for a long time (pre PCF) had the chance to get very nice chips for affordable prices.
If I look at current 'market' prices...I would never be able to fund the same chips again...ever.

I can only hope that newer members stay sane and not pay crazy prices for current chips....
Because it's one thing to buy a rack of PCA fivers for $700, paying $500 for a rack of HSI pri hundo's could get ugly after 50% of the post covid members find other things to do once life is back to normal.

 

[Jake14mw]

Yeah, I am surprised about the price increases from big recent chip room sale prices. Overall, I don't have an issue with the fact that supply and demand will drive prices everywhere. But when Jim knowingly keeps prices down, providing a great service to us putting less money in his own pocket, and then people go a month later take advantage of that, that doesn't feel right to me.

If Jim had not provided those prices, I would not have even dreamed of owning Paulsons. I'm not a chipper. Now, I'm just a rack of $25s away from my first Paulson set. I promised myself I would never pay over $1 for a poker chip. Thanks Jim for providing a way in for us non-chippers! I THINK! I also think the vast majority of chippers here are good people willing to help each other out too.

I am not a chipper. I am not a chipper.

 

[RainmanTrail]

We need a new forum..... with an application process. No money-grabbers allowed.

Good luck finding chips over there

 

[RainmanTrail]

But when Jim knowingly keeps prices down, providing a great service to us putting less money in his own pocket, and then people go a month later take advantage of that, that doesn't feel right to me.

If Jim had not provided those prices, I would not have even dreamed of owning Paulsons.

This viewpoint cracks me up every time I hear it. Jim does not sell chips cheap because he wants to hook up all of his buddies. He sells them for whatever he thinks he can get for them. If he tried to sell his ~300,000 $1 HSI chips for $2 each, he'd never sell through them, not even 10% of them. The guy has profited more off of this community than anyone (literally millions of dollars), and the only time he ever pops his head in here is when he scores more chips to sell us lol. He's not a chipper. Nothing wrong with that, but you guys really should stop kidding yourselves that he's some modern-day Robin Hood just hooking up all of his buddies then getting "taken advantage of" by "flippers". If it weren't for all those "flippers", he would just have a warehouse full of chips rather than a bank account full of your money.

 

[Nanook]

Yeah, I am surprised about the price increases from big recent chip room sale prices. Overall, I don't have an issue with the fact that supply and demand will drive prices everywhere. But when Jim knowingly keeps prices down, providing a great service to us putting less money in his own pocket, and then people go a month later take advantage of that, that doesn't feel right to me.

If Jim had not provided those prices, I would not have even dreamed of owning Paulsons. I'm not a chipper. Now, I'm just a rack of $25s away from my first Paulson set. I promised myself I would never pay over $1 for a poker chip. Thanks Jim for providing a way in for us non-chippers! I THINK! I also think the vast majority of chippers here are good people willing to help each other out too.

I am not a chipper. I am not a chipper.

Jim provides a service, but I believe he sells for what he thinks chips will sell for. Let's say he buys 50,000 chips @ 50c ea and sells on average for $1 ea. Everything is gone in 2 months. He has to put up 25k and he profits 25k. Idk, is that worth it? Probably. Is that unreasonable? No, I don't think so.

Let's say he tries to sell those same chips that he bought for 50c for $5ea. Now he probably sells a few racks for $5 ea and is sitting on 48,000 chips for years. That just isn't going to work as a business.

I have no problem with market forces doing what market forces will do, but gouging some unsuspecting newcomer shouldn't really be the goal. At least that is my perspective.

 

[JMC9389]

I probably joined this hobby at the worst time when it comes to the pricing of chips.

PCA's that were sold in Chip Room sales are going for ten times the initial cost. This only happens because the demand is there and more and more new members with deep pockets are joining the hobby.

I do ok for myself but I'm no where near at a point where I can drop thousands on a single set at one time like some can here. This has priced me out of most if not all of the "boat chips" (search and read up about that one), TRK chips, and most leaded, THC molded Paulson chips.

As far as buying and selling goes, I like to think that I have a decent pulse on what "market value" is for most chips, and know what is a "good" deal and what isn't. I've bought most of my chips publicly here in the classifieds, but also some privately via PM's. No difference really in terms of paying market value or below it. If a chip is in high demand or rare, I'm paying dearly for it regardless. I don't have a "do not buy" or "do not sell" list. I guess I can consider myself lucky there that all of my transactions here have been good. That said, I do take note on who gives me a break on pricing and who doesn't. I'm more likely to go out of my way to help the former than I am the latter if I see they need or are looking for something than someone that I know raked me over the coals in our dealings.

We're all paying obscene amounts of money here for little clay discs. The least I can do when I'm a seller is provide good service, pack my chips really well, and send the package out in a timely manner. When this unwritten code is broken, people get upset.

 

[RainmanTrail]

Let's say he buys 50,000 chips @ 50c ea and sells on average for $1 ea.

He gets them for a lot less than 50¢ ea. Most are between 10¢ to 20¢ ea.

 

[Rhodeman77]

I don't get it at all. I'm not calling anyone out in their sales thread because I think that is lame, but what the hell is going on here?

Jim from TCR sells exact same chips for 59c/chip not more than a week ago as many as you wanted and now this guy is trying to sell the exact same chips in the m2m sales area for $500/rack.

Is that what this place is all about now?

Back in the day someone from CT wanted me to get them 5 or 6 racks from my local card room. I did it as a favor and didn't charge a dime. No big deal. I am there anyway.

Another guy here, another thread....
Again not to call guys out, but I inquire as to him harvesting 2 racks of $1's. I ask in a PM how much and he is asking $700 for a couple racks of live ones....

Come on wtf is going on here? Is this a group of guys that loves poker & poker chips or is this just a place where everyone is angling to rip off orhers?

The answer is both. Definitely more people looking to make a profit but still a lot of good members looking out for each other. Keep reading and you will quickly figure out who is who.

 

[ekricket]

This viewpoint cracks me up every time I hear it. Jim does not sell chips cheap because he wants to hook up all of his buddies. He sells them for whatever he thinks he can get for them. If he tried to sell his ~300,000 $1 HSI chips for $2 each, he'd never sell through them, not even 10% of them. The guy has profited more off of this community than anyone (literally millions of dollars), and the only time he ever pops his head in here is when he scores more chips to sell us lol. He's not a chipper. Nothing wrong with that, but you guys really should stop kidding yourselves that he's some modern-day Robin Hood just hooking up all of his buddies then getting "taken advantage of" by "flippers". If it weren't for all those "flippers", he would just have a warehouse full of chips rather than a bank account full of your money.

Jim actually works to get the chips. Actually Works To get chips. Physically moves them around, go gets them, meeting after meeting to get deals set up. He actually adds value

You buy them, just sit in your house and wait on them. Then they show up and not quite the spot color you need for your nirvana. So now you sit in your home and list them for 5x what you paid, and the most work you will do is wrap them in bubble wrap.

you think your work on these exceeds Jim’s by 5x?

 

[ekricket]

s". If it weren't for all those "flippers", he would just have a warehouse full of chips rather than a bank account full of your money

Trying to understand your twisted logic. So what you are saying is that if it wasn’t for the “flippers” no one would buy from Jim directly at a cheaper price?
I’ve been around crazy talk but this is right up there with the best.

 

[Thomacetti]

I probably joined this hobby at the worst time when it comes to the pricing of chips.

PCA's that were sold in Chip Room sales are going for ten times the initial cost. This only happens because the demand is there and more and more new members with deep pockets are joining the hobby.

I do ok for myself but I'm no where near at a point where I can drop thousands on a single set at one time like some can here. This has priced me out of most if not all of the "boat chips" (search and read up about that one), TRK chips, and most leaded, THC molded Paulson chips.

As far as buying and selling goes, I like to think that I have a decent pulse on what "market value" is for most chips, and know what is a "good" deal and what isn't. I've bought most of my chips publicly here in the classifieds, but also some privately via PM's. No difference really in terms of paying market value or below it. If a chip is in high demand or rare, I'm paying dearly for it regardless. I don't have a "do not buy" or "do not sell" list. I guess I can consider myself lucky there that all of my transactions here have been good. That said, I do take note on who gives me a break on pricing and who doesn't. I'm more likely to go out of my way to help the former than I am the latter if I see they need or are looking for something than someone that I know raked me over the coals in our dealings.

We're all paying obscene amounts of money here for little clay discs. The least I can do when I'm a seller is provide good service, pack my chips really well, and send the package out in a timely manner. When this unwritten code is broken, people get upset.

Chipping has always attracted members with deep pockets...if I remember well, there was a internet description about CT in the day that referenced to the fact that plenty of members had A LOT of disposable income on that forum...(even on 2+2, THE degen forum...they looked in awe to some sets that were build)
Most people are shocked by the old prices...but in those days we paid for a membership (year/lifetime) and had to BUY credit to post classifieds.
It was the first time ever I was faced with a forum that wanted money before I could use all 'features'

This current price hike has nothing to do with new whales like @Changster & @Windwalker, there has and always will be whales in our seas....
It has EVERYTHING to do with

1. the explosion of members due to covid (and plenty of extra money due to no vacations, live poker, ...) and plenty of screentime due to homeworking
2. PCF has a much lower threshold for new members compaired to CT (a small group of geeks)
3. decreasing number of 'available' chips from the past...since many chippers did not make the CT -> PCF transfer, a lot of those old chips are not on the market anymore and the ones that were have now been locked down by the new owners
4. Since BCC & TRK left the game, there are no other sources for clay besides CPC (lengthy and expensive process, very worth it tho) and ex-casino chips that find their way to the market (TCR, eBay, ...) simple supply < demand
5. The ever growing perception that all Paulson chips are the only end all be all chips...top of the foodchain [spoiler alert: they are not]

We will see what happens after Covid...but I suggest you save up to scoop some chips 50c on the dollar
That would not be the first time either...

 

[Changster]

It's cheap actually when you think about all the funny money out there being printed out of thin air.

 

[Nanook]

He gets them for a lot less than 50¢ ea. Most are between 10¢ to 20¢ ea.

Maybe so. But that isn't really the point.

The point is Jim is selling at whatever price the market will provide. He is not trying to rip off unsuspecting newcomers for a one time quick sale for 5x what something would otherwise sell for.

Situation#1.
New guy #1comes in here and somehow finds Jim & buys 500 chips for $500. 6 months later new guy #1 decides he likes something else & sells his set for $500-$600 & buys something else. He is still happy & calls himself a chipper.

Situation#2
New guy #2 comes in here and somehow decides to buy a set of 500 chips for $2500 that just sold for $500. Unfortunately he was taken advantage of. Is this his fault? Sure it is, but at the same time I see no need for this....
Anyway, new guy #2 in 6 months decides he wants something different. He tries to sell his chips and soon finds out that he has to have a fire sale @ $500 to move the chips. New guy #2 decides that he made a big mistake and not only is he not going to buy more poker chips he is going to quit poker too.

I'm not sure this sort of thing can be regulated or controlled, but I guess I'm just saying I am not a fan of situation #2

 

[Nanook]

......
We will see what happens after Covid...but I suggest you save up to scoop some chips 50c on the dollar
That would not be the first time either...

Yea, I would say the chances of this happening are like ....hmm...100%ish

 

[Rhodeman77]

Maybe so. But that isn't really the point.

The point is Jim is selling at whatever price the market will provide. He is not trying to rip off unsuspecting newcomers for a one time quick sale for 5x what something would otherwise sell for.

Situation#1.
New guy #1comes in here and somehow finds Jim & buys 500 chips for $500. 6 months later new guy #1 decides he likes something else & sells his set for $500-$600 & buys something else. He is still happy & calls himself a chipper.

Situation#2
New guy #2 comes in here and somehow decides to buy a set of 500 chips for $2500 that just sold for $500. Unfortunately he was taken advantage of. Is this his fault? Sure it is, but at the same time I see no need for this....
Anyway, new guy #2 in 6 months decides he wants something different. He tries to sell his chips and soon finds out that he has to have a fire sale @ $500 to move the chips. New guy #2 decides that he made a big mistake and not only is he not going to buy more poker chips he is going to quit poker too.

I'm not sure this sort of thing can be regulated or controlled, but I guess I'm just saying I am not a fan of situation #2

I’m sure there are more than a few who’d prefer #2, less future competition for chips they are chasing!

 

[Jake14mw]

This viewpoint cracks me up every time I hear it. Jim does not sell chips cheap because he wants to hook up all of his buddies. He sells them for whatever he thinks he can get for them. If he tried to sell his ~300,000 $1 HSI chips for $2 each, he'd never sell through them, not even 10% of them. The guy has profited more off of this community than anyone (literally millions of dollars), and the only time he ever pops his head in here is when he scores more chips to sell us lol. He's not a chipper. Nothing wrong with that, but you guys really should stop kidding yourselves that he's some modern-day Robin Hood just hooking up all of his buddies then getting "taken advantage of" by "flippers". If it weren't for all those "flippers", he would just have a warehouse full of chips rather than a bank account full of your money.

Fair enough, I can see how my post could be taken that way, I get it. Didn't mean to portray him as a philanthropic Robin Hood . Jim is running a business. I assume he is in business to make money first and foremost as are the vast majority of businesses in this country, as it should be. I do believe he posts his prices strategically to his benefit, of course. I'm new to all of this, but by the comments I've seen, there are definitely some chips in each sale that are priced below what he knows he could get for them. People can predict with some accuracy what is going to sell out immediately. He could maximize profits more if he wanted to. All I know is that if 50-70 cent Paulsons didn't exist, I wouldn't own any, so thanks Jim!

 

[HaRDHouSeiNC]

I don't get it at all. I'm not calling anyone out in their sales thread because I think that is lame, but what the hell is going on here?

Jim from TCR sells exact same chips for 59c/chip not more than a week ago as many as you wanted and now this guy is trying to sell the exact same chips in the m2m sales area for $500/rack.

Is that what this place is all about now?

Back in the day someone from CT wanted me to get them 5 or 6 racks from my local card room. I did it as a favor and didn't charge a dime. No big deal. I am there anyway.

Another guy here, another thread....
Again not to call guys out, but I inquire as to him harvesting 2 racks of $1's. I ask in a PM how much and he is asking $700 for a couple racks of live ones....

Come on wtf is going on here? Is this a group of guys that loves poker & poker chips or is this just a place where everyone is angling to rip off orhers?

59c/-> 500
which chips
and welcome to flipperville AKA the classfieds
Its not even super season eBay flipper season right now.

 

[detroitdad]

Is that what this place is all about now?

No. It definitely is less of a "community" than it was 4 or 5 years ago. I've made a few life long friends from all over the world because of this site. For that I am thankful. However, as its been said to me multiple times. It simply boils down to "Fair Market Value".

At this stage of the game. I'd rather sell privately. If I'm selling something I'll reach out privately to a few friends, or members that I've build a relationship with and offer them at "x" amount of price. If nobody is interested then I'll post them at fair market value.

 

[chkmte]

more members = more demand = less supply = higher prices.

 

[RainmanTrail]

The point is Jim is selling at whatever price the market will provide. He is not trying to rip off unsuspecting newcomers for a one time quick sale for 5x what something would otherwise sell for.

I'm new to all of this, but by the comments I've seen, there are definitely some chips in each sale that are priced below what he knows he could get for them. People can predict with some accuracy what is going to sell out immediately. He could maximize profits more if he wanted to.

This is what I'm disputing and what so many people can't seem to grasp. He is not even selling them "below market". The point is, that IS the market when you have that hundreds of thousands of chips to sell. Go look at his prices for sets where he only gets 10,000 or 20,000 chips from some casino. The prices are like 5x higher. He's had a couple of sales where I remember thinking, "I doubt he's going to sell through those at the listed prices" because they were higher than what most similar chips sell for in general. But he sold through them because he only had about 10,000 chips and enough people wanted something new. He doesn't post chip counts for a reason. He doesn't want us to know how many he has. That's why he threw a pissy fit when I posted the chip counts from the HSI a few months ago (which was public info). He got over half a million chips from the HSI, and 234,000 of those were $1s! That's an insane number of $1 chips to sell through. You just can't sell that many even for $1 ea, and he knows it. So, he lists them at prices that he knows he can sell through. But go look through his other sales. He doesn't always sell $1s for $0.59 ea. He only does it when he has a warehouse full of chips to sell.

I'm not saying it's bad practice. He provides excellent customer service to the community for the most part, and he brings in a ton of great chips. Nothing wrong with that. I'm merely pointing out that he's running a business and aiming to maximize profits just like anyone else would.