Your public comments, stating that it was impossible to buy chips from GPI (while the GB was going on), influenced, for example, my own decisions on whether or not to purchase certain chips. They also influenced other new members making the same decisions. Coming from someone from whom I’d already learned most of what I know about chipping, your words in particular are seen as a trustworthy source.
They had a negative impact because when the group buy came to light, that trust was broken. The understanding that “we’re all in this together” (in the search for chips) quickly turned into an understanding that there are two groups of members on this site.
You maintain that you weren’t misinforming people, that a group buy isn’t possible, and I believe that you feel that you are being genuine. Yet, here we are discussing the group buy, which has already happened.
I want to emphasize that this is not just about your comments. Several other GB members participated in threads discussing the (im)possibility of a GPI group buy and what impact that would have on the chipping market during the time the GB was taking place.
For me, this broken trust is the worst aspect of the GB. I know, now, that I can’t necessarily believe anything I read in these pages, no matter who it comes from. Perhaps I was naïve to have thought so.
How exactly did the knowledge of the Boat Chip purchase impact your purchase decisions? Assuming the seller is part of the Boat Chip purchase...
No Knowledge
Seller: Hey, I've got these
PCA/
TRK/Horseshoe/other chips available for sale...
Buyer: You know, I've been looking at buying those chips... I'll take them.
Boat Chips are produced and delivered after the transaction.
Knowledge of Boat Chip Purchase
Seller: Hey, I've got these
PCA/
TRK/Horseshoe/other chips available for sale...
Buyer: You know, I've been looking at buying those chips... but I want those Boat Chips that you're purchasing!
Seller: Ok, but you're not part of the purchasing group, so you're not getting them at cost.
Buyer: Buy
PCA/
TRK/Horseshoes at market price... or do nothing.
So you either spend the money on the chips you bought, or you don't spend it and look to buy Boat Chips if they ever become available to the market (not guaranteed). You're not changing your mind and buying, for example, PCAs instead of that
TRK set... and you're not suddenly going to be invited to purchase the Boat Chips at cost. You could always hope the Boat Chip purchasers need money desperately and will drop the price on their sale sets, but you'll never know for certain who's part of that group...
The Boat Chip purchase primarily affected any chip sellers who posted classifieds after they became common knowledge, due to the frenzy these chips created. With everyone focused on the Boat Chips and the drama, other sets were sitting on the Classifieds for longer and some people would have needed to lower the prices in order to sell these sets. Has there been a long-term impact on the market? Of course: some people are out of the market because they have their "grail" set (no different than if they acquired another "grail" set). Others might not be as active as they'd be if they hadn't purchased Boat Chips... but, again, no different than after any major Chip Room / Chip Vault / Chip Exchange sale...
Did the Boat Chip purchase stop you from buying the chips you wanted? No.
Did the Boat Chip purchase make you pay a higher price for the chips you wanted? No - no guarantee the chips you wanted were being sold by a Boat Chip participant.
Did the Boat Chip purchase "flood" the market with high quality chips? No - unlike in a Chip Room sale, only a very small fraction of the 300,000 chips (or whatever) produced have actually hit the market.
I believe this is why members like
@BGinGA find it difficult to believe the market was impacted to a significant degree, or for a significant length of time, and ask you for specifics. Buyers never had an option to get Boat Chips at cost... prices for the other chips would have remained stagnant or decreased. The market shifted to a general buyer's market EXCEPT for Boat Chips, which became a very strong seller's market for those who wanted to sell (and, if I understand correctly, these were never supposed to hit the market).