The irony of the ebay backlash...

POSTED BY: WildHeavenFarm
UPDATED: Friday, June 10, 2005 20:38
VIEWED: 8628
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AURAPTOR

Friday, June 10, 2005 11:30 AM

So, you're telling us there might be a Companion in our midst? Where? WHERE!

" They don't like it when you shoot at 'em. I worked that out myself. "

WILDHEAVENFARM

Friday, June 10, 2005 12:55 PM

[in response to multiple posts]

I hadn't posted this to create confrontation animosity, first off.

Howdoes the difference between reality and fantasty factor into it? I'm talking about real life people condemning the money-focused actions of other people as regards to a movie whose characters are, more often than not, driven by profit.

Not all of the ebay auctions start out at obscene prices. They end up at ridiculously inflated prices because that's what people are willing to pay. And no one's forcing anyone to pay that price. You're not really losing anything by missing the premier; the movie will still come out September to be enjoyed without such extreme efforts.

I, myself, may end up with an extra ticket and I plan to sell it on ebay because its an effective way to reach a great number of interested persons, and I plan to start the auction at the price I paid for it. Maybe I'll get lucky and the sale of that ticket will help pay for the gas for the four hour round trip, making it less damaging to my household financing to indulge my little geek heart thus.

And don't be mad at me, please, everyone. Now is the time for solidarity, or something.

Mary
Always a beast, never a burden.

BYTETHEBULLET

Friday, June 10, 2005 1:07 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Litwolf689:
Ironic yea, but they took tickets from us and are charging them at very high prices. So Im still mad.

Not to put too fine a point on it, they are not CHARGING high prices, folks are BIDDING/PAYING high prices...

I am not saying it is right either.

ByteTheBullet (-:

JOEMC72

Friday, June 10, 2005 1:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by WildHeavenFarm:
[in response to multiple posts]

I hadn't posted this to create confrontation animosity, first off.

Howdoes the difference between reality and fantasty factor into it? I'm talking about real life people condemning the money-focused actions of other people as regards to a movie whose characters are, more often than not, driven by profit.

Not all of the ebay auctions start out at obscene prices. They end up at ridiculously inflated prices because that's what people are willing to pay. And no one's forcing anyone to pay that price. You're not really losing anything by missing the premier; the movie will still come out September to be enjoyed without such extreme efforts.

I, myself, may end up with an extra ticket and I plan to sell it on ebay because its an effective way to reach a great number of interested persons, and I plan to start the auction at the price I paid for it. Maybe I'll get lucky and the sale of that ticket will help pay for the gas for the four hour round trip, making it less damaging to my household financing to indulge my little geek heart thus.

And don't be mad at me, please, everyone. Now is the time for solidarity, or something.

Mary
Always a beast, never a burden.

Selling it starting at face value is cool, IMO. If you make a little profit, so be it, and good on you. I think the ire of the folks here is being directed at the sellers who bought a huge stash of tickets for no other reason than to sell them starting at far higher than their original price. I understand the fact that there are people who have been doing this for years, and will continue to do so far into the future...but that still doesn't make it right...no matter what the laws say.

WEICHI

Friday, June 10, 2005 1:45 PM

Not coming down on anyone here, or on ebay for that matter.

Given the number of tickets for sale on ebay, which appears to be few (correct me if I am wrong)other Browncoats are the ones who have "our"tickets for the most part. I have yet to be lucky enough to get a ticket, although I was geographically challenged in the first round.

A few - as long as it is a few - scalpers give folks a chance to go if they really want to - and as others have pointed out, we are the fools who are willing to pay the price. Fundamentally, there is a limited number of tickets. In some moral situations you can not impose your views on others, the best you can do is choose not to play, which, in a sense, is what Mal does in the show.

The original post brought up the fascinating moral ambiguity of the show - but I think he bends it too hard to his point. Only Jayne is mainly driven by greed or profit, in an underhanded way and yes, we love him for it. River, Kaylee, Simon and Book certainly dont fall into that craven category. Inara is a respectable business woman. Zoe "must" be with the Captain, Wash wants to be with Zoe. I know I am simplifying a bit.

And the Captain's prime motivation is to be free and not play ball with the alliance. It is clear that he would prefer to do that in an above board fashion but it is getting crowded in his sky and he does what he has to - within limits. And it is this basically decent man's negotiation of his needs and proprieties that gives the show its appeal - it is not a trumpet call for all manner of unseemly behavior.

See how I'm not hitting him, I think I've grown!

HELL'S KITTEN

Friday, June 10, 2005 2:12 PM

This really has nothing to do with "What Would Mal Do?" because, as has been said, this is reality and using a fictional character as an example (or excuse) is a cop out.

The real irony is the fact that for as many BrownCoats who're bitching about eBay, they're giving more visibility to the fact that one could make a good profit.

More often than not, I suspect, it's your fellow BrownCoats who're following the UB postings closely so they can buy these tickets and, assuming they got enough for themselves, then sell them on eBay.

Take a look at the progression. The first round of screenings had a bunch of tickets on eBay, but well after they were already sold out. The second round of screenings had a larger bunch of tickets on eBay, closer to the day they were sold out. This round of screenings already has a shitload of tickets on eBay, listed only minutes after they were sold out. In screaming protestations against this scalping, the problem has actually become worse.

Cheers.

无党派人士

PUMAMANREDUX

Friday, June 10, 2005 2:27 PM

off topic ...

if no one else has picked up on it ...

a WWMD? (What Would Mal Do?) as opposed to WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) series of parody items might be humorous to think about for a moment. Dunno if someone has put the idea to use .. doubt it would fly .. but who knows ... it seemed humorous for a sec .. I'm over it

>> Mike

PS: I have yet to really look at much of the fan items for sale cause I might be tempted .. I have no clue if my idea has been used ...

'Trust me - I know what I'm doing!' - Sledge Hammer
**************
http://www.freewebs.com/mjspages/tempfireflypage.htm

HELL'S KITTEN

Friday, June 10, 2005 2:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by PumamanRedux:
off topic ...

if no one else has picked up on it ...

a WWMD? (What Would Mal Do?) as opposed to WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?) series of parody items might be humorous to think about for a moment.

Heh, what's why I said it.... Normally, I think of "WWJD?" as being "What Would Jayne Do?" which suits me much better.

无党派人士

PHAEDRA

Friday, June 10, 2005 3:11 PM

I have an official WWBD necklace. All the people at my firm where shocked to discover I was a good christian. I replied no I'm still a practicing hedonist, WWBD stands for What Would Buffy Do? Then I reminded them that Buffy came back from the dead to save the world twice, while Jesus only did it once. Moreover, she could kick christs ass any day of the week and twice on a Friday. By my count Mal's only come back from the dead once (War Stories, Out of Gas doesn't count he only almost died), so he still has a way to go.

Phaedra (a bad luck name)

VIGGENBOY

Friday, June 10, 2005 3:28 PM

Whats fair is fair in the world of the scoundrel. For those that are upset that some one is being a little selfish, blast their seller ratings because you think its BS that they're doing it. If enough of us do it, maybe we can fight back in a fun little underworld way.

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