Frequent contributor Ilan Strasser of Fat Moose Comics in Whippany, New Jersey, disagreed with retailer Mark Faraces' comments on Yu-Gi-Oh (see, 'Mark Farace of All American Collectibles on Yu-Gi-Oh'):
I disagree wholeheartedly with Mark Faraces' comments regarding Yu-Gi-Oh. The 'opportunity' he speaks of is the opportunity to take advantage of his customers. It is not inherently or morally right to smugly tell them to go to Wal-Mart, et al. because hey, when they run out, 'we'll have plenty of them'. No doubt Mark and others who choose to do business as he does will have plenty of any current 'hot' product -- at prices 2, 4, or 5 more times the regular retail price.
To be sure, Faraces' comments belie his insurance background. Faraces will protest and say he is just reacting to market forces and paying what he needs to pay to get the product his customers want. Well, they may want the product, but they only want it at regular price. They will buy it at inflated prices, but none of them will be happy about it. Their purchase is mandated by keeping their child happy and does not reflect a real willingness to buy the product at high prices. 'Then why do they keep buying?' Faraces will say.....I say, because they feel they have to -- anyone with children knows it is sometimes the only path to peace to give in, even at those times when we really don't want to. Faraces even mentions 'whining and angry parents' -- that kind of parent is only a reluctant long term customer; history proves it in the number of stores that have come and gone and based their sales goals on the 'fleece them as long as you can' theory of retailing.
Still, Faraces is as caught in the middle the as rest of us are. I have only bought Yu-Gi-Oh boosters that were sold to me at the initially solicited price. These have come from Diamond and Alliance. I have paid more for starters (at a local show). The only reason I have done this is because my customers made a point of wanting to have the rules. Otherwise, I would not have bothered. I do not, as Faraces says, make excuses -- I just choose not to be opportunistic at my customers' expense.
The real moral vacuum is born, bred, and maintained at Upper Deck. Their sole responsibility is to provide all market segments with ample supplies of product for the first six months of a product's life. That they refuse to do so, and engage in short-term profiteering at the expense of small stores at the same time, makes them the most repulsive of business partners.
