Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Is profit a Dirty Word..???

Once again we have this discussion.

A lot of folks on here work for someone else, they get paid a wage of say 22.00 an hour, the employer charges out 48.00 or 55.00. It could be easily said that what was done by the worker is only worth 40.00 or 38.00.

Some folks work in retail, the store pays say 2.40 for a jug of milk but they sell it for 3.39. You could say it should sell for 2.99.

Some folks make part of their living (or all) from buying and selling (all kinds of stuff) in this example I will say petro stuff. Are they not entitled to a profit as long as they are not forcing anyone to buy the item. Are they a bad person or just someone who gets to eat that week???

Some folks make decent living wether they sell off their petro goodies or not and feel comfortable with passing it on at the same or very little increase in price.

In my view, I dont think there are a lot of people out there who would like this scenario;

Someone comes to them and says; " We have been watching you work, we are eperts in observing this trade or field. It has come to our attention that you are producucing less than your co-workers and others in your field. We will make a recomendation to your employer to give you a reduction in wages!!

Just my 2 cents..

"Is profit a Dirty Word..???"

Great thread starter dodogas...I think this topic will get some, dare I say, "Mileage"

Profit certainly is not a dirty word, we must all make a living. Some engage in this as a hobby and don't need a whole lot of profit margin while others earn more of their household income from it. In all honesty though, I do have a problem with price gouging. In my opinion, some sellers under the guise of "in need to make a living" have unrealistically inflated value.

IMHO there is not such thing as "gouging"

Some people view "higher" prices as gouging because they bought one just like it for only x 20 years ago or yesterday at an auction that there was no one at for competition on the part, item, etc

gouging does not exist

prices asked DO exist

if YOU (no one in particular) have a problem with a price, simply walk away or refuse to pay it

The seller or the rest of the world does not need to hear how YOU (no one in particular again) feels the price is insane

if you (no one again) take time to rile yourself up and bitch about it to the seller or anyone else within earshot, the only person making a scene is you (no one again).

the seller drove xxx miles and paid yy for a space to sell at and another zzz in gas and food to offer their wares. IF no one bought their offerings, then the seller can reflect back upon their prices and whether they want to do another trip like that again

no one is forcing anyone to do anything, that is what makes the U.S. such a great place to live

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Jim Rohn
Scottsdale, AZ

[This message has been edited by al8apex (edited 07-25-2005).]

IMHO, gouging does exist. I recently saw an unsuspecting customer pay an outrageous price for a reproduction. Was the seller motivated by neccessity or greed? If you (no one in particular) are so blinded that you cannot see there are people in our hobby that are motivated by greed then you are in deep denial my friend. (no one in particlar)

IMHO, our viewpoints on this subject are skewed because of our knowledge, and that is part of our skewed perspective on these things ...

People buy repros of stuff all day long and have been for centuries (repros of furniture, art, rugs, houses etc) As long as they know they are not getting the Mona Lisa that sits in the Louve, they don't care.

Heck, the HSN wouldn't exist if there were suckers for the cr*ap /junk they sell

junk/cr*p is that which we see as a repro of an item in our hobby

Heck, my wife thinks the original stuff I have is still junk/cr*p

*I* think that a 69 Camaro that started life with a 6 cylinder in it should not be worth anything close to what a more desirable version gets

but a "restorer" clones it into a Yenko or COPO or Z28 and gets stupid money for it ...

who is the wronged person?

the one that spent money "restoring" it into something it never was or the buyer who maybe restored a car or 2 before and doesn't want to fuss with it anymore and could care less if it was the original color or engine that that particular serial number carried when it was new and just wants a nice car?

Am I at liberty or obligated to tell the buyer he is an idiot? Should I tell the restorer he is a crook for participating in the free enterprise system? Maybe *I* am the idiot for not seeing things the way the buyer sees it (see above, having restored one before perhaps) or from the restorers view. Maybe he has people coming to HIM to have HIM build them the car of their dreams ...

Restoring a gas pump to "popular" colors and brand is just like the above scenario. People buy what is poplular or what they like

Can a gas pump restorer tell his customers that they shoud only buy the pump a certain way because it is "more authentic" regardless of what the customer WANTS? Most business people (restorers are business people, whether at a hobby level or not) listen to what their customers ask for and try to do what they want while perhaps guiding the customer toward authenticity. The bottom line is the customer wants what they want and it may not make sense to others.

They old saying is, the customer is always right

This is not a slam toward anyone but rather is intended as a different perspective on what makes the buyers tick

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Jim Rohn
Scottsdale, AZ

[This message has been edited by al8apex (edited 07-25-2005).]

Business is Business...

This made me think of yesterday, when I was un-loading my new Fry 73 that I bought off of ebay. The girl that lives across the street from me came over with her husband. She asked if that was the pump I just bought, when I said YES she got this stunned look on her face and said "you paid how much for that junk?". lol - 821.00 I thought was pretty good for a nice almost complete 1928 Fry 73 with blue tent glass.

Her husband then proceded to ask if I would make him one, he would give me $200.00 for it.... yea right, that will not even buy the parts...................


Travis E. Towle
Topeka, Kansas

785-357-1004

My Grandpa used to say "Any schmuck can give it away" and "You don't go broke makeing a profit" He did well. Profit is not a dirty word.

Someone selling a repo as an original isn't price gouging, it's dishonest. Price gouging occurs on neccessities like gas, milk, bread, any commodity you can think of. Asking too much for a sign or pump is a matter of opinion and very subjective. If I buy a Sinclair sign for $300 at a swap meet and sell it on ebay for $3000....am I just lucky or am I motivated by greed. How can anyone try and determine for others what the profit margin should be? Every time I go to a swap or auction, there are prices that make me laugh, but I keep it to myself because it's none of my concern. I'd like to see some of these guys stumble upon a Musgo globe at a garage sale for $100, are some of you trying to say you'd turn it for $200 since that would double your money? Probably like the rest of us, you'd say "well the one at the Birch Auction brought $20K, so I'll put it at $17500 and tell people it's a bargain priced beneath market value!"


[This message has been edited by Seth Robbins (edited 07-25-2005).]

well said

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Jim Rohn
Scottsdale, AZ

Jim & Seth,

Well said by both of you!!

If you think about it, there is no such thing as "gouging" for anything in life that is optional. Certainly not for collectible items. Whatever happened to "Let the buyer beware"? If you don't like the price, go elsewhere or do without. But don't blame the seller!!

As it applies to this hobby, I've been to swap meets and seen the same stuff appear year after year. The sellers obviously don't want to drop the price to what others are willing to pay. The prices will either go down or they will hold their inventory for a long time. Simple as that. And that's the way it should be in a free market society.

To dodogas, I would say to go buy that jug of milk from a store that sells it for $2.99. If there are enough competitors and they all sell it for $3.39, I'd say that's the true MARKET price.

Cheers!!

Paul

I AGREE WITH SETH ABOUT GOUGING. HOWEVER, WHEN I'M AT A SHOW AND I SEE SOMETHING I LIKE AND IT'S PRICED WITHIN MY RANGE AND I ASK ABOUT IT AND THE PERSON SHAVES OFF XXX DOLLARS WITHOUT MY ASKING....I'M AS HAPPY AS A PIG IN....."MUD!" THE GUYS WHO HAVE THEIR GOODS INSIDE AND SPREAD OUT ALL OVER THE PLACE (i.e. LARGER RARE SIGNS, GLOBES, PUMPS, ETC) ARE GREAT TOO. WHILE I KNOW I WOULDN'T HAVE ENOUGH TO CONSIDER PURCHASING THESE HIGH PRICED GEMS, IT IS STILL GREAT TO SEE AND REALIZE THAT THIS PERSON IS NICE ENOUGH TO TAKE ALL THIS TIME TO DISPLAY THEIR INVENTORY FOR EVERYONE TO OGGLE AT!

JMHO...2¢ WHATEVER...

DOC @ TAG.WEST

"Nobody said it would be fare,
They warned you before you went out there -
There's always a chance to get restarted,
To a new world, a new life, Scarred but Smarter."

Seth is right,selling repro for original is dishonest and only makes people steer away from our hobby when they find out they have been lynched!Keep it honest and its ok to sell your items for whatever you feel they are worth.I just here lately went with a guy and bought a sign for a bunch of money and thought he was nuts,he sold it a few days later and profited a couple of thousand,STEAK,STEAK,STEAK!

let joe hit that mega million lottery one time, and i'll show you sellers how to make a "PROFIT". (dream on, dream on).


joe likes money....