Every time we go through this cyclical ammo shortage, it amazes me how all of a sudden people are willing to double/triple their money by charging exorbitant prices for the ammo they bought cheap. What is even more amazing are the people willing to pay those prices when we all know prices will fall and stabilize. I know, some of you will say FREE MARKET and if you dont want it, dont buy it. I get that. It is just a little disappointing that a forum full of members who, on the surface, rally around each other in bad times (sickness, people who need financial help and so on) and we do have some generous people here and God bless you all for that, that benevolence fails to extend into times like we are facing.
I'm not begrudging making a profit by any means but some of this is ridiculous.
This inevitably comes out every time an ammo shortage occurs. Or a shortage of nearly anything else, for that matter. And predictably, we're going to see a range of responses that mirror what's been posted every time before.
So I might as well get started and put my response up.
Personally, I don't care what anybody else thinks about what I may do with
MY property.
It's mine. If I want to give it away, I'll give it away. If I want to trade it, I'll trade it. If I want to sell it, I'll put it up for sale. And I'll do that however I see fit.
Because it's MINE.
And if, in times of plenty, I've stocked up in order to take advantage of lean times? Well, I invested the time, effort, and money to do so.
SO...If I want to sell 100 round boxes of Winchester White Box 9mm for three times what I paid for it, what right does ANYBODY out there have to question me about this? Who out there has the RIGHT to tell me that's "unfair" or "scalping"?
The going retail rate for this is what...about $30 a box, maybe a little less? So if I have a box I paid $30 for and I want to sell it for $90, that's UNFAIR?
What if I sold that box for $30? Is that fair? How many people here would think this?
Because if you DO, then the jokes on you, because I have a few thousand rounds I took the time to buy up years ago when it was commonly sold for $9.95 a box. So if I sold it today at $30 a box, I'm turning it around for three times what I paid for it. Is that UNFAIR?
SCREW. THAT.
Because if I feel like selling those same boxes for $90 a box and make nine times what I paid for it, THAT'S WHAT I'LL DO.
And people who don't like it can have a nice, piping hot cuppa STFU with a side order of plan-ahead-next-time. And for dessert, they can have some go-find-what-you-want-somewhere-else, while they're at it.
If people have no right to my private property because it's not theirs in the first place, what gives them the idea that they have the right to my property at any price THEY dictate?
What those high prices do is make people think about what they REALLY need and how much they REALLY need to get to get them by. Because let's face it...if they didn't NEED a box of ammo just before it suddenly became scarce, what are the odds they REALLY NEED IT RIGHT THEN? If they reeeeeally do...pony up for a box and STFU.
Just like I have to do when the market goes South and I'm short on things. I change my habits to meet the conditions I must deal with. And then, after everything settles down, I take the lessons learned and look ahead a bit more and plan a bit better.