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The story
A collaboration campaign between sushi chain Kura Sushi and the character Chiikawa was scrapped after fraudulent acquisition of prize items came to light. On flea-market apps, sets of the prizes have gone for tens of thousands of yen, with one listing reportedly fetching ¥2 million, sparking a wave of criticism against resellers online. On the 5ch “Geinou/Sports News+” board, a thread pitted pro-resale posters — who argue “what’s wrong with earning money within the bounds of personal morality?” — against critics who ask “do you really want to take money out of children’s smiles?” Other points raised included the suggestion that companies could prevent this by switching to made-to-order production, along with a counterargument comparing it to drink pricing at izakayas — and the pushback that comparison drew — showing the issue doesn’t break down into simple right and wrong.
Trading cards, limited-edition goods… Is the resale that never stops actually wrong? Pro side: “Being blamed for earning within the bounds of personal morality is unfair.” Anti side: “Do you want to make money even if it means taking away children’s smiles?”
Trouble over resale has piled up, including a collaboration campaign between major conveyor-belt sushi chain Kura Sushi and the popular character Chiikawa, which was cancelled after fraud involving the prizes came to light.
At one point, prize sets were listed on flea-market sites for tens of thousands of yen each, with some going for as much as roughly ¥2 million, drawing a stream of criticism against resellers online.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Original article here
What people said
That's not a "pro-resale" opinion, that's literally asking a scalper.
for everything else, do whatever you want
as long as you properly pay your taxes.
Demon Slayer, One Piece, and Slam Dunk all had terrible resale problems too.
It's not just the scalpers who are at fault — I'd say Demon Slayer is especially bad since they run bonus campaigns specifically to mobilize scalpers.
Probably because the fanbase is different.
Even regular housewives who aren't anime otaku jump in, so it spirals out of control.
"if companies don't want their stuff resold, they should just make it made-to-order from the start."
In a way, you could argue companies are letting scalpers buy up stock to squeeze out extra profit themselves.
They already do that kind of thing.
It still gets resold anyway.
An announcement like "We'll be making XX, please place your order" just doesn't spread very far.
If a problem that would solve itself without scalpers ends up costing time, money, and effort — and prices go up anyway — it's the same result either way.
Customers also end up with the extra hassle of pre-ordering and picking it up, which lowers their motivation to buy.
A lot of the time, people don't even know if they want something until they actually see it in person.
Honestly, the way JR East handled the commemorative Suica card for Tokyo Station was the best ever.
Even if it takes a year, they sell to everyone who wants one.
But then hardcore collectors slap a premium on the earliest version over some tiny difference,
so that kind of thing is a pain too lol
it's causing needless chaos in society.
They should just make all the merch made-to-order.
extra money is bleeding out of the system.
It's basically a black market at this point.
The whole idea is supposed to be selling stuff you don't need,
but instead they're selling hoarded-up demand and even stolen goods.
If you think it's "unfair" to be criticized, go live overseas.
Japan doesn't need people like you.
Making money by just shuffling things from one hand to the other without creating anything — the Japanese spirit has really gotten poor.
That's exactly what "shameless" (samashii) means, you idiots.
Movie theater bonus giveaways have always mainly targeted moms with kids and students, now and in the past —
ticket prices are too high and margins too thin to target middle-aged guys.
There are even moms who drag their sick, coughing kid to the theater just for the bonus item.
I once sat behind a kid coughing the whole movie and thought, what an awful mother.
went to buy one, and they had the Switch 2
but no Switch 1 in stock.
Then on YouTube I saw piles and piles
of unsold Switch 1 units stacked in the corner of someone's room
and got furious.
Apparently it was a scalper's room and they failed to sell them —
said something about the condition being bad.
a problem since it clears their inventory
— scalpers buy stuff that wouldn't sell otherwise.
So why does it end up several times the retail price?
That's simple —
because there are people willing to buy it.
what exactly does this guy's morality even look like?
If he had any, he wouldn't be scalping in the first place lol
Did they seriously expect to be praised?
"This is a legitimate job" (said with a totally straight face)
well then go ahead and put your name and address out there…
take something like chuhai or beer at an izakaya — when you get down to it, that's reselling at a marked-up price too.
They're basically just buying up cans from convenience stores or supermarkets and pouring the contents into a mug or glass.
It's not like they're brewing that stuff themselves from scratch.
Selling goods is basically reselling at its core.
As long as you report the income if you're doing it as a side business, isn't that within the realm of morality?
>They're basically just buying up cans from convenience stores or supermarkets and pouring the contents into a mug or glass.
Even an elementary schooler wouldn't come up with that one.
If they want to, consumers can just buy that same chuhai or beer cheaply at the supermarket
that's the difference.
A scalper's profit comes from breaking the supply-demand balance through artificial supply restriction.
Reselling as a business means snatching up supply meant to be offered at a fair service price, through methods the supplier never anticipated, and profiting by reselling it at a jacked-up price.
Scalpers are a worldwide thing, after all.
more work for the tax office, but that's a good thing.
That's already been linked for ages lol
Background and Key Points of This Topic
On the subject of resale, the unauthorized resale of concert tickets is regulated by law, but there is generally no law banning the resale of “goods” themselves, such as merchandise or trading cards. The line between legal and illegal is drawn by whether other crimes are involved — such as selling stolen goods or pulling only the winning tickets out of a lottery. In the thread, the phrase “within the bounds of morality” was often used to lump plain resale together with theft- or fraud-like behavior, which is one reason the discussion had trouble converging. Flea-market apps have already been rolling out identity-verification and tax-tracking measures, such as linking accounts to My Number cards, but as long as suppliers keep quantities limited at the fixed retail price, structural pressure means resale that exploits the supply-demand gap won’t disappear on its own. As for the opinion that companies should switch to made-to-order production, it’s easy to overlook that this isn’t such a simple fix, given the difficulty of forecasting demand and the fact that many consumers only decide they want something after seeing the actual product in a store.
※This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary of the 5ch (Geinou/Sports News+) thread “Chiikawa, trading cards, limited-edition goods… Is the resale that never stops actually wrong? Pro side: “Being blamed for earning within the bounds of personal morality is unfair”“.
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