Scalpers Auction StarCraft 2 Beta Keys

[Logan Westbrook]

Scalpers Auction StarCraft 2 Beta Keys

Are you excited enough about the StarCraft 2 beta to spend hundreds of dollars to get in?

To most people, spending $300 on an unfinished version of a game that will cost maybe $60 when it sees release is just outright lunacy, but to others, playing first is important enough that they're willing to splash out. Thankfully, for them at least, there are people online more than happy to take their money in exchange for the codes they seek.

At time of writing, there are 51 Ebay [http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=starcraft+beta&_sacat=0&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1313&_sop=16&_odkw=starcraft+beta&_osacat=0&bkBtn=1] auctions for beta codes, with most seeming to have come from Blizzcon 08, which includes a World of Warcraft polar bear mount as an added bonuses. Prices range from just $26 on an auction with more than two days left to a $950 'Buy It Now' price, and the largest actual bid for a code is currently $305.

I appreciate that StarCraft 2 is a big deal, but personally, there's no game that I want to play so much that I'd be willing to pay five times the retail price just to get into the beta.

Source: Kotaku [http://kotaku.com/5476373/scalpers-getting-300-for-starcraft-ii-beta-keys]


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[Pipotchi]

I hope all these auctions get sabotaged with million dollor bids. Scalpers are the scum of the earth regardless of what their scalping.

For shame I say!

 

[sidereal_day]

I wouldn't pay for a key, but can understand why someone would want to. But if Blizzard catches the key-seller then the key is worthless and you spent money on nothing. You'd have to multiply the chance of being caught with how much you'd be willing to pay to get to the price you'd bid on eBay. Since few know the chance of being caught (yet), you're just kind of playing by ear.

 

[sidereal_day]

I hope all these auctions get sabotaged with million dollor bids. Scalpers are the scum of the earth regardless of what their scalping.

For shame I say!

Why? Because they are selling things people have a demand for?

 

[JEBWrench]

Awesome. I love what people are willing to pay for.

 

[Amnestic]

there's no game that I want to play so much that I'd be willing to pay five times the retail price just to get into the beta.

I concur. I'll either wait for my beta key in the next waves or kick back and enjoy the full version of SC2 when it hits shelves. No skin off my nose either way.

 

[Plurralbles]

how did you get one originally anyway?

 

[Sporky111]

Well, if people are willing to pay through the nose to play early, it's their right. But, I think that it's really a dick-move on the part of the scalpers when they got the codes directly from Blizzard and are making the profit instead of Blizz.

 

[sidereal_day]

Well, if people are willing to pay through the nose to play early, it's their right. But, I think that it's really a dick-move on the part of the scalpers when they got the codes directly from Blizzard and are making the profit instead of Blizz.

So you suggest that all those codes go unused or used by people that want to play it less than others, rather than allocated to people that really want to play? Doesn't seem very efficient to me. Blizzard should just sell beta codes themselves if they were worried about code resellers.

 

[Sporky111]

Well, if people are willing to pay through the nose to play early, it's their right. But, I think that it's really a dick-move on the part of the scalpers when they got the codes directly from Blizzard and are making the profit instead of Blizz.

So you suggest that all those codes go unused or used by people that want to play it less than others, rather than allocated to people that really want to play? Doesn't seem very efficient to me. Blizzard should just sell beta codes themselves if they were worried about code resellers.

Allocated is fine. If I had a code and didn't plan to use it, I would happily give it to someone who would. Selling them for a profit, a huge profit in some cases, is what I have a problem with.

 

[sidereal_day]

Well, if people are willing to pay through the nose to play early, it's their right. But, I think that it's really a dick-move on the part of the scalpers when they got the codes directly from Blizzard and are making the profit instead of Blizz.

So you suggest that all those codes go unused or used by people that want to play it less than others, rather than allocated to people that really want to play? Doesn't seem very efficient to me. Blizzard should just sell beta codes themselves if they were worried about code resellers.

Allocated is fine. If I had a code and didn't plan to use it, I would happily give it to someone who would. Selling them for a profit, a huge profit in some cases, is what I have a problem with.

That's ignoring opportunity cost. You could just use the code yourself and have whatever dollar amount of entertainment in the beta. For example, let's say I'd have $100 worth of entertainment in the beta (that is, I'd forgo up to $100 worth of entertainment from other places). If I just GAVE the code away, I'd lose $100. This is the opportunity cost. You'd obviously want to be compensated for that, right? So let's say you put the code on eBay for $100. The price goes ABOVE that. You had no control over that -- other people are willing to forgo MORE entertainment for the beta and are competing with each other to get it. That's gravy for you because you are making positive economic profit, and its gravy for the customer, because he is too.

Please tell me at what point you have a problem with this?

 

[DazZ.]

True Blizzard fans don't go outside for fun anyway so have loads of money spare to waste on more Blizzard things.
$300 to play a game first is tuppence.

 

[tsu-money]

I can wait a bit before it comes out, thank you very much.

 

[Uberjoe19]

I've never played the original, so I don't really know why people are so excited about the sequel. But this is just stupid and a criminal act, to be honest.

 

[Sporky111]

Well, if people are willing to pay through the nose to play early, it's their right. But, I think that it's really a dick-move on the part of the scalpers when they got the codes directly from Blizzard and are making the profit instead of Blizz.

So you suggest that all those codes go unused or used by people that want to play it less than others, rather than allocated to people that really want to play? Doesn't seem very efficient to me. Blizzard should just sell beta codes themselves if they were worried about code resellers.

Allocated is fine. If I had a code and didn't plan to use it, I would happily give it to someone who would. Selling them for a profit, a huge profit in some cases, is what I have a problem with.

That's ignoring opportunity cost. You could just use the code yourself and have whatever dollar amount of entertainment in the beta. For example, let's say I'd have $100 worth of entertainment in the beta (that is, I'd forgo up to $100 worth of entertainment from other places). If I just GAVE the code away, I'd lose $100. This is the opportunity cost. You'd obviously want to be compensated for that, right? So let's say you put the code on eBay for $100. The price goes ABOVE that. You had no control over that -- other people are willing to forgo MORE entertainment for the beta and are competing with each other to get it. That's gravy for you because you are making positive economic profit, and its gravy for the customer, because he is too.

Please tell me at what point you have a problem with this?

In the case of a beta, it's not so much for profit as it is for getting the game right. I suppose that the keys were given away for free at BlizzCon. Who are you to judge the dollar value of that entertainment when you yourself did not pay for it?

That's what I call a scam because it's selling something for more than it's worth. I said that I'm fine with people paying more, it's their money to spend how they wish, but the point is that scalpers of any kind are running a scam operation. They are making money they don't deserve, simply because they were fortunate enough to have this beta come into their possession.

From your response you're obviously fine with that, but I value integrity more than I value profit so I can't condone scalping.

 

[dududf]

Wait a second, won't the game cost 100$ when it is released, not 60$ ?

 

[sidereal_day]

In the case of a beta, it's not so much for profit as it is for getting the game right. I suppose that the keys were given away for free at BlizzCon. Who are you to judge the dollar value of that entertainment when you yourself did not pay for it?

That's what I call a scam because it's selling something for more than it's worth. I said that I'm fine with people paying more, it's their money to spend how they wish, but the point is that scalpers of any kind are running a scam operation. They are making money they don't deserve, simply because they were fortunate enough to have this beta come into their possession.

From your response you're obviously fine with that, but I value integrity more than I value profit so I can't condone scalping.

The keys were NOT given away for free at Blizzcon. There were costs incurred to attend Blizzcon like travel, the ticket price, and the big one, time spent at Blizzcon. There is no such thing as free, ever. There were other attractions to Blizzcon to be sure -- but you were paying for the whole package, which included a beta code for SCII. If I recall, the beta codes were a surprise, but it doesn't mean that people didn't pay for them in time, ticket price, and travel.

But lets pretend the beta code was "free" as you suggest. You say:

Who are you to judge the dollar value of that entertainment when you yourself did not pay for it?

You can easily judge the dollar value of something by asking yourself what you would have forgone to get the good in question. If I would have forgone six trips to the movie theatre to get a beta code, the dollar value of the code is the price of six movie tickets. This is the opportunity cost, a basic concept in economics -- indeed, probably the most important concept, that I was talking about before.

That's what I call a scam because it's selling something for more than it's worth.

What determines "worth"? The original price at purchase? Or, you know, supply and demand? A "scam" is a problem of imperfect information. You thought you were getting something, and paid on that basis, but got something else. "Scams" have nothing to do with "selling something for more than its worth" since it is literally impossible to do that if customers know exactly what they are getting and buying it on that basis. There is no intrinsic worth to anything. That idea died before the American Revolution.

From your response you're obviously fine with that, but I value integrity more than I value profit so I can't condone scalping.

So by your logic, if an employer thought you were worth $15/hour, and you thought you were worth $12/hour to the firm, you would turn down any wage more than $12/hour because you would be "making money you didn't deserve"?

That's not integrity. That's just a fundamental error in economic thinking.

 

[Quiet Stranger]

I really hope I get a key, I really want one!!!

 

[Kenjitsuka]

It's logical for some to pay a lot.
This game will be played in competitions and tournaments for many years, and each second they can play before the competition gives them an edge. An edge that could make the difference between say 10K dollars and 5K/3K.