eBay Defends The Right to Resell Property

[Sylveria]

Guess I better step up my efforts in collecting old games since, knowing our government, I'll lose the ability to in the near future.

Oh and I can't wait for the deluge of people defending this.. not realizing that it would make it impossible for them to sell their cars, homes, or anything else.

 

[Saika Renegade]

Crippling the resale market in some asinine attempt to somehow boost sales is something like sawing off a foot so you only have to buy one shoe. Sure, maybe you've succeeded, but you're going to find you've harming yourself and a lot of people other people for negligible gain, end up earning resentment when people learn about your choice and how it's inconvenienced them, and probably make a bloody mess in the process.

 

[FalloutJack]

If Ebay is trying to defend the right to resell digital property, it is because it sees a market slice that it wants, not because they're the altruistic defenders of the internet.

Not to sound cold or anything, but...what's your point? Developers against such a concept are operating under the same principle. But that doesn't mean the idea of fighting for resell isn't right.

 

[Gather]

I like it how America is a free market and the consumer decides how much they should pay for something.

 

[dangoball]

Correct me if I'm wrong but text book publishing already almost shakes hand with the idea of monopoly and then someone came selling a product of the same quality (heck, the same product) for less that should be a welcome competition in free market, not something on which court will decide to limit second hand sales.

How I wish we lived in a perfect world, where educations is so valued that textbooks are free and teachers well payed. Sadly, that is not the case.

captcha: million dollars, yes, selling textbooks is a million dollars business...

 

[jklinders]

Seems pretty cut and dry actually. The publishers in this case have not lost any sales. Maybe they are losing revenue but that is really beside the point. The analogy made in the article about second hand games doesn't even make any sense as typically a gamer only buys one copy of a game and resells after done with said copy. Even so there can be a case made for a publisher "losing a sale" there even if it is tenuous at best.

In this case we have a fellow who is legally buy a bunch of textbooks at the prices agreed upon in the region purchased and reselling them in another region. It's a little shady but not as shady as say charging enough extra in the US for someone to make a profit on. If anything this exposes what a racket Uni textbooks are. The publishers here are not losing sales and no case can be made that they have. Without being a lawyer I am having difficulty understanding how any court could have ruled against this guy outside of undue influence.

Fight the power and bring some sanity to book prices for students.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Oh no, some company was almost forced to actually compete in a free market for once. We can't have that! I mean, then you might have competition, lower prices, and consumers happy they don't have to blow their life savings on textbooks alone. Hell, the government might even save some money, since it could then give less for student loans because textbooks wouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Why would we want any of that? I mean, really. Won't someone think of the poor companies! D:

 

[Yopaz]

Correct me if I'm wrong but text book publishing already almost shakes hand with the idea of monopoly and then someone came selling a product of the same quality (heck, the same product) for less that should be a welcome competition in free market, not something on which court will decide to limit second hand sales.

How I wish we lived in a perfect world, where educations is so valued that textbooks are free and teachers well payed. Sadly, that is not the case.

captcha: million dollars, yes, selling textbooks is a million dollars business...

I'd hardly say that they have a monopoly. There are quite a few publishers and writers in the text book industry, but all in all, I agree. If this goes through it could mean a great loss for consumer rights in USA.

However I don't like what this person is doing importing books from a country where things are cheaper with the intention of profiting on it doesn't sit right with me. Mainly because I have had problems with book shortages myself and have tried to buy it from foreign dealers without luck. Buying up the stock in order to earn money while undercutting publishers hurt the students that need those books. Most likely they wont have the resources to buy it from abroad since that would cost more and being a student is harsh enough without increasing text book costs.

 

[Rednog]

Oh no, some company was almost forced to actually compete in a free market for once. We can't have that! I mean, then you might have competition, lower prices, and consumers happy they don't have to blow their life savings on textbooks alone. Hell, the government might even save some money, since it could then give less for student loans because textbooks wouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Why would we want any of that? I mean, really. Won't someone think of the poor companies! D:

I hope you realize that this really isn't a "competition" in a free market. That would be two companies making a similar product of almost equal quality and having consumers choose one over the other, whether for price or some other non quality reason. In this case however it's a company making a product and having a third party come along and take their own product and use it against them. Which in this case doesn't mean they will have any competition in the long run, and I hope you realize why this is. The simple solution is that they flat out don't compete. Oh you bought our books from here? Ok, jack up the price to make the prices equal and now you can no longer sell the book for cheaper and make a profit. The company wins.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Oh no, some company was almost forced to actually compete in a free market for once. We can't have that! I mean, then you might have competition, lower prices, and consumers happy they don't have to blow their life savings on textbooks alone. Hell, the government might even save some money, since it could then give less for student loans because textbooks wouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Why would we want any of that? I mean, really. Won't someone think of the poor companies! D:

I hope you realize that this really isn't a "competition" in a free market. That would be two companies making a similar product of almost equal quality and having consumers choose one over the other, whether for price or some other non quality reason. In this case however it's a company making a product and having a third party come along and take their own product and use it against them. Which in this case doesn't mean they will have any competition in the long run, and I hope you realize why this is. The simple solution is that they flat out don't compete. Oh you bought our books from here? Ok, jack up the price to make the prices equal and now you can no longer sell the book for cheaper and make a profit. The company wins.

How is the person reselling books using it against them? The person reselling books payed for those books in the first place. It is like complaining that a book store is using its product against the company, despite having bought it from that same company. :\

 

[Flames66]

If Ebay is trying to defend the right to resell digital property, it is because it sees a market slice that it wants, not because they're the altruistic defenders of the internet.

That is true, however in the process they are defending the basic right to resell. Don't have any illusions about their motives, but take all the help you can get.

 

[weirdee]

Besides, although I'm sure ebay has probably done at least one terrible thing in the name of money, they aren't actively trying to destroy human civilization like some other companies we know of.

I'm kind of tired of fighting all this shit though. This will never end until the court system is out of the hands of legal mercenaries.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Perhaps I'm being obtuse here, but last time I checked when you buy something, that means it belongs to you. If I purchase a book or anything else, I'll use it, sell it, set it on fire, or repurpose it as a cereal bowl. It doesn't matter, I own it

 

[Entitled]

Perhaps I'm being obtuse here, but last time I checked when you buy something, that means it belongs to you. If I purchase a book or anything else, I'll use it, sell it, set it on fire, or repurpose it as a cereal bowl. It doesn't matter, I own it

You owned it. Until now.

 

[rembrandtqeinstein]

Good, they finally need to settle costco vs omega http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/12/13/supreme-court-rules-against-consumers-in-costco-vs-omega/ which was a travesty.

And hopefully it will be in favor of consumers, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[FoolKiller]

Perhaps I'm being obtuse here, but last time I checked when you buy something, that means it belongs to you. If I purchase a book or anything else, I'll use it, sell it, set it on fire, or repurpose it as a cereal bowl. It doesn't matter, I own it

Except that book had no business being in North America. The publisher owns the rights to the book and its distribution. The argument isn't about whether or not you can resell it, its whether or not you were allowed to import it in the first place.

Note: I support the student in this matter. There is no reason that I can get an identical textbook from overseas for $20 and then have to pay 7 times that at my university bookstore

 

[TheSapphireKnight]

Its a sad day that this would even get this far. Its bad enough with games but this is just even worse.

And the first I hear of this is from a gaming site where the article itself is tangentially related to gaming. People should be in an uproar.

 

[Zombie_Moogle]

Perhaps I'm being obtuse here, but last time I checked when you buy something, that means it belongs to you. If I purchase a book or anything else, I'll use it, sell it, set it on fire, or repurpose it as a cereal bowl. It doesn't matter, I own it

Except that book had no business being in North America. The publisher owns the rights to the book and its distribution. The argument isn't about whether or not you can resell it, its whether or not you were allowed to import it in the first place.

Note: I support the student in this matter. There is no reason that I can get an identical textbook from overseas for $20 and then have to pay 7 times that at my university bookstore

Sure, because America doesn't import everything we have. They're just mad this guy didn't spend $300 on $4 worth of paper

They're clearly just making excuses to cut out the secondhand market.