I love the ebay commercial where bidders are portrayed as horses at a race and as they all charge towards the finish line one guy gets a cramp in the leg, taking him out of the running. Bidding and auction sites are very popular these days, an item goes up for sale and the seller basically says “make me an offer” to the persons desirous of obtaining said item. I am all for auction sites once you are getting a deal, I even used priceline.com to book my hotel and as their advertisements says scored a 4 star hotel for ¼ of the regular price. Little did I know that Carnivaljunction.com has now become an auction site where costumes are being sold to the highest bidder, and unlike ebay or priceline desperate masqueraders are not getting a deal but getting milked instead!
Of course it does not help when the Costume Wanted advertisements blatantly states that the buyer is willing to pay more than cost price, if someone is that distressed about getting a costume as a seller you are tempted to take advantage of that need, and that is exactly what they are doing. When costumes wanted out number costumes for sale 3 to 1 and at the mas camp the waiting list is hundreds deep, getting the costume you want is a cut throat business.
One young lady sent me an email where the seller of the costume could not guarantee the sale because they were waiting for the highest offer and invited the girl to place a bid; she wanted advice on what to do. Now, I am not taking any moral high ground on this issue, if people are quite happy paying more than a costume sells for because they want to be part of the TRIBE experience, all power to them! Personally I would NOT pay anything more than the advertised price for a costume. As much as I love playing in TRIBE, if I missed out on my chance of a costume I would either take my chances that someone will sell their costume through the mas camp or that there are still honest enough people out there who would sell the costume at the given price or even consider not playing mas at all. See, giving into this trend means that next year the situation will be worse and may well emerge into a Hannah Montana situation!
If you haven’t heard Hannah Montana concert tickets are now being sold for thousands of dollars because scalpers bought them up, capitalizing on the teen market who want to go to her concert come hell or high water. Parents were so upset that an official in Miami wants laws changed to guard against scalpers in future. Rumors have always been ripe that certain party promoters in Trinidad give scalpers tickets to sell outside fetes during that hectic Carnival week while at the same time claming that tickets were sold out at the official sales venues, therefore leading to people paying up to 3 to 4 times the regular ticket price. Sadly, costume sales are heading in the same direction!!
Hypothetically, imagine that enterprising persons seeing the extreme anxiety in acquiring costumes after they are sold out at the mas camp decide to turn costume resale into a viable business. That would mean as soon as open registration begins, an individual or individuals register for several costumes, effectively leading to the section being sold out before legitimate masqueraders get a chance to purchase a costume. Then, said individual/s advertises the costumes on Carnival Junction and sells to the highest bidder. What this does is creates a huge demand for a product which is unfairly resold at an exorbitant price.
Not everyone selling a costume, however, is selling to make a profit; quite a few advertisements have indicated that the costume is being sold at the same price as at the mas camp. Honest persons just looking to get the costume off their hands. The temptation to sell for more is surely great I can imagine, but with costume prices already so high to me, it would be unconscionable to further inflate the prices. To those looking to purchase costumes I am not here to give advice, only you can know what the entire Carnival experience is worth to you. For those selling costumes the “fair” thing is not to sell to the highest bidder but to sell the costume for what it is worth and to the person who contacted you first. If you want to sell your costume for more money by all means go ahead, hey if someone is going to pay the price who am I to say what is right or wrong.
I would also hope that if you are buying a costume, inflated price or not, that the person is also going to do the proper procedure and transfer the costume in your name therefore giving you the chance for a TLC card in the case of TRIBE or pre-registration benefits for past masqueraders with other bands the following year. The unfortunate incidents are when costumes are sold and remain in the name of the seller; imagine paying double the price of the costume down payment to a seller and still loosing out on the chance to get first dibs on the costume of your choice the following year.
My only issue is that this trend does not bode well for the future and it would be a shame when the only resort available to persons looking for a costume at the last minute is to pay these inflated prices. Remember the days when one could go to a mas camp on Carnival Saturday and purchase a costume that was not collected at a “cheap” price? When there is such a demand for costumes in certain bands, with persons paying much more than it costs bandleaders are not going to be selling costumes “cheap” after costume distribution is over, even though those costumes already have a down payment paid towards the total price! Those days are now a thing of the past. Everyone wants to be part of the “in thing” at any price.
Of course it does not help when the Costume Wanted advertisements blatantly states that the buyer is willing to pay more than cost price, if someone is that distressed about getting a costume as a seller you are tempted to take advantage of that need, and that is exactly what they are doing. When costumes wanted out number costumes for sale 3 to 1 and at the mas camp the waiting list is hundreds deep, getting the costume you want is a cut throat business.
One young lady sent me an email where the seller of the costume could not guarantee the sale because they were waiting for the highest offer and invited the girl to place a bid; she wanted advice on what to do. Now, I am not taking any moral high ground on this issue, if people are quite happy paying more than a costume sells for because they want to be part of the TRIBE experience, all power to them! Personally I would NOT pay anything more than the advertised price for a costume. As much as I love playing in TRIBE, if I missed out on my chance of a costume I would either take my chances that someone will sell their costume through the mas camp or that there are still honest enough people out there who would sell the costume at the given price or even consider not playing mas at all. See, giving into this trend means that next year the situation will be worse and may well emerge into a Hannah Montana situation!
If you haven’t heard Hannah Montana concert tickets are now being sold for thousands of dollars because scalpers bought them up, capitalizing on the teen market who want to go to her concert come hell or high water. Parents were so upset that an official in Miami wants laws changed to guard against scalpers in future. Rumors have always been ripe that certain party promoters in Trinidad give scalpers tickets to sell outside fetes during that hectic Carnival week while at the same time claming that tickets were sold out at the official sales venues, therefore leading to people paying up to 3 to 4 times the regular ticket price. Sadly, costume sales are heading in the same direction!!
Hypothetically, imagine that enterprising persons seeing the extreme anxiety in acquiring costumes after they are sold out at the mas camp decide to turn costume resale into a viable business. That would mean as soon as open registration begins, an individual or individuals register for several costumes, effectively leading to the section being sold out before legitimate masqueraders get a chance to purchase a costume. Then, said individual/s advertises the costumes on Carnival Junction and sells to the highest bidder. What this does is creates a huge demand for a product which is unfairly resold at an exorbitant price.
Not everyone selling a costume, however, is selling to make a profit; quite a few advertisements have indicated that the costume is being sold at the same price as at the mas camp. Honest persons just looking to get the costume off their hands. The temptation to sell for more is surely great I can imagine, but with costume prices already so high to me, it would be unconscionable to further inflate the prices. To those looking to purchase costumes I am not here to give advice, only you can know what the entire Carnival experience is worth to you. For those selling costumes the “fair” thing is not to sell to the highest bidder but to sell the costume for what it is worth and to the person who contacted you first. If you want to sell your costume for more money by all means go ahead, hey if someone is going to pay the price who am I to say what is right or wrong.
I would also hope that if you are buying a costume, inflated price or not, that the person is also going to do the proper procedure and transfer the costume in your name therefore giving you the chance for a TLC card in the case of TRIBE or pre-registration benefits for past masqueraders with other bands the following year. The unfortunate incidents are when costumes are sold and remain in the name of the seller; imagine paying double the price of the costume down payment to a seller and still loosing out on the chance to get first dibs on the costume of your choice the following year.
My only issue is that this trend does not bode well for the future and it would be a shame when the only resort available to persons looking for a costume at the last minute is to pay these inflated prices. Remember the days when one could go to a mas camp on Carnival Saturday and purchase a costume that was not collected at a “cheap” price? When there is such a demand for costumes in certain bands, with persons paying much more than it costs bandleaders are not going to be selling costumes “cheap” after costume distribution is over, even though those costumes already have a down payment paid towards the total price! Those days are now a thing of the past. Everyone wants to be part of the “in thing” at any price.
8 comments:
I miss the good old days of half price last minute costumes! And I feel guilty for contributing to the phenomenon by offering to pay more if the seller wants on my wanted ad on carnival junction. Ad changed now! Saucy yuh good. Usually only my mother could make me feel guilty so...
Saucy, if people willing to pay well above the advertised price to be a part of a particular band, then that is the "fair" price for them. They don't have to buy it. If there was not this crazed demand, the sellers would not have the option to over-price the re-sale.
I see what you're saying regarding the trend, and the potential for gross capitalization and abuse.
There are so many new and exciting bands - that people should consider playing with these at relatively decent prices rather than moving with the "herd." But if they want to be a part of the herd, and they willing to pay all manners of prices then that is their choice, we are afterall operating in a free and open market!
Saucy,
I have to disagree with you on this one. I have 2 silver mist costumes for sale because in my crew, 2 overseas masqueraders can no longer make it. With these two costumes on my hands, I put the costumes up on carnival junction and mentioned it on facebook. Within 2 hours of posting the ads, I had about 30 emails. And i keep getting more and more emails as the days go by. No one responded first or last: the emails were all sent within seconds of each other, each girl wanting the costume and much as the next.
It is up to each individual to decide what is ok and what isnt for him or her. I sent emails out to everyone telling them that because of the overwheling response, I invite them to make an offer and I'll hand over the costume to the person who made the best offer. I have had people tell me that they are not willing to go above the $150 dowanpayment, and that's totally fine. And I have had people make exorbitant offers which I would never accept becasue it would be immoral to accept that much money in comparison to what was originally spent.
I wondered a long time about how I would deal with all the interest in just 2 costumes and it seemed like the best thing to me. I was even tempted to write to you and ask for your advice. lol. I did not expect this big of a response to my ads.
Now, in the past, I have forked out more than the original downpayment for a costume because I really liked it and it had sold out. It was NO PROBLEM to me becasue i wanted to have that particular costume. (PLeasures pink and gold many years ago). Paying more for a costume that has sold out that you really want is NOTHING new. People have been doing it for years in Posion, Harts, Barbarossa etc. Even in high school there were cases where we paid extra to swap sections, this esp happened in sections that Michael Headly himself had designed.
What has changed is the speed at which sections now sell out, thus leaving even more people wanting for costumes. So when a costume is advertised, there is a rush for it. That's not my fault, or something that i can control.
I agree that it leaves room for people to extort etc. however, with the TLC system, where people can only order one costume per TLC, this removes a lot of the room for extortion.
Anyway Saucy, your costume is on lock. And you are usually organized very early. Not everyone is like that, and some people are willing to pay extra for the comfort of securing a costume before carnival Saturday or Sunday.
I think your post was important in highlighting a situation that is happening, but I feel more viable suggestions could have been made. Like opening one more section for people who were left out. The point is, the waiting list is hundreds long right, and only few costumes will go on sale. That's for sure. Those costumes should go to whoever wants them the most. That's simply it. As for me, there was a year when I wanted to play in Shanghai soooo bad (years and years ago), and I offered to pay twice the price of the costume to a friend, but she refused. Had she accepted, i would have gladly handed over the money to her.
Point is, different strokes for differnt folks.
Well Saucy, i continue to enjoy your blog.
Take care.
Wow I did not expect a response so soon.
I am a very organised masquerader so yes, I sign up for my costume early. However I have also sold and bought costumes and I never thought of making a profit. Plus, I bought my "resale" costume through the mas camp and paid the right price. Thing is as someone suggested to me today the mas camps should step in and set up an online facility to resell costumes to circumvent the exorbitant prices. Just because someone is willing to pay $6000.00 for a Black Magic costume (price advertised on Carnival Junction) does not mean it is right.
TRIBE is a great band but I agree with Wajang, there are other new bands that are not selling out and so many people wanting to play mas; what about giving another band a chance? W
As for one costume per TLC holder, all the sections in TRIBE were not bought by TLC holders, when open registration started only a few sections were sold out those being Black Magic,Goddess of the Chase, Mystique and Silver Mist in addition to LOTL frontline. So, anyone could have easily registered in the remaining sections for several costumes with the intent for resale during open registration and what if THAT is what led to costumes being sold out? As it is people are willing to take any costume at any price and when will it stop? when people are paying 10KTT for a backline costume?
Like I said the power is on both people to do what is best for them and I am not saying what is right or wrong. I personally will not pay a high price for a costume that sold out, I am sorry that is just me. Nor will I think of making a profit on a costume, an item that I do not even own and that is already priced so high. BUT that is just me!
If people want to pay you big bucks for the costume I am not going to hold it against you or anyone,take the best deal offered as that would be the smart thing to do ;)
Saucy,
Non-TLC card holders buying costumes for resale is NOT what led to the band being sold out. On carnival junction, there are very few TRIBE costumes. VERY FEW. I have not heard of a bunch of TRIBE costumes going on sale anywhere. So if we are having a debate using facts, then lets stick to the facts.
As for the people being "milked" on carnival junction, that's just outright exaggeration. Carnival junction is a "forum" in which people can willingly go, peruse the costumes up for sale and the prices, and make a decision as to whether or not that costume or price is ok for them.
This is the email that I sent out to the dozens of people who were interested in the 2 costumes.
Dear _____,
Thanks for your interest. The response to my ads has been very overwhelming, so this is what I am doing. I am giving everyone a chance to make me an offer by Fri/Sat. I payed $150 for the downpayment of each costume. On Saturday evening, I will review all the offers and choose the best one. So, please tell me how much you are willing to pay. I must add that this was not a money thing with me, but I have gotten sooooo many emails, each person really really wanting the costume, so this seems like the fairest way. Also please indicate which costume you are interested in. The S or the M. I have two costumes up for sale. Good luck!
Sincerely,
Christalle
Now, a person wrote to you asking for advice on what to do... I find that quite funny. Either this set up was ok with her or not. No one was being forced and I gave a reason for why I was doing it that way.
As for who the costume belongs to... it certinaly belongs to me UNTIL I sell it over to someone else. I certainly own it as it is in my name!! So I dont understand what you meant by that comment.
Anyway, that's all I have to say on the topic. There is no market if there is no demand. SIMPLE.
Christalle
jaded_teardrops
But I didn't say for a fact that Non TLC card holders bought costumes specifically for resale which led to the band being sold out.. I am saying "WHAT IF" and "hypothetically" that this might happen in future if people see a business oppourtunity.
I know there are not many costumes for sale, the wanted ads are 3 to 1 for the sale ads, but I did see one ad selling a Black Magic costume for $6000.00 and from my research, you are not the only seller that people have contacted MOST people are saying make me an offer and I will sell the costume. I think someone selling a costume for $6000.00 IS trying to milk someone!! Of course the power is up to the buyer but the seller certainly isn't innocent.
The costume does not belong to you unless you pay it off in full, that was my point.If you paid for the costume in full, it it yours. If you paid only the downpayment it is not yours.
I am not pointing fingers at you so please, do not feel attacked. The person sent me the email wanting to know if to bid, how much to bid.. and I really thought of saying something on the topic.
People complain year after year that mas prices are too high, yet we have people willing to pay anything to be in a band do you think the bandleaders are not paying attention? So I guess with all this demand we can expect costume prices to jump AGAIN next year, hey of someone can sell a regular, backline costume for $6000.00 and people are willing to pay why can't the band leaders?
Mornin' neighbours,
This is a complicated topic yes...but I think to say that potential masqueraders are not being milked on Carnival Junction is a very naive statement.
I understand that ultimately, the buying choice is solely yours, but when you have sellers offering exorbitant prices for prime costumes, this is where the problem begins.
Additionally, I truly believe that the masqueraders who are willing to go beyond the downpayment price are members of QUITE a select few. The majority of masqueraders are NOT looking to be extorted. They are looking for an opportunity to be a part of an well-promoted experience, but in a fair atmosphere. And when I mean fair, I mean NOT to be extorted because of that desire, or, in some cases, their desperation.
I would also like to make the point that so much blame cannot be effected on the TLC program. Come on, TLC's were meant to reward loyalists, and to keep #'s at a desired levels for quality control by bandleaders. The only persons that can be blamed for exorbitant prices are buyers who show that level of desperation and are willing to say that they will go beyond the asking price, and sellers who are willing to abuse that need from buyers.
It's a practical given that TRIBE and all other bands will be giving us dental floss with one bead next year, and the prices are going to be equalling that of a house's mortgage. And this is because of this "bid 'em in, bid 'em in" attitude that everyone has.
De Man Above knows my heart, and the hearts of many. I could safely say that in an event where I was unable to play mas for any reason, please believe that as fair day and sell the costume for the price that I got it. Put yourself in that masqueraders shoes. How would you feel if you trying to buy a costume, and all the sellers are telling you "make and offer, try your luck, and see what happens."?
Frsutration? Anger? Sadness? Desperation?
Just the tip of the Carnival Iceberg.
just want to add that there is EXTREME VALUE in competition.
in a competitive environment when there is more than one forum for acquiring a "hot" item, people will be able to properly comparison shop.
there will be less price gouging and I dare say incentives would be added to encourage
bidders/purchasers. i think of how a new "cable" provider is offering free 19 inch TV sets to lure away customers from the incumbent which previously had a monopoly on cable service in my neighborhood in the states. i suppose now as the incumbent starts to see its subscribers drop, it will have to do something to step up to keep the ones it has. (drop their price, offer an incentive, upgrade their service offererings) you get the point.
not saying this will work right now in this particular environment where supply is waaaay lower than demand, but I am thinking a combination of previous commentators' suggestion that the bands themselves put aside additional costumes (or somehow get into the sell/trade business) to accommodate late masqueraders or to compete with the one main site selling costume may be an ideal way to respond to the current trend.
but in the end, I'm a big Laissez-faire person who wants to be fair, but understand marketplace principles!
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