On Wed, 18 Oct 2000, Jerome Fine wrote:
> There might be another reason. I don't agree with the reason, but if you
> attempt to step into their shoes (as I just did since I wanted to answer),
> they may feel that giving it away would prevent a sale in the future. Plus,
> if no one is willing to pay for the item, no one should have it. Probably
> the first reason (which is self-interest) is more correct.
It might more likely be that no one is willing to pay for it at the price
that they are selling. Either that, or it's junk to begin with and they
should not have brought it in the first place.
"If no one is willing to pay for the item, no one should have it." Sorry
to be blunt, but doesn't this describe the exact thing that I was saying
demonstrates poor character? The sensible thing to do is to continue to
lower the price throughout the weekend until it either sells or it's at
zero dollars. If it can't even be given away, then it should be thrown
out, but in my experience this rarely happens with free stuff unless it's
absolute crap.
> I really think it would have been very easy to anticipate the problem
> - maybe not the extent - and if small it probably would not matter.
> But even if it was or is small, I personally find the whole idea
> unreasonable.
It would not have occurred to me that someone would be discarding all
their stuff at the VCF. It may as well be given a chance to go home with
someone else before it is thrown out.
> However, you will also find that if you actually have a standard
> policy that stops dumping, at least a few people will just take the
> junk with them after all and dump it somewhere else - which you should
> also consider. If that policy is also unreasonable, but you feel it is
> out of your hands if that happens, then you really need to re-think
> what should and needs to be done.
It should be given away at the end rather than dumped. The world already
has enough crap in the landfills.
> I would agree that is one of the most reasonable methods. Another
> might be tagging an article if it does not sell - maybe with a minimum
> donation to the VCF and having a window during which the item can be
> claimed. I don't know what the VCF budget is, but those donations
> could be used to provide a vendor with a credit for the next event -
> that way everyone seems to win. Maybe at least 10% of the items left
> unsold must be made available in that manner - vendors choice of
> course.
Or they just lower their prices until someone decides it's reasonable
enough to exchange money for.
Anyway, this should be off-line private VCF banter, so if you'd like to
discuss it with me further, please e-mail me at <sellam_at_vintage.org>.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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International Man of Intrigue and Danger
http://www.vintage.org
Received on Tue Oct 17 2000 - 23:18:17 BST