Reselling & the Darker Side
of CT Commerce

Sometimes it's prestigious to get your name out by offering a limited number of items in the mall. Your item might sell out quicker, but you may not restock. It becomes a double-edged sword, as you opt for quick bucks in days over having your name displayed in the mall for weeks.

A Flash in the Pan?

Is it worth your while to be a flash in the pan? Your item won't be in homes all over the city, but more likely sitting in someone's backpack and being negotiated on to switch over to someone else's backpack.

There is a collectibles market in Cybertown. And within reason, it's justifiable: trinkets, gems, artwork - these all have collector's value in the real world. But why limit a bed, lamp, or piano? Is artificially driving up the market value on necessary items so important that most visitors to the mall cannot appreciate your hard work?

Exceptions to the Rule

Basically, there are two places to keep your belongings: on property or in your backpack (referred to as your BP). Transactions can be made between individuals and objects in a BP priced and even marked for a specific buyer. Therefore, you can buy or sell just about anywhere.

Creators have been known to arrange obtaining all the pieces of an output to sell these themselves. Several creators may be found among the usual resellers who hang out in the mall area.

Others give away their creations. Another limited output is generated by an individual or government agency for award trophies and the like, so naturally these items won't be found in the mainstream. And putting a high price on an event item would be far too disrepectful. (The same goes for a memorial or spiritual article, a practice which does occur unfortunately.)

Of course, this is just an opinion. I too offer items in limited numbers. But it's up to one's self to decide where the justifiable boundaries lie.

The Flea Market

By far the most populated location at any time of the day in Cybertown is the Flea Market. It's a great place to get older merchandise and the occasional bargain, but inexperienced buyers beware!

Many fleabies (the term used for Flea Market regulars) hike up the cost of an item as much as fifty times their original shop value. These objects aren't necessarily worth that, but these particular fleabies are waiting for a rube to come by and assume so. In a room of 80 people, it pays to know what you're looking for and willing to pay for it - as well as profess a skill to view backpack contents in quick succession. Other fleabies hike prices up on items still available in the mall, so look there first.

The fleabies do a lot of dealing amongst themselves, consisting not just of sellers but collectors and creators as well. Among the sellers, you'll find that what they can't fit into their backpacks are sold out of clubs and homes. There re entire shopping blocks of home stores in just about every colony. With their great numbers, the fleabies are a powerful constituency; they can make a statement just by moving their entire block of homes to another neighborhood. Pity the lax neighborhood staff who don't accommodate.

The Black Market

Basically Flea Jr., located in the slummy part of town. I've been told that prices are more reasonable there, but I've never seen this, especially since the same fleabies sell in both locations.

As with the Flea Market, only a minute fraction is seen on the trading floor, with the vast majority of dealing done via backpacks.

Scalpers: The Disgrace of Cybertown

When tickets for a major concert go on sale, it's quite a todo for fans who want a good seat. They have to determine at exactly when and where the tickets will start being sold, often camp out overnight to save their spot on the line. Often however, the time has been either pushed back or forward, and somehow a chunk of people - not fans - were tipped off. By the time fans arrive, scalpers are either ahead of the line or already have each bought rows of tickets to close seats to resell at exhorbitant prices. Scalping is illegal in New York City.

In Cybertown, they follow the Mall Deputy around and snap up limited items as soon as the items are actively placed on sale. Unlike those present to get the new stuff they've waited for, these are the greedier resellers. They have been known to boss the Mall Deps around and make demands. If they had their way, you would never be able to purchase anything at mall price. If you woke up in the morning after a "mall drop" (when old items are picked up and new ones dropped off in a shop by the Mall Deputy) to find a new item limited to 75 copies sold out in your favorite shop, you can bet it wasn't because seventy five people happened to admire its craftsmanship while you slept.

If the drops weren't announced, maybe the general public would have a shot at owning a special item by actually walking into a store and buying it. Woudn't that be a concept? Or maybe rationing the purchase of a limited item to one per ID per day with a waiver for the creator nickname. Think that will ever happen? Hah!