Flipping

= 'Flipping' is a booming online business. First, shoppers snap up limited-editions - then they flog them on eBay for a quick profit.

Comments at http://communities-dominate.blogs.com/brands/2007/05/flipping_a_new_.html

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"Flipping has taken hold with all sorts of consumer items. Any new item can end up reselling for more than its usual retail price, whether it is a George Foreman grill, sample-sale handbag or a charity wristband, particularly when feverish demand outstrips hyped short supply. Skincare ranges can prove a good "buy to sell on eBay" product. Amatokin - developed in Russia to treat burns victims and marketed as an "anti-ageing miracle cream" - hasn't even hit Harvey Nichols stores yet, where there is a waiting list for the £135 product, but is already selling for upwards of £165 on eBay. Boots No 7 Protect and Perfect serum got a huge boost after Professor Lesley Regan proved on BBC2's Horizon last month that it actually did what it claimed. Just 24 hours after the programme, the only place you could get a bottle was eBay - with an inflated price tag of up to four times its £16.75 retail price.

Supply and demand gets a new network. And the question is what is wrong with Flipping?

Certainly, its supply-and-demand principles push up prices, but flippers do provide a new global source for collectors. A dress that is only available in the UK or a vinyl toy that is only sold in one store in Tokyo can now be bought worldwide, a matter of hours after release - albeit for 10 times as much. But for the true collector, or the truly impatient, expense is no object." (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,2066623,00.html)