Greedy profiteers...

For as long as anyone can remember, trade has relied on a group of people who usually add little value, yet in many cases derives a healthy profit from simply juggling the products from the producer to the end-user; yes, I'm talking about the middle-men.

Ever since I was old enough to understand economics, I have been baffled as to why these group of people get paid so much to do so little...

The advent of information technology has to some extent helped meet up sellers and buyers, and I am an enthusiastic e-trader (all the potential pitfalls aside..) and traded on Ebay since 2000, when online trading was still very much unheard of in Malaysia.

The scourge of the middle-man was brought to fore again most vividly this evening when I was changing my tires. The tires I was replacing had only a few thousand kms on, and for the most part looked brand new. I had already flogged off these tires online earlier for a sum of RM650, and when I was at the shop loading the replaced tires into my car, the boss came by and asked why I bothered taking them back, more convenient to sell it to them lah, blah blah blah.

Just out of curiousity, I asked him for a quote, and he deliberated a while as if he was like really trying to give me a good price, and came up with... (insert drumroll here...) ... RM200!!!

It was all I could do not to laugh in his face!!!

Here is a guy who, if I had let him, buys my tires for RM200, claiming all kinds of defects (which is tosh, I mean, how hard can you wear out tires for few thou kms???) and will later clean them up, and sell them to some sod for easily RM700. Make a profit of RM500 plus, and has he done anything worthwhile for it? Big fat NO.

I don't mind people making a profit, after all it is what makes the world go round, but greedy people like this really makes my blood boil. For goodness' sake, learn to make an honest living, or you are no better than a whore!

Well, that's it for my rantings today, but I really did feel very strongly about this.

So the next time you want to sell anything, try to do it online first, don't trade it into the phone shop or tire shop or whatever. They will pay you peanuts, and sell it to the next guy for a fortune. You both lose. You do it directly, you both win!