Why? Is it greed?

[frenchblackcopper]

Was trolling thru e-bay last week one evening and just out of curiosity sake went to the poultry hatching eggs catagory,,typed in "Peafowl" and lo and behold,,noticed several listings for no later than June 2013 delivery of peafowl eggs on auction.
I saved one of these listings to my "watch" list. Auction was for 2 eggs from an overflow pen from a breeder in Kansas,,had a starting price of $65,,,or a Buy it Now price of $80,,never got a bid.Auction ended Nov 16th.
I see these same ads appearing closer to laying season and I can justify in some instances why some breeders may do this pre-sale of eggs.I have also read countless accounts here and other places where people who wins these auctions so far in advance of the actual item to be delivered,or "produced" as in the case of a peacock eggs,,that they never get what they bought and it's far too late for anyone to do anything to try and re-coup their loss of money.
I think to try and sell something you know you will not have access to producing at least 6 months prior is greed.Maybe since the auction ended without a bid,others feels the same way.Thoughts from the BYC pea council here are invited.

 

[AugeredIn]

They oughta figure out how to ban pre-sales.

 

[AugeredIn]

That might work as well. I just have a problem with someone selling something they don't have. If someone sold a car they did not have Ebay would freak. How is this different?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

If that's the individual I now see on ebay, if you look at their feedback, you'll see that they have managed to actually sell some of those peacock futures! (Some buyers also report low hatch rate but we know that's another matter altogether.)

On the one hand, I agree; how can someone sell something that they don't, and may never, have (who knows what may happen between now and next Summer)? On the other hand, I can understand (and you can probably understand better than I considering the number of mouths you have to feed) that it can be costly to get to the point where those eggs appear. Perhaps this individual is going through some hard times and trying to think of creative ways to keep the boat afloat? Just a thought.

(My response in no way indicates that I consider myself important enough to be a BYC Pea Council member.)

 

[casportpony]

They oughta figure out how to ban pre-sales.

Or at least limit the amout of time from end of auction to ship date...

 

[casportpony]

That might work as well. I just have a problem with someone selling something they don't have. If someone sold a car they did not have Ebay would freak. How is this different?

It's a slippery slope, for sure, but if I was thinking about selling eggs on ebay, I might do something similar to gauge interest, but I wouldn't expect payment until I had a better idea as to when I could fill the orders and ship.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

My young flock this year did not produce enough eggs to even pay their feed bill for 4 months let alone the past 2 1/2 years of raising-rearing and building pens for them.I could never depend on pre-egg sales to cover my costs nor full season egg production to amount to much.With local feed prices going up $4.00 per 50lbs of feed,selling eggs and peachick prices must up up next year.I personally would feel guilty taking money for something I don't even have.
New2,,what ever gave you that idea?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Sorry fbc, guess I was just trying to be charitable. You never know what someone else's circumstances are...but you are right, they aren't likely to justify selling something you don't actually have...

 

[frenchblackcopper]

New2,,BYC has a Pea Council,and your the president and didn't even know it,,did ya? Thang nominated and voted you in.

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Yikes! I just discovered this post!
The responsibility is already weighing heavily upon me...
Thank goodness that I have Mr. Chuffy, the Pea Elder, to ask for wise advice.