it's a ripoff to buy vmk stuff on ebay
I bought a blue princess dress for my little cousin b/c she could not get one in trade, and it was her birthday. She loved it and could not thank me enough. It only cost me 3 bucks...no shipping
...but it seemed to be worth much more than that to her (this is the only ebay vmk item I have bought). I was not ripped off and everyone was happy. I could have just given her mine, but I love my dress, only have one, and I would rather have spent the 3 bucks fast and easy than try to trade everything I have for one on vmk. Saved me time and my vmk stuff! Totally worth 3 dollars to me (and her!)
I'm a business major and all I have to say is: the law of supply and demand. These things are in demand. People want them. The people that have the supply need money, so they sell them to the people that want them. It's just good business sense, and any ebay auction, or any type of sale for that matter, is Caveat Emptor ("let the buyer beware"). If you are buying something, just look at the seller's rating. If a lot of people say "bad seller, I never got my item, blah blah'' then don't bid.
Besides, Ebay has all sellers' info. You can't get away with taking someone's money and not giving what is promised.
These are valid transactions...neither the seller nor the buyer is stupid (well, some of them may be, but we don't know that and have no right to say they are. To each his/her own). The seller wants money more than the item, and the buyer can afford to spend their money on what they want. Maybe a lot of rich people, with more cash than time, play vmk, or their kids do, and they are buying stuff for their kids (I just got an image of Veruca Salt in my head..."Daddy! I want inferno NOW! I don't care if it's $300!")