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Moved an Emerald Night Train for $1150...down to my last one now.....

YMMV at Sam’s Club 41445 - $12.81 75299 - $12.81 66677 - $26.81

It's capitalism at work folks. Free market and hence price is just a reflection of supply vs demand. There is no plan to eliminate the middle class, unless that plan is capitalism. Then yeah, let's get rid of capitalism. But the people complaining about the unfair effects of inflation tend to be the biggest proponents of capitalism. It's like Ted Cruz (IIRC) decrying federal handouts and then asking for one as soon as his state gets hit with a national disaster. You can't have your cake and eat it too. Call me a commie, but the best way to protect the middle class is more government-controlled programs such as free healthcare, guaranteed minimum wage, social security that keeps people away from poverty, and with that (unfortunately but necessarily) higher taxes. Flame away ...

By whose metric are they overpaying? Not by In N Out’s metric. Thats what they feel the cost of labor is going for. And that’s not just for high school kids, it’s anyone. Labor is a good just like everything else. Supply and demand applies. Just as consumers tire of $10 burgers and 40 minute waits, workers tire of sub-par wages that are not life sustaining.

Meanwhile, they're telling us prices are going up because of labor and supply chain issues. Somehow the math doesn't add up.

4.5 million people quit their jobs voluntarily in November and most were from people walking away from low paying jobs. Many businesses have treated labor as a disposable commodity for generations, burning through workers like cord wood. It isn’t confined to fast food—Amazon has nearly a 100% replacement rate in their warehouse employees and those are supposed to be good paying career jobs. A lot of fast food employees are young, but a good chuck are in their 30s and 40s, just like the associates at Walmart. They get stuck in a dead end job or leave and find one like it and repeat the cycle. It’s misery and I’d quit, too. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/04/business/economy/job-openings-coronavirus.html?referringSource=articleShare Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

lego architecture berlin for $342 fbm, buyin was $20. i think that was the last one

Well, I've never seen this before, but I may be late. You can see all the past VIP Winners and the gifts won. Kinda cool and it will also help track the provenance and authenticity. If one of us eventually wins (ha) this could help with the resell value. 2 ways to get there: 1. From the main account page https://www.lego.com/en-us/vip/rewards-center > scroll to the bottom and click the "Past Winners" icon 2. Use this link to go directly to the page https://www.lego.com/en-us/vip/rewards-center/vip-past-winners

Pretty big difference in box size.

Full disclosure.....I haven't been holding on to these for that long...I bought a pretty awesome lot from a local guy a couple of weeks ago...I still paid less than $200 each for the Emerald Nights

I'm not a fan of the phrase "higher taxes," but prefer "fairer taxes." https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/28/business/tax-break-qualified-small-business-stock.html Do you think that Mr. Baszucki, and his family, are paying a fair share of their tax, compared to us? I'm not talking about making them pay above and beyond a percentage of what you and I pay. But I am asking - do they pay at a same or similar rate of tax compared to their income/worth as you and I? (Spoilers - no).

I read IHU as I hate you, which seems appropriate, since this pandemic has brought a lot of hate into society.

There will never be a minimum wage that meets a livable wage. Costs just rise with it. Keeping it unreachable. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Companies not taking smaller profits also has a ripple effect. CEOs taking bigger and bigger pay days has a ripple affect. I read your argument as "we can't have higher wages, because that will hurt the economy." I hate to sound communist, but instead of distributing the profits to the shareholders, how about distributing profits to the employees? Labor is a commodity, but, so are shareholders. It's just about where a company puts value, and where a company puts it's profits. And let's face it - you and I are not the shareholders that are benefitting to the degree where redistributing the profits of a company will have a significant affect on us.

Record profits. Escalating salaries for CEOs. The rich keep getting richer. That doesn’t make any sense to me. I don’t fundamentally care what you make. If you can make $30 instead of $20, good for you! And there the rub. Fattest profits in 7 decades. And we’re worried about whether it’s appropriate to pay a living wage? Just because someone is in high school, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve it as well.

Price point is a killer tho. Where r the days when promo’s resell price was about half of the purchase to get it

my issue w/ this post is that pure capitalism is devoid of government programs. so your point is incorrect since the current US conditions include government programs such as minimum wage and social security, etc.

Absolutely. But comparing say a mom and pop shop to Walmart, is like comparing you and me to Musk or Bezos. It's not the mom and pops (or you and me) that are strangling the life out of workers in this country.

It's bad. Really bad. Did you see Peter Thiel using a Roth IRA to accumulate $5 billion tax free? https://seekingalpha.com/news/3710024-how-did-peter-thiel-accumulate-5b-in-a-tax-free-roth-ira?gclid=Cj0KCQiAoNWOBhCwARIsAAiHnEjXK0PEX_XwBeQ70l25RDtdMAtqMwEMgirH-lUIEiTqp0cRUeuFLtQaAsqhEALw_wcB&utm_campaign=14049528666&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=137460309828^dsa-1455881688143^^555764444353^^^g I think the bigger issue is societal. You speak to anyone at nearly any wage level and they fundamentally hate paying taxes and feel that they pay more than their share. It's extremely difficult to reform a system that most of the public fundamentally scorns.

This time last year, we could get MBoM + Ideas Vintage Car on HP purchases. That was a proper offer !

I don't think anyone is really arguing a living wage. The argument is the ripple effect for the economy itself. When wages keep going up, either companies take smaller profits (lol) or they maintain by raising prices or eliminating jobs. The problem is that you have a bunch of public sector jobs that can't operate that way because their only income is taxes. Guess what that means? So, higher costs, higher taxes, minimal pay raise means the middle class gets squeezed, and it's most likely the not the lower end or the upper end that feels it.

Of course we all want more money, but we keep focusing "low paying jobs" though. The kicker to me is the ripple effect, anyone higher up currently getting $20 will now want $30, and their managers will now need $40-50....and goes on up. Now that measly minimum wage job just bumped up every level of pay for all jobs. And it's not just McD's. Any other blue or white collar job is now saying, "why am I doing all this stressful work for $20 when I can flip burgers or stock shelves for the same pay?" It's so much bigger than a bump in minimum wage. Good points on the supplemental income & taking care of kids.

8 came today from illinois. all super minty in 26 x 20 x 6 boxes. my win streak with gift message checked continues

AT-AT celebrating being operational Luke being a sneaky while everyone is taking a family pic

One way or another, here are the offers for this month…

No, but do buy a scale. Then buy a label printer.

Picked up a handful of 76898 Jaguars. Check your Targets, two in my area had a single case restock. Maybe they got lost in the back?

I do, but still prefer to sell those items locally. Knock on wood, but I have yet to have a problem with scams. I don't know if those scams are as prevalent as people think they are.

You can try to protect yourself a few ways I imagine. Though none will be fool-proof. I haven't sold much Lego yet but plan to in the future. I have sold a ton of collectibles though and had many conversations with ebay support on how I can protect myself as a seller. I'll generally write in my description some terms of the sale and expectations for the buyer. For Lego I'd do something along these lines: Please ask any questions prior to purchasing. Product is a factory sealed collectible. Item is being sold as is. Pieces may be missing or incorrect in the package. Returns will not be accepted on opened or resealed products. All items sold as is. Unseen minor defects may be present on this item and its packaging. Defects can include, but not limited to, nicks, scratches, dents, tears, creases and surface wear. I do my best to show significant issues in the item photographs. I do not make any claims to overall condition of this item. By purchasing this item you are agreeing to these terms. Thank you for looking! High dollar items will be shipped with tracking and insurance. Pickup arrangements can be made. Disclaimer: International Buyers Please Note Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine these additional costs will be prior to purchasing. Again, none of this is guaranteed to protect you. But it can help in making your case if something does arise. If you're super concerned about return fraud you can take photos of a packing slip with your item on a scale. If it comes back a different weight then that may help as well.

$200 is my cutoff personally as well (just sold a Droid Commander on Ebay for $200 + $25 ship). local market is tight...like fishing in a very small pond (and we have a relatively "large market")

Just finished ep.4. Liking it so far.

The guy that designed the BL Dinner with Pink Cadillac also did an Ideas Taxi so possible they use his design.

Kudos to you for holding out on those. Amazing return and congrats. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Cobra Kai season 4 was great. It managed to honor the movies and tie them in with the current storyline. I was actually sad I had to wait 1 year for the next season.

Changed the title of the thread since it's 2022 now, this has been a very lively thread (46 pages in a year), and it's a good place to discuss both items (Rewards redemptions/offers, and GWP promotions). Carry on,

Yes, the middle class will feel this squeeze the most. Inflation this past year was 5.9%. With the near nationwide increase in minimum wages and companies just offering higher wages to attract workers to low paying jobs, I would be willing to bet that the lower class workers on average increased more than 6% this year (if anyone has any actual data on this please share). And I guarantee that the upper class did better than 6% this year if the stock market is any indication. The people who actually lost ground are the middle class. How many got a greater than 6% raise this year? Not me. Sent from my SM-G996U using Tapatalk

Correct.

First Barracuda Bay from Target arrived today, boxed on a pretty large box with no padding but way better than nothing. Still one crease but I call that a win. This one came from California

The thing about paying a living wage for these food service jobs is that a portion of them really aren't meant to be your career job. I worked food service when I was in college. I was being paying between 9 and $10.25 an hour (part time no benefits). However, it wasn't meant to be a full time job for me. It was just part time work while in school. Isn't this who most of the fast food jobs are geared for? Jobs for high school cool/college people to make some money while in school. Thus why they can pay lower and not offer good enough pay to live on (since a lot of these positions aren't meant to be your carerr job). Maybe I'm looking at this wrong? What are your thoughts?

Prices are Way up Quality & Service way down Wait-times & Lines are Way up This must be what communism is like. I may be off, but I don't think what we are experiencing to be market forces...I mean are there no longer teenagers that need a job? Have they ALL become youtubers and influencers?

Found this:

75321 The Razor Crest Microfighter

Was notified back in April that I was going to be laid off at the end of October due to our department getting bought out by another bank. My employer didn't want to lose me, offered me a position on another team, and said it was mine if I wanted it. I discussed this with my wife and decided to pass on it and make a career change after being unhappy in the financial industry for the past 20+ years. In late August, I took a couple of night classes (Interpreting Engineering Drawings and CAD with SolidWorks) at the local community college while I was still employed. Took the three hour CSWA (SolidWorks Certification) exam last month and passed!! Now I'm trying to figure out if I should pursue an Associates Degree in Engineering. On hold for the past 30 mins with the transcripts department of my former college where I got my Bachelors in Finance, so I don't have to retake Calculus, etc. I'm in my late 40's and know that I am lucky enough to be financially able to change careers. Just wondering now if getting an Associates at my age will be enough for me to break into the industry.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have stepped into a Exciter style time warp, and returned to tell the tale...

Do we still have a Target clearance thread? Asking for a friend. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

70% off Christmas items at Target

Lego Dimensions PS4 starter with supergirl, $240 on eBay. 🎄Merry Christmas🎄

White whale acquired ... $150 plus $5 for 2 missing parts from BL. Even included spares. Missed this during my Dark Ages so had to pay 2+ x RRP. Sent from my LG-TP450 using Tapatalk