I don't get group buys - help me understand

[BuyPokerChips]

Relax Ten... or Mr. Cagle... or HoldemPokerChips.com... or whoever!

Not singling you out, just using your group buy as an example. I'm just trying to understand how and why these things work, and what need it serves, which I've been enlightened by in many of the posts to this thread. I don't have anything against group buys, they sound great to me for all involved if it's all above board. They serve the community just like retailers do, just a little differently. Retailers speculate, group buys are more grassroots, which I understand is appealing (and I applaud).

Oddly enough, in the midst of this thread, a strange thing occurred to me, it seems to me that these particular group buys are nothing more than a means of working the bulletin board system in themselves. In my mind, Holdempokerchips.com is a chip retailer like any other that gets around advertising on boards by doing "group buys". I mean they sell these things on their site after the group buys, right. How's that different from a retailer coming out with a line of chips. Ingenious really. I see Holdempokerchips.com as the originating body, and a somewhat seedy one in my brief experience with them. After all they, in fact, publically sell my Vintage Vegas chips on their site (it appears as in stock sets which anyone could buy 2, 3, or 10 of) even though I've emailed them to cease and desist in reselling our company's goods without permission (not to mention these chips are no longer made).

Holdempokerchip.com, I have a problem with. Group buys, I don't have any problem whatsoever.