If you see a cheap drone 2, this is likely where it came from...

[FutureEngineer]

Recently I have been seeing the forums flooded with Drone 2s some as low as $400 with less than a case through them. These people are buying up Drone 2s at $XXX a piece with a virtue sponsorship and having people "sell them for a friend" to make a quick $100 profit which is against the contract that forbids you from selling them within a year of the season for which they were purchased. MacDev is a great company with a fantastic product and I feel that they are being exploited by teams everywhere doing this because they all use spires. For every 5 man team that all use spires at tournaments, they have the option to buy any and all Virtue, MacDev, and Bunker Kings products for XX% off retail price. I am sure that teams sell off sponsored equipment all the time, but I feel this instance is more serious because MacDev isn't making any money off of the spires that are qualifying teams for the discount, and they are losing a hefty XX% margin off of every drone 2 they sell to virtue sponsored teams who are just flipping them for a quick buck.

I want to spread awareness about this issue and hope that it can be slowed down a bit because these teams are not only taking away from MacDev's profit margin, they are also flooding the used market with them and killing the resale value of the drone 2 when it's barely hit the market, causing people who may have bought one new to go for a used one that's barely used for $100 cheaper and cut the company that designed and manufactured the product out of the loop.

Like I said before, this kind of thing has been happening for years but my point is that MacDev isn't the one dishing out the sponsorships yet they are hurting from it. The idea was that virtue sponsored teams could have the option to shoot cheap MacDev guns, but with no requirement to use the guns associated with the discount, its beginning to backfire.

[emisnug]

We were offered this as a team - trade prices for Virtue, Macdev & BK stuff. One of the stipulations in the sponsorship agreement was that we weren't allowed to sell any of the products we got at trade prices until 12 months had passed. The other team captain and I decided against it because we know a couple people who'd sell it off for cheap. We like these guys, so we said no.

It seems to be a lot more obvious when teams in the UK decided to sell off new products for under the market value - I have no idea what it's like in the US though.

[PBSteve]

I feel this instance is more serious because MacDev isn't making any money off of the spires that are qualifying teams for the discount, and they are losing a hefty XX% margin off of every drone 2 they sell to virtue sponsored teams who are just flipping them for a quick buck.

I would be incredibly surprised to hear that Virtue wasn't taking a considerable pound of flesh for distribution, and that's where a sizable portion of the "sponsorship" discount is coming from.

On one hand, people complain about how expensive the game is. So companies set up sponsorship programs. Then the tournament players firesale their gear and undercut all that companies' retailers, then people complain about their gear being devalued. And retailers can't sell enough gear to keep their doors open.

It's really the same story for anyone who does this kind of thing, certainly not limited to macdev markers.

[Pump Scout]

Just did a quick skim on PBN. The few that were in the BST there sold fairly quick, and prices switched out for "sold" when they moved, so I can't tell what they were listed at.

[cockerpunk]

welcome to modern paintball "sponsorship"

[noclue119]

Like I said before, this kind of thing has been happening for years but my point is that MacDev isn't the one dishing out the sponsorships yet they are hurting from it. The idea was that virtue sponsored teams could have the option to shoot cheap MacDev guns, but with no requirement to use the guns associated with the discount, its beginning to backfire.

I don't understand why you are so shocked, this has been going on for a while now.
I know PE/KEE/Dye were giving out sponsorship to teams and some people would quit the team right after sponsorship items came in and sell their stuff. I think PE now tracks S/N of sponsored guns, I don't think KEE or Dye does.

[theboss33]

I have stated for quite some time I do not agree with pro players being "paid" with a certain number of guns, just so they can pump and dump them. Killing retail value and sales. Just another case of how short sighted our industry is. There are other things that go on but that is a little to "inside" for me to be bitching publicly about.

[Nobody]

It's a matter of compensation. If the players have a salary in addition to a real job, things like this would less the norm. But as i understand it, the players generally need to pay their own way to events and other costs, that a team doesn't cover. So it's a commodity to the player to sell off anything extra, be it a pack, or a gun. Its not right yet at the bigh levels, if you don't have a sweat ride, you gotta do what you gotta do.

[Florypb505]

Are they selling the drones to teams below the wholesale price that they sell to vendors at? If so I can see where this sucks for them. If they don't they get the same margin and they don't really care it just screws the guys who bought new ones and are looking to recoup most of their money on the used market

[PBSteve]

It's a matter of compensation. If the players have a salary in addition to a real job, things like this would less the norm. But as i understand it, the players generally need to pay their own way to events and other costs, that a team doesn't cover. So it's a commodity to the player to sell off anything extra, be it a pack, or a gun. Its not right yet at the high levels, if you don't have a sweat ride, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Until the players/teams/tournament scene becomes something where salaries are a value added proposition for the tournament series or manufacturers, don't hold your breath. People who aren't participating in tournaments generally don't care about the teams or players, so it's not going to attract revenue. At this point, even rec ballers and scenario guys who actually play paintball don't care about the tournament scene, let alone people who don't play - and the tournament scene doesn't generate enough revenue to be self-sustaining. Until that happens it's not worth it. As it is, players are too busy pushing for unfiltered uncapped semi and extremely expensive national circuits to care about turning the competitions into something with appeal to more general audiences that would give the marketing value necessary for player salaries.

Think about that for a second - people keep talking about how a national circuit "legitimizes" the sport, but don't realize that each event is literally $400k that essentially leaves the industry/sport. That's money that could instead be used to pay pro salaries in a more sensibly organized tournament series. Single matches played at various smaller venues, for example, would likely mean the events are substantially cheaper and more money could be spent on the players and broader marketing strategies. Instead we've got an insanely expensive national circuit that people on the outside don't really understand or enjoy engaging, and their associated, expensive trade shows that market almost exclusively to the already initiated.

At a minimum steps should be taken to protect retailers and full paying customers. Were I running a sponsorship program, I would terminate it in deference to my retailers if players continued to abuse it. Could probably knock a solid chunk off the retail price and still have money left over for more effective marketing strategies.