It's funny that someone making limited editions complains that they don't make any money from them. Or not enough money, apparently. As if he didn't know there would be a secondary market for that stuff. Sure.
The problem for him is that a few of the records get onto the market and sell for an inflated price, and that makes the entire run seem more valuable. But it's not. If he puts out 100 copies of something and 5 of those copies sell on eBay for $250, that doesn't mean he could sell all 100 copies for $250 each. The rarity causes those secondary market prices, he knows that, he's using that rarity as a marketing tool himself!
So his argument doesn't make sense. If he wants more money to go to him and the artists, increase the price. Sell those 100 copies for $50 each and be done with it. The secondary market will still be there, but the company and the artists get a bigger slice of the overall pie.
And while we're on the subject, I wanted to post this when I heard about it, but decided not to. Now it seems relevant though, so how many of you bought the $500 White Stripes record player?
If you read the description, basically what you're getting for that $500 is a 7" single. Oh, and a bunch of boxes and a $9 Chinese record player.
And to think that people used to look down their noses at KISS for selling transistor radios and trading cards. How is this any different? (Hint: it isn't. Oh wait, the KISS radio was probably $7, so there's that.)
The 100 records thing is cool.