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Originally Posted by joedick
But I'd wager it's close to if not the same as CMD, and they are offering the 5 figures for $169.95 which leads me to believe there's money to be made in selling them for $33.99.
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If they sold them at that price, who buys them? Ideally, the regular Joes, right? But in that instance, it'll be just like it being sold at Walmart. It'll be a free for all, and there will be a shortage of supply, because we all know there is. So, some will end up in the regular Joe's hands. Well, those who are quick enough to order. Others will end up being scooped and scalped just like they'd be if they were sold by Walmart. The extra money goes to the scalper here.
At the higher price, it makes it riskier or not worth it at all for the scalper, and in this case, the retailer makes the extra money. And more of the product is available for the consumer if they're willing to pay the price for it.
IMHO, at the end of the day, it's about who ends up with the extra money from a bump in price, and how much that bump in price is. Right now on Ebay, I'm seeing Bee going for $60-$70 American.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joedick
2 - If you bought it and posted it at a premium at least, in theory, we all had some opportunity to buy them at retail. We don't have that opportunity with the Bumblebee reissue, that is what bothers me. Scalpers suck, but everyone should be able to sell their stuff for what it's worth. I just have a problem with stuff going straight from the distributor to excessively marked up prices. If they added $10-15 I wouldn't be posting this but it's more than double, almost 150% increase.
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So, basically the retailer is the bad guy here just because they have sources that the regular person doesn't? Scalpers can get to product before regular people too. All they have to do is know someone on the inside that can let them know exactly when something will be hitting the shelves in exchange for a buck or two.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joedick
I don't think it's fair to say we shouldn't have the conversation because next time they may not bother to order any. We don't have to agree on this, it's cool. But I'm glad I got to bring it up and express my concern, even if nobody else here agrees or cares.
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No where did I say we can't have this conversation, but lets be fair about this. Every small retailer bumps the price on high demand figures. Yet, in this one particular instance we're choosing to give A3U flak for it and none of the other retailers? And at the same time not even noticing or caring that in some instances they actually sell things at a lower cost than regular retail.
Quote:
Originally Posted by joedick
Of course nobody is being forced to buy anything at a price they don't like. I always tell people not to pay scalper prices for Hasbro product because they reissue or remake stuff all the time. But that advice doesn't work if the reissue can only be bought at scalper prices.
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If the price isn't right, then don't pay it regardless of what figure it is. Transformers aren't a necessity. They're a luxury that no one absolutely needs. We can't always get what we want. That's life. We can't let FOMO drive us to pay what we're not comfortable with. That way madness lies.
