The Energon Pub

So, all this awesome 3rd party stuff, expensive right? Id'e like to get my hands on alot of it, seeing as how awesome a good amount of 3rd party stuff is. Fansproject and Maketoy, even i-Gear, I want to partake in alot of their goods. I see them on the front page almost daily! (i-Gear Anyway) and I love what I see! One thing I hate, however, Is the Insane prices! I'm sure I'm not the only one! If you go to wal mart, you can put a Transformer on layaway if it costs enough, right? So why not 3rd party items? Does there exist a place were you can pay for 3rd party items in incraments over time? I have payments and bills. If I want to buy Battle Tanker and Protector, along with other awesome stuff, I need a plan to pay into said item. Anyone here know of such a way? Maybe even strike up a deal? If not, thanks for reading anyway. I can't just throw hundreds of dollars at these products. It would be nice to pay monthly for things like this. Just my thoughts.
Sorry, that was quite a little rant. Anyone know of a site were I can sort of, IDK, Layaway a product? Can you already do that? I'm not a member of any of those sites like TFsource or BBTS, so I wouldn't know. I am a member of Yahobby though...

BeastProwl wrote:So, all this awesome 3rd party stuff, expensive right? Id'e like to get my hands on alot of it, seeing as how awesome a good amount of 3rd party stuff is. Fansproject and Maketoy, even i-Gear, I want to partake in alot of their goods. I see them on the front page almost daily! (i-Gear Anyway) and I love what I see! One thing I hate, however, Is the Insane prices! I'm sure I'm not the only one! If you go to wal mart, you can put a Transformer on layaway if it costs enough, right? So why not 3rd party items? Does there exist a place were you can pay for 3rd party items in incraments over time? I have payments and bills. If I want to buy Battle Tanker and Protector, along with other awesome stuff, I need a plan to pay into said item. Anyone here know of such a way? Maybe even strike up a deal? If not, thanks for reading anyway. I can't just throw hundreds of dollars at these products. It would be nice to pay monthly for things like this. Just my thoughts.
Sorry, that was quite a little rant. Anyone know of a site were I can sort of, IDK, Layaway a product? Can you already do that? I'm not a member of any of those sites like TFsource or BBTS, so I wouldn't know. I am a member of Yahobby though...

Unfortunately the only "payment plan" system you're ever going to have for such items is a credit card, which can get you in trouble fast if you aren't careful.

Or a piggy bank of sorts... These things are typically announced months ahead of time. When something peaks your interest, I'd suggest you start saving up for it at that time.

I honestly have no idea. I tend to save for stuff I know is coming, am forced to skip stuff that comes up unexpectedly when I don't have the money. No such thing as layaway hereabouts.

I know BBTS has a Pile O Loot system where they'll ship everything out to you at once, after a while, but have no idea if they make you pay for each item when they stick it in the pile.

oh well, thanks anyway.
I went out and bought that RtS Deluxe Optimus JUST for Battle tanker, but I can't afford it, so I have this (Awesome) Deluxe, and he's without his armour. Same with Rodimus. I need a way to get payed. There are NO jobs in town, anywere! I'll be leaving in a few weeks anyway. What kind of boss wants a month's notice of me leaving, right as I walk in for my first day of work? I won't have time for a job once I get back to California. sucks. really sucks. Iv'e been riding this "Un-employed-due-to-circumstances" Train for almost a year! I'm going mad! Whatever money I do get, either goes towards my family to help out, my friend, who's got it worse than most people, or maybe a TF or two if it's one I really NEED.
Oh listen to me you guys don't need to know to know about my problems, sorry.

I've felt the same way, but really looked at my collection and downsized what I had (at one time) a passing interest.

You know those dusty old videogames? I had a bunch of sega dreamcast stuff that has, to this day, a value to collectors. So I went to eStarland.com and traded all that stuff in for cash (they credit your paypal account and everything).

I scour the buy-sell-trade listings on forums. Checked the wanted listings for things - it ends up being pure profit minus the shipping.

I stay away from craigslist because people there expect to buy things at liquidated prices.

Offering your goods to people knowing what they're looking for is money in the bank. With the advent of toy profiteers, the safe haven for collectors are the forums - where prices are negotiated instead of dictated auction fee free. Be willing to take a loss on items you just don't need as much as you used to - and feel good that items like MakeToys G1 Green Giant is just a couple Toy Biz Marvel Legends sales away. Just make sure to do you homework on how much your item is going for on ebay - then undercut the lowest ending price by 5 or 10 bucks.

Believe me, I used to have so much clutter. Looking at my trophy room now, I take pride in knowing that most of the best pieces were bought with recycled money. Paypal is really the barter system of our time. My simple advise it to use these free internet tools for personal glorious enterprise.

Court Jester wrote:I've felt the same way, but really looked at my collection and downsized what I had (at one time) a passing interest.

You know those dusty old videogames? I had a bunch of sega dreamcast stuff that has, to this day, a value to collectors. So I went to eStarland.com and traded all that stuff in for cash (they credit your paypal account and everything).

I scour the buy-sell-trade listings on forums. Checked the wanted listings for things - it ends up being pure profit minus the shipping.

I stay away from craigslist because people there expect to buy things at liquidated prices.

Offering your goods to people knowing what they're looking for is money in the bank. With the advent of toy profiteers, the safe haven for collectors are the forums - where prices are negotiated instead of dictated. Be willing to take a loss on items you just don't need as much as you used to - and feel good that items like MakeToys G1 Green Giant is just a couple Toy Biz Marvel Legends sales away. Just make sure to do you homework on how much your item is going for on ebay - then undercut the lowest ending price by 5 or 10 bucks.

Believe me, I used to have so much clutter. Looking at my trophy room now, I take pride in knowing that most of the best pieces were bought with recycled money. Paypal is really the barter system of our time.

BST forums really are a great place to find good deals. I recently acquired the BotCon Shattered Glass boxset plus all the add-on sets from that year for less than 1300.00, which is still a lot of money but about half of what that lot goes for eBay.

El Duque wrote:BST forums really are a great place to find good deals. I recently acquired the BotCon Shattered Glass boxset plus all the add-on sets from that year for less than 1300.00, which is still a lot of money but about half of what that lot goes for eBay.

$1,300?! Are you kidding me?!

But I agree on paying the B/S/T forums a visit. Especially the bigger members (i.e. the ones with a lot of posts) are great when it comes to pricing and service. Just be sure to keep contact with them

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

El Duque wrote:BST forums really are a great place to find good deals. I recently acquired the BotCon Shattered Glass boxset plus all the add-on sets from that year for less than 1300.00, which is still a lot of money but about half of what that lot goes for eBay.

$1,300?! Are you kidding me?!

Is that shock from me paying so much or getting a good deal?

Court Jester wrote:I've felt the same way, but really looked at my collection and downsized what I had (at one time) a passing interest.

You know those dusty old videogames? I had a bunch of sega dreamcast stuff that has, to this day, a value to collectors. So I went to eStarland.com and traded all that stuff in for cash (they credit your paypal account and everything).

I scour the buy-sell-trade listings on forums. Checked the wanted listings for things - it ends up being pure profit minus the shipping.

I stay away from craigslist because people there expect to buy things at liquidated prices.

Offering your goods to people knowing what they're looking for is money in the bank. With the advent of toy profiteers, the safe haven for collectors are the forums - where prices are negotiated instead of dictated auction fee free. Be willing to take a loss on items you just don't need as much as you used to - and feel good that items like MakeToys G1 Green Giant is just a couple Toy Biz Marvel Legends sales away. Just make sure to do you homework on how much your item is going for on ebay - then undercut the lowest ending price by 5 or 10 bucks.

Believe me, I used to have so much clutter. Looking at my trophy room now, I take pride in knowing that most of the best pieces were bought with recycled money. Paypal is really the barter system of our time. My simple advise it to use these free internet tools for personal glorious enterprise.

thanks for this post, I'm looking to clear out some stuff (mostly Star Wars toys, some games, otherrandom junkhigh-quality collectables) and was planning to use eBay, I may still do that for some stuff, but anything I think might get interest on any forums I know will be put up there first. It's not exactly stuff I didn't know, but a gentle reminder and good encouragement.

No prob craggy - just pickin delicious fleas off the next monkey.

craggy wrote:I know BBTS has a Pile O Loot system where they'll ship everything out to you at once, after a while, but have no idea if they make you pay for each item when they stick it in the pile.

I maintain a "Pile" with BBTS, and each time a pre-ordered item arrives, I'm charged for it. The good thing is that I save money by shipping out when I want, instead of as each item comes in. I've never had a problem with packaging, even when there are several large items in the same shipment.

I will say that these purchases go on the credit card, so that way I don't inadvertently bankrupt my bank account when a few items show up at once.

I haven't seen any websites offer a layaway program when a product is already in stock.

Personally, I think they could Benefit from a layaway

El Duque wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

El Duque wrote:BST forums really are a great place to find good deals. I recently acquired the BotCon Shattered Glass boxset plus all the add-on sets from that year for less than 1300.00, which is still a lot of money but about half of what that lot goes for eBay.

$1,300?! Are you kidding me?!

Is that shock from me paying so much or getting a good deal?

Both!

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

El Duque wrote:

JelZe GoldRabbit wrote:

El Duque wrote:BST forums really are a great place to find good deals. I recently acquired the BotCon Shattered Glass boxset plus all the add-on sets from that year for less than 1300.00, which is still a lot of money but about half of what that lot goes for eBay.

$1,300?! Are you kidding me?!

Is that shock from me paying so much or getting a good deal?

Both!

It is a lot of money, but considering the boxset alone regulary goes for that much I thought I did alright. Hell I've seen Rodimus go for over 500.00.