The Energon Pub

Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:02 pm

So I've been looking for a Voyager Bulkhead to finish my PRID collection. One of the local chains (store A) has recently lowered the voyager price by a 37% margin. They only have Optimus and Megatron. I found a Bulkhead at another chain (store B) today and paid full price for him. Now I'm thinking of buying a discounted Megs/OP from store A and returning it at store B for the full price with my Bulkhead coupon. The coupon only lists the size class.

Is this an accepted practice? I'm essentially buying the figure from store A, only using store B's wave selection. Both stores don't treat figures within a size class as individual products on their webshop.

News Credits: 12 · Thu Mar 21, 2013 3:05 pm

Your call. Accepted by whom? By the store? By "God"? By your fellow collectors? Depends who you ask.

One could argue that no real harm is being done; you're simply swapping items between two stores. If everyone did this, it could be a problem, but you doing it won't hurt anyone.

At the same time, one could argue that what you're doing is dishonest, and even if no one gets hurt, it's not totally kosher.

Thu Mar 21, 2013 4:22 pm

I wouldn't sweat it, as long as it's all still sealed, after all the store that's selling things at full price isn't going to move product much until they cut prices anyway, and stores don't care (for better or worse) what's on the shelves, so long as it matches what they think the stock should be.

Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:18 pm

To be honest, this is one of those "Who you are in the dark" situations.

Is it legal? Yes, yes it is. Is it honest? Not really. Will anyone ever really know? Not likely, except now you've told us.

At the end of the day, the only person who can answer your question is you. Will your conscience grump and growl at you for doing so? Or if you do it, will you sleep like a baby that night and feel just as good as always looking in the mirror?

I'd say don't do it, but this is really a decision you have to make yourself.

News Credits: 1 · Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:26 pm

This seems like a lot of work for just a few dollars.

Thu Mar 21, 2013 8:36 pm

njb902 wrote:This seems like a lot of work for just a few dollars.

That's pretty much the long and short of it. :lol:

News Credits: 7 · Thu Mar 21, 2013 9:02 pm

If you have to ask "is it OK?", it's probably better off not being done. Especially if you're only saving a few dollars (or whatever the equivalent is).

News Credits: 12 · Fri Mar 22, 2013 7:55 am

njb902 wrote:This seems like a lot of work for just a few dollars.

True that! Instead of asking if it's ethical, ask yourself if it's really worth the time and effort.

News Credits: 1 · Fri Mar 22, 2013 8:09 am

GuyIncognito wrote:
njb902 wrote:This seems like a lot of work for just a few dollars.

True that! Instead of asking if it's ethical, ask yourself if it's really worth the time and effort.

And the gas.

News Credits: 3 · Fri Mar 22, 2013 9:59 am

Valandar wrote:Is it legal? Yes, yes it is.

Actually, if you want to get technical, no it isn't. It's a variety of price arbitrage(buying a lower-priced item and returning it for a higher refund) return fraud.

So it's not only unethical, it's actually illegal as you're intentionally defrauding a business.

The only reason I know all this is because a few of my friends actually had a racket like this going on for a year. They'd buy an item at the dollar store that ToysRUs had for full retail then return it there. The TRU then changed their return policy(but only on that item), but couldn't prove anything else. They would also buy clearance Target items and return them to Walmart for full price. A police friend of ours caught wind and explained to them what they were actually doing. Yeah, that stopped real quick.

So the correct question to ask: Is it worth the price difference to know you've intentionally defrauded a corporation and committed a crime, albeit a minor one?

Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:32 am

Unethical and illegal. Sounds like something I wouldn't do.

News Credits: 6188 · Fri Mar 22, 2013 10:32 am

Noideaforaname wrote:If you have to ask "is it OK?", it's probably better off not being done. Especially if you're only saving a few dollars (or whatever the equivalent is).

Agreed.

Just the fact that you're asking other people whether they think it's ethical or legal means you probably feel it isn't.

(Also, see Erailea's post above me.)

News Credits: 3 · Fri Mar 22, 2013 1:24 pm

Way I see it, all you're really doing is price matching the hard way if you're returning unopened product of equal value. Or the easy way if you don't want to deal with knobs behind the counter...in other words, hassle free price matching. But there is a question of is it actually saving you anything by the time you're done driving around collecting the product to pull off said swap. If yes, I say go for it. Or just bring in the ad and your receipt and tell them to refund you the difference.

Sat Mar 23, 2013 5:45 am

Well, I did it yesterday. It surprised me how easy this was. For those concerned with illegality, I did return an un-tampered-with toy to the store for the refund. As has been said before, one Voyager is the same as another to them.

The time and effort wasn't the issue, I had to be in town yesterday anyway, and the two stores are a 3 min. walk apart from each other.
The price difference in dollars is $ 45,44 to $ 25,96, if it were a mere 3 dollar difference, I wouldn't have bothered with the swap.

I'm not telling this because I'm proud, if anything, I posted this because I was really doubting myself as has been suggested. The point is, TFs are never discounted around here and they're twice as expensive as in the USA to begin with.

Sat Mar 23, 2013 8:34 am

Chain stores really isn't something to worry about getting 19 extra dollars out of. That's so little money it might as well not exist for them. Even if it were a larger sum, they're capitalists, so y'know.