The Energon Pub

Snarlus Prime wrote:Well, I never buy on eBay; mainly because I loathe paying shipping. And I have every gotten every TF (Armada - Classics) that I've wanted except one just by being patient. (Still need Cyb. Wingsaber if you find one! ) I think that if you live in the U.S. you rarely have an excuse other than impatience. But there are exceptions to every rule...

I also think there is a major difference between +$6 for expenses and *modest* profit and outright price gouging (i.e. 2x MSRP. Your time is worth something - that's why you get paid to go to work!

Some folks have brought the children into this ("won't somebody think of the children?!"). And yes, if you can get a figure it sucks - but when I was little I didn't have OP, Megs, OS, Soundwave, any jets, etc. In fact I only had 2 dinobots (Snarl FTW!) and some minibots until I finally got PM OP and DoubleDealer after they became sale/clearance material (quite a time gap in there!). And you know what? I *did not* ruin my childhood! In the end their just toys. I actually think that not having some of those figures is what got me into TF collecting later...

However this "debate" turns out I'm officially siding with Seibertron, Getter, etc on this one. Some folks here (on both sides) need to calm down and remember that we are all friends here; and in the end they are just toys, no matter how much we love them....

My $0.02, thanks,
S.P.

QFT!!

I don't use the sightings section regularly, because I've found it to be borderline useless. I'm from Houston, which is a big city geographically, and very often, when there's a sighting of something i'm looking for, there's usually just "one left" which often happens to be gone by the time I'm able to get there (even ignoring my current lack of car, it often takes over 20 minutes to get ANYWHERE in houston that isn't just down the street). even if there was a sighting this morning (i see a sighting for one single '08 bumblebee in houston, just checked) that doesn't guarantee that the product will be there when I am. 9AM was a long time ago in city-life terms, and there's not even a guarantee that the sightings board was even useful: some random person could have easily just walked in, saw the bumblebee, and now its gone... and since random person doesn't visit this site, now the listing is inaccurate.

I'm shocked and disapointed that Seibertron himself is sticking up for behavior which I, as a long time collector of Transformers and even longer collector of star wars, consider to be the lowest of the low. yes, I do call ahead sometimes, but often, unless I'm calling a literal toystore, they generally aren't helpful: the only time in recent memory that I can recall a store holding something for me was a TRU on katy freeway holding an early-release Primus for me after a friend sighted it, and I called in to ask them to hold it. most stores, when you call to check for availability, they just check the computer, rather than the shelf... retail clerks are lazy, and they're not going to hold an item for one person thats going to sell anyway.

Snarlus Prime wrote:Some folks here (on both sides) need to calm down and remember that we are all friends here;

yeah, its just a hobby, but as far as friends go? it always hurts the most to find out your friend is doing something sleazy that you don't approve of.

Seibertron wrote:Why is that bad? You could've called your local Target as well to find out what they had in stock. Those of you who just randomly hunt stores without a battle plan in place are just wasting your time. Be proactive. Find out the SKU #s, the DCPI #s, etc. Call the stores ahead of time with that information.

Watch the toy reports on sites such as Seibertron or TFW to see when figures start showing up in stores. If there's a news post on Seibertron tomorrow that says Movie So-and-so has been sighted, don't wait until next Wednesday to go looking for that figure. Figure out how you're going to obtain it tomorrow. If you wait until your next paycheck in 5 to 10 days, I can guarantee that that brand spanking new figure will be long gone already.

Remember, every time you point a finger to blame someone else (i.e. the scalpers in this case), just remember that there are three fingers pointing back at you. Take responsibility for figuring out how to obtain new figures. It's not rocket science.

Please top blaming the so-called "Scalpers". They're just doing it the smart way.

Although you make a valid point, my problem with Scalpers doesn't derive from their "skill" in obtaining the toys. Rather it's that they take advantage of people who are willing to pay exorbitant prices for a 10 dollar child's toy.

You could claim that Scalpers are simply doing good business, and blame the people who buy from them for being stupid. But I see this practice as being similar to price-gouging for, say, gasoline, which is ILLEGAL.

I would just like to say- I love this thread.

Guys dont forget to take into account Ebay fees, Paypal fees and any losses this guy might have when a "collector" buys one and says he never "received" the item. It happens all the time, those damn signatures cost extra on shipping. I havent been ebaying movie tfs by the way, but I did sell some old stuff for way more than I payed for it...oh well.

If anybody needs a Starscream....PM seibs





j/k

Devil Gundam wrote:IMO, this guy is a scalper since he bought the figures legally and is trying to make a profit off of it. But I have to give him credit for being resourceful and managing to get 18 of them.

OK let's look at what this guy is doing, he is selling a G1 deco Jazz. Store price: $10. (I'm ignoring tax since it varies from state to state and so we have better whole numbers) The current bid on the auction is $18 and has a buy it now of $27.50

Now let's do some math: 18x$10=$180.

Now let's say he sells all 18 of them for $18. 18x$18=$324. Almost double what he paid for the toys themselves.

Now let's say they all sell for the buy it now price: 18x$27.50=$495

His profit margin drops slightly with shipping but either way he IS very likely to make a profit. Worst case scenario for him is not making back what he paid, which is what's going to happen if he sells them for $18 and spends $9 shipping which brings the amount he makes to $162. If they are all bought for the buy it now price, he makes $333.

In fact, looking at his feedback he has sold several G1 deco Jazz toys already. He has made approximately $123.56 in profit. His shipping cost has varied from auction to auction so the actual profit number could be higher. I just used the $9.00 prices from the auction listed in the OP as a baseline. He also has several other had to find movie toys listed.

Although I will admit, although I believe him to be a scalper, he could be trying to help his fellow collectors while trying to make a few bucks while he's at it. He could have seen the toys and knowing people were having trouble finding them and decided to sell them on eBay to sell them to those who want them and are willing to pay more than retail price for them. We have no way of knowing.

Starscream227 wrote:Scalpers are businessmen, really. They see and take an
opportunity in providing a service to you, even if it's at higher prices. I see nothing wrong here. If you demand it, they will be there.

While I dislike those that buy multiple copies of a toy and sell them for profit, I agree with the rest of this statement. They are businessmen that see an opportunity and take it. Like it or not, whenever an item is in demand, there will be those who will buy multiple versions and sell them for large profits. We don't have to like it but we do have to live with it.

That was very well researched. Nice to see that some people take the time to get the facts before they post.


Back to the discussion at hand. This is quite a "sides" issue, and you are either on one side or the other.

The people who are posting about the evil, moral-less, scumbucket scalpers are, for the most part, not going to change, because they are "right" no matter what anyone else says. You can't change their minds, and it is wrong...

...until they do it, then it's just business, or just that one time.

LET THE BATTLE CONTINUE. I love these kinds of threads, everyone gets so angry.

Autobot032 wrote:It happens. You'd be amazed at what people will do for $20-50.00 even with a job giving them a constant paycheck.

TRU stockers have been known to do it, many times.

Constant LOW paycheck you mean. But I hate scalpers, they're killing the hobby.

Devil Gundam wrote:His profit margin drops slightly with shipping

He's also making a profit on shipping because there's no way it costs $9 to ship that figure.

publicvisage wrote:Although you make a valid point, my problem with Scalpers doesn't derive from their "skill" in obtaining the toys. Rather it's that they take advantage of people who are willing to pay exorbitant prices for a 10 dollar child's toy.

Those people are retarded and should be seperated from their money.

You could claim that Scalpers are simply doing good business, and blame the people who buy from them for being stupid. But I see this practice as being similar to price-gouging for, say, gasoline, which is ILLEGAL.

Terrible analogy. Gasoline is essentail for the modern world to function.

Transformers, are not.

megatroptimus wrote:Constant LOW paycheck you mean. But I hate scalpers, they're killing the hobby.

I disagree.

All this hunting, pining, and discussion is great for the hobby. It makes it interesting.

megatroptimus wrote:

Devil Gundam wrote:His profit margin drops slightly with shipping

He's also making a profit on shipping because there's no way it costs $9 to ship that figure.

Depends how he ships it - shipping is getting quite expensive these days....

megatroptimus wrote:

Devil Gundam wrote:His profit margin drops slightly with shipping

He's also making a profit on shipping because there's no way it costs $9 to ship that figure.

Priority mail starts at 7.00+, and adding in the weight of the box and figure would put it at 9 easy, especially if he provides Delivery conformation.

You'd be surprised at how fast USPS rates rice ounce per ounce.

publicvisage wrote:Although you make a valid point, my problem with Scalpers doesn't derive from their "skill" in obtaining the toys. Rather it's that they take advantage of people who are willing to pay exorbitant prices for a 10 dollar child's toy.

You could claim that Scalpers are simply doing good business, and blame the people who buy from them for being stupid. But I see this practice as being similar to price-gouging for, say, gasoline, which is ILLEGAL.

Wait a minute....really??? price gouging gasoline is illegal? I would have never thought that with the way gas prices move according to travel season. Hold on... I just heard an imaginary refinery get destroyed...uh oh, guess gas will go back up. Simply stated its not illegal, since tfs dont consist of anything you would need in an emergency, like gas or food before a hurricane.

--B-- wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:

Devil Gundam wrote:His profit margin drops slightly with shipping

He's also making a profit on shipping because there's no way it costs $9 to ship that figure.

Priority mail starts at 7.00+, .

No it doesn't.

It starts at abouot $4.60 and you can ship a whole carded figure without the cost increasing.

and about the shipping rates?

$5 for USPS
$1 for PayPal
$1 to go to the Post Office (gas)
$1 for time

$1 for taxes if his state has them

sounds about right to me.

I gotta say the ignorance of many people here is very very amusing.

Looking at the whole situation I don't see anything wrong with buying up all of one figure at a store or several stores for that matter. Sure it is annoying when you can't find a figure but life isn't fair after all.

People who you call scalpers are in all actuality just shrewd businessmen for the most part. I know several people who live solely off of selling toys on eBay. Many of them hit the stores early get the variants or exclusives because they want these figures enough to go to a Wal Mart at 1 in the morning.

If you really want something bad enough instead of whining about people not being fair and buying up 18 of one figure get out there and hunt the figure down.

If people are willing to spend outrageous sums of money on chunks of plastic then more power to the business savvy scalpers.

allisonaxe wrote:I'm shocked and disapointed that Seibertron himself is sticking up for behavior which I, as a long time collector of Transformers and even longer collector of star wars, consider to be the lowest of the low.

I'm sticking up for them because they aren't doing anything illegal. I also am sticking up for the scalpers because I want to help you guys BEAT the so called scalpers, which I think a lot of you use as a scape-goat when you can't find a figure. I just want to see someone say when they can't find a figure ... "Dammit! I took too long getting to the store. Some other COLLECTOR got here before me!" Or heck, maybe little Jimmy's mom stopped by on her way home from work and snagged a new TF for her kid as a surprise or for good behavior. It seems that everyone blames an imaginary scalper in their area and that drives me nuts.

I want to see you guys posting about ways to get the figure first instead of blaming the "scalper". I'd rather see you guys being constructive about how to figure out how to get figures first instead of complaing and bitching about a scalper.

Does that make sense? There are several of us here that are willing to help you figure out how to turn the data in the toy sightings forum and section into something "useful" instead of "useless" as someone stated above. I think some of you are taking the data too literally or you're waiting too long.

You know what I'd really love to see? I'd love to see some of you guys help do a write up about tips for getting a figure first. If you guys would help with that, I'd be more than happy to post it in the toy sightings section. Maybe a "tips & hints" page for that section that you guys help me maintain.

allisonaxe wrote:yes, I do call ahead sometimes, but often, unless I'm calling a literal toystore, they generally aren't helpful: the only time in recent memory that I can recall a store holding something for me was a TRU on katy freeway holding an early-release Primus for me after a friend sighted it, and I called in to ask them to hold it. most stores, when you call to check for availability, they just check the computer, rather than the shelf... retail clerks are lazy, and they're not going to hold an item for one person thats going to sell anyway.

I want to make it very clear that I don't go around calling all of the stores in Chicago to see who's got what. I've got much better things to do with my time. I use the toy sightings sections on Seibertron.com and Unicron.com to figure out what stores figures are showing up in and in what regions. The data is there for you guys to use. You guys just have to figure out how to make it work for you. I have been offering to help you guys analyze the toy sightings data to help you out and not a single person has taken me up on that offer. Not once. Yet, I see you guys complaining about the scalper boogeyman every day. That's not being constructive and it's not helping anyone. If you need help finding figures, let us help you! Please!

Let's turn this thread into a positive instead of a negative. Let people like me help you figure out how to use the toy sightings section to benefit YOU.

Counterpunch wrote:

--B-- wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:

Devil Gundam wrote:His profit margin drops slightly with shipping

He's also making a profit on shipping because there's no way it costs $9 to ship that figure.

Priority mail starts at 7.00+, .

No it doesn't.

It starts at abouot $4.60 and you can ship a whole carded figure without the cost increasing.

and about the shipping rates?

$5 for USPS
$1 for PayPal
$1 to go to the Post Office (gas)
$1 for time

$1 for taxes if his state has them

sounds about right to me.

Damn, my bad. What they hell was I thinking?

Counterpunch wrote:

--B-- wrote:

megatroptimus wrote:

Devil Gundam wrote:His profit margin drops slightly with shipping

He's also making a profit on shipping because there's no way it costs $9 to ship that figure.

Priority mail starts at 7.00+, .

No it doesn't.

It starts at abouot $4.60 and you can ship a whole carded figure without the cost increasing.

and about the shipping rates?

$5 for USPS
$1 for PayPal
$1 to go to the Post Office (gas)
$1 for time

$1 for taxes if his state has them

sounds about right to me.

Not exactly -add sig confirmation $1-2 (delivery confirmation doesnt satisfy Paypal requirements), insurance $1-2 , 1% goes to Paypal, cost of packaging... some people like to use real boxes $1-2 Then Priority mail is higher than say Parcel Post; and now rates depend on the distance....gotta love the new USPS policies.

Seibertron wrote:You know what I'd really love to see? I'd love to see some of you guys help do a write up about tips for getting a figure first. If you guys would help with that, I'd be more than happy to post it in the toy sightings section. Maybe a "tips & hints" page for that section that you guys help me maintain.

Seriously?

You do know of course, my skills are legendary?

Can I get an Amen?

(I'll get on it when I get a free moment...)

Counterpunch wrote:

--B-- wrote:Priority mail starts at 7.00+, .

No it doesn't.

It starts at abouot $4.60 and you can ship a whole carded figure without the cost increasing.

But the Deluxe and Voyager figures - I don't think you can ship them for $4.60 Priority, due to size. Those packages are pretty big.

But you make a good point - the cost of shipping isn't just the cost of the postage. Most people don't think of that.

Why shouldn't Mr. Jazz be able to turn a profit for providing a service to his customers? If you buy one of his figures you've saved yourself the time and effort of finding it yourself. He's already made the effort for you. Whether its through connections, making calls, or just getting lucky shouldn't matter. He's still saving you that step.

So when you see an ad like this you have to decide if the mark up is worth the savings you get in your own time and stress. That's all it boils down to. Its not the end of the world.

And the comparisons to gasoline price gouging aren't really on point. Gas is something almost everyone needs. G1 deco Jazz, sadly, is not.

Prime vs Wild wrote:Why shouldn't Mr. Jazz be able to turn a profit for providing a service to his customers? If you buy one of his figures you've saved yourself the time and effort of finding it yourself. He's already made the effort for you. Whether its through connections, making calls, or just getting lucky shouldn't matter. He's still saving you that step.

So when you see an ad like this you have to decide if the mark up is worth the savings you get in your own time and stress. That's all it boils down to. Its not the end of the world.

And the comparisons to gasoline price gouging aren't really on point. Gas is something almost everyone needs. G1 deco Jazz, sadly, is not.

I really don't need one at all, as the thunderthighs and tiny arms make it, IMHO, a crappy robot mode.

Counterpunch wrote:

Seibertron wrote:You know what I'd really love to see? I'd love to see some of you guys help do a write up about tips for getting a figure first. If you guys would help with that, I'd be more than happy to post it in the toy sightings section. Maybe a "tips & hints" page for that section that you guys help me maintain.

Seriously?

You do know of course, my skills are legendary?

Can I get an Amen?

(I'll get on it when I get a free moment...)

Amen!

At the very least, it will be an interesting read.

How a store could morally allow that to happen knowing they'll sell out anyway to individual customers is beyond me. I remember when they had a Target exclusive Star Wars Episode 3 Obi Wan and Anakin Lava figures. They were 1 per customer, no exceptions, until they went on clearance, heh...

But at least they had the decency for their exclusive items to be treated as such for the consumers and was very considerate. This is just really crummy.

I myself don't mind if someone grabbed an extra one or two to try to sell, but hell, don't grab a dozen of them, that's just unfair to the rest of us who want one.

With the boxes underneath the pile, I don't think that these even made it to the shelf.

EDIT: 1000 posts!