Alright, here's the situation:

Movie toys are starting to be put out all over the country. Protoforms are already everywhere. K-mart has a special sale on Deluxes that ends on Wednesday. They're $20 each instead of the usual $27. Over East most K-marts and Targets have put out all their movie stock (i.e. all of wave 1). So many people over there have gotten their deluxes for cheap from K-mart or gotten Target to price match. Over here on the West coast we're a week or two behind on stocking things which is a huge pain as special stales tend to be over by the time stuff is in stock.

Anyway, I was in a Target today and they had just put out all their movie stock. So I picked up Deluxe Brawl, Jazz, Barricade and Bumblebee. I had a copy of the K-mart advertisement with me so they could price match it. I get up to the register and the girl tells me that they don't price match at this store. Shit. Well she rings them up anyway and I fork out $27 each because I have an idea. I realize that Target has the same ring up code for all movie deluxes. So, I am contemplating going to K-mart and buying 4 Protoform deluxes for $20 each, then taking them to Target and refunding them at $27 a pop using the receipt I got from Target. Now, here's the important bit: In this country Target and K-mart are owned by the SAME COMPANY. In a way no one loses, it's kind of like an internal shifting of stock.

So what should I do? Just return the toys and hope that I find them cheaper one day? Keep them and be horribly ripped off? Proceed with my MASTER PLAN?!?!

Members of TFW2005, I need guidance.

 

It was shady...up until the 'owned by the same company part.'

I usually pass on an idea when I feel like I need a second opinion to make sure it's okay, but I'm all self-righteous like that. In the end, I think you're in the moral clear, though.

And if not, then if your karma takes a hit in the near future you'll know why. Win win.

EDIT: Also, $27 AUD for a Deluxe? Dah-yum. We've got our commerical faults here, but markups like that aren't one of them. Still, y'all got that reef that's supposed to kick ass.

 

for 7 bucks more each..well I couldent care less.

 

Yeah, the fact that they're owned by the same company is what has been pushing me towards it. Also it's kind of misdirected justice at paying freaking crazy prices for this stuff. The kick-ass reef is on the other side of the country.  

Here are some fun comparison figures:

4 Movie deluxes:

Current total cost: $107.96 AU ($88.47 US)

Hopeful final cost: $80 AU ($65.56 US)

Difference: $27.96 AU ($22.91 US)

 

What country are you in? I have never ever heard of K-Mart and Target being owned by the same company. And Target headquaters is right down the street from me.

Also I can tell you as a former Target employe that at least in the US they haven't price matched for at least 10 years.

Anyway, does the Target still have protoforms in stock, and if so, are they just mixed in with the rest of the movie figures?

At the end of the day I don't see it being that big of a deal, and I tend to be a pretty hard on myself with moral questions.

EDIT: I now see that its Australia

EDIT #2: Ok I did research online, and found out according to Target Australia website they are not owned or affiliated with the US Target company.

How the fuck does that work??

 

Yeah I'm in Australia - I probably should have stated that at the start. Here K-mart and Target are owned by the same company and I think they pay licensing fee's to the US corporations that actually own the real K-mart and Target to use their branding etc.

Someone in a different city managed to get the figures priced matched, that's why I was kind of annoyed that I couldn't.

The Target in question does indeed have Protoforms in stock, right above the wave 1 deluxes.

 

Do it. For a 25% savings, if the money is worth your time, do it.

 

Well the K-mart and Target are in the same building about 50 metres apart from each other.

Alright, I'll do it. Tomorrow. When the shops are open. I'm going to need to put the Mission Impossible theme on an MP3 player to listen to the whole time I'm pulling this stunt.

 

Be very, very careful about this. I would make doubly sure that the code they use is the same for both, because I'd be very, very surprised if the Protoforms shared an identical code with the Movie Deluxe assortments. They're Deluxes, sure, and they're movie toys, but they're also a completely different assortment. You may get called on this.

 

Hey Ilamatron what part of perth do u live in? Im in fremantle.

 

They do. That's why deluxes are out early. Same codes on both, so the stockers put all of the boxes on the floor to be stocked.

 

Yeah before I pull this off I'm going to use one of those price scanners to check and see. I can also compare what comes up with what's on the receipt. Here's what I know so far:

All 4 movie deluxes came up as this on the receipt:

41102701 TRANS MOVIE

This is the same thing that's displayed when you scan in on a price checker. Looking at the barcode's of the 2 protoforms I've already got the barcode assortment part of the number is the same as the normal deluxes. Either way, I'll be checking to make sure for sure that I can pull this off before I do it.

Also it's interesting that when I found the toys in Target all the shipping boxes were still there (they were half unpacked) - all of them had the "Not to be sold before June 2nd" stamp but the wave 1 deluxes had "Not to be sold before May 1st" - this was a box of regular deluxes and not just protoforms. STRANGE!

Freo eh? I'm north of the river.

 

I must confess I didn't even know they were owned by the same company  

Good luck, with the price we have to pay for those, I can't really blame you.

 

And I though the $3-4 CAD mark-up after conversion we pay was bad. But I guess that's the benefit of free trade. Only $4 on top of the converted price instead of $8-$15

 

I agree that being owned by the same company makes it less shadey. Personally, I could not do this though. Same company or not, to me you are being fraudulant here. If anything wait for the deluxes to show up at the other store and pick them up there and then return them to Target to ge the difference. Usually you have up to 90 days to return with a receipt, so they should show up by then. I would just be afraid of the karmic slap that would be waiting for you if you were to pull the old substituted return.

Good Luck!

 

i suggest you quantify the quandry via formulas/equations. its the scientific thing to do.

 

Why the heck are the toys $22 USD?

 

Prolly a combination of higher import tariffs imposed by Australia and increased distribution costs due to the market being smaller than the US.

 

If it involves something shady....don't do it. No point having a hobby that tempts you to do something wrong....know what I mean?

 

OR you could buy 4 Protoforms at K-Mart on sale and when they get stock in for the other deluxes, return the Protoforms and exchange them for the other toys. They end up being the same retail price.


I've done this before. TRU had Energon Megatron for 1/2 off. I picked one up and kept it boxed. When they got Energon Galvatron in and the receipt was still valid, I did an exchange. I got Galavatron for the sale price even though the sale was over.