Guys, the US gets the cheapest prices on toys full stop, everywhere else in the world is about twice as expensive at least.
OK, this arguement. I don't think that is fair, but this an arguement which people use against each other all the time. I am screwed more then you are. OK, but why should either of us be screwed? It is a way to change the subject and get onto a different topic. US Politician and the Media is a master at doing this. If this is not how it was meant, then I apologize.
1) What's the difference between capitalism and greed? 2) This is similar to the let's call them individual profiteer situation. If BBTS is the only one doing this and you have a problem with them then take your business somewhere else. If everyone is doing this then that means the retailers are just adjusting to the market value.
Seconded. $50 for a Deluxe that we got at least 4 months behind everyone else? No thankyou! I also admire the OP's intent on trying to keep all of the price-related complaining into one thread, but so much anger cannot be kept contained into such a small space.
Not really looking to get involved in this back and forth when none of us seem to be on the business side of things. Just wanted to point out that I shop around and include shipping when pricing. I'm not going to just dump a figure in my POL and assume its all around cheaper. I would hope a lot of people do this. But in the POL case it is cheaper a lot of times if you are only adding .90 or 1.80 in shipping costs. But if i can get it cheaper elsewhere, I will. Now back to watching the back and forth.
1- Capitalism is to make money. 50% profits = greed. 2- Or it could be price fixing. Whatever way you choose to look at it.
Very true for over time shopping. But I have gotten cheaper shipping and sometimes free shipping working with people who have companies on here for large 1 time purchases.
That's not how it works at all. When you put in a pre-order BBTS charges you NOTHING. The shipping price they list is automated to tell you how much shipping for just that item is. If you have POL turned off then that items ships automatically when it comes in and you get charged for the item plus shipping. If you have POL on then you get charged for the item plus POL shipping which in this case would be $0-$0.90.
it's funny to me seeing venders getting defended when its very clear, even w/o hard "proof", that they are just taking advantage of our desires for collectables... SDCC Zarana for instance...BBTS got a buttload of them for, i'm guessing less than retail which was $14...but lets just say Hasbro didn't cut them a break...BBTS charges $30!...thats a 100% increase! tell me, how are they NOT taking advantage?...and thats only one example...
I have to admit I'm enjoying the sale prices going on right now. Voyagers for 15 at walmart? 5$ off coupons? The buy one get one free on cyberverse commanders a while back? Sometimes people have to be patient with regular retail items to get a good price. 3rd party products are a bit different and definitely not for the regular consumer. Those prices will probably always be "too high".
The extra cost on the shipped item has to do with the weight of the item added to the pile of loot. UPS: 90 cents more per pound UPS Parcel: $1.25 UPS Priority: $2.50
I agree, that is why I don't shop Best Buy. Like my 58 inch TV that I got for $1,250. People are like, Best Buy has that at $2000+. I always laugh when I hear that. That is what I paid for my whole 6.1 Onkyo system / Polk speakers with the TV. People gotta learn to shop correctly and realize when it is highway robbery.
1) Where's that 50% profit number coming from. And which profit are you talking about? Operating profit? Net Profit? Economic profit? Also, 50% profit per item or net business? 2) Price fixing involves get together and agreeing on a price to corner the market. One company doing something as a signal and others following is supply and demand. And price fixing isn't always illegal. I'm actually surprised that BBTS is doing this on a Fansproject product.
I miss the old days when I could get shipping from BBTS for $3.99 and the prices were fair and the fandom was'nt as big and ravenous, thank you Michael Bay lol. On a serious note, I think that its a combination of knowing that Transformers fans will pay large amounts of $ for their hobby compared to some fans from other lines that will haggle you to death for a $3.00 figure. The economy, rising costs, and the growing fanbase also make the final product cost more.
Zeller's jacked up the prices on Generations deluxes from $14.99 CAD to $17.99 CAD in one store, and to $19.99 CAD in another! :O
The only part of the whole price hike thing that gets my goat is when jackasses park on sites with exclusives hitting the refresh button so they can score, oh, a dozen of these rather limited toys at what passes as retail, snatching up pretty much the entire supply in less than a half hour if that long, just to post them on ebay and even the Junkion here for 200% over what they paid. THAT shit is what pisses me off. Yet how many of those same people would fork over that much if you pulled the same stunt? None, I'd wager.
1- I used Amazon Unicron as an example in previous posts. They buy it and receive free shipping on it from Amazon. They then in turn sell it for $90. That is 50% net profit. If we want to be a stickler about operating costs, my arguement is that BBTS operating cost has to be spread across all of their stock, so even at the worst they are seeing net profit margins of at least 40% on that item. That is not the only item on that, that they see these types of margins on. 2-Well, in the real world a company like Walmart competes with Target and so on, so they try to offer the lowest prices. In the TFers 3rd party world, there are 2 or 3 big guys, if that, in the US. If they see one guy making a change, they do the same change. Most consumers say, oh no, well what can you do. I am just recommending shop around. These smaller stores need recognition too. So it may not be collusion. But it is pretty damn close. It's more like, oh shit, BBTS did it, let's do it too. Same as the airline business. Oh, this company charges for bags. Did it work? Let's do it too!
The vendors ARE taking advantage. But that does not mean that they don't deserve to be defended. When the vendors decided to enter into the selling collector's market they assumed a higher risk. Therefore, they deserve a higher reward. You can call them greedy. You can call them whatever. But explain to me how it's "unfair"? If they overcharge they will go out of business.
