Reselling toys is a business like any other. The ability to make wise economic decisions is really no different than any other industry, and missteps can tank the business. Supply and demand drives it, and overestimating demand can be costly.
See, the problem with that is that the market is really stratified between stuff that sells for pennies on the dollar and stuff that's extortionately-priced. A small business, in the sense of a real mom and pop type operation, cannot get common products cheap enough to turn a profit. Amazon Japan and ePackets from China kill us on imports. Ollies, the embargo, and big retailer clearance dumps kill us on domestics. I may have closed my Embarrassment Earth account out of spite but I left my two backups expire because there was no point. Looking at my own thought processes, I would not be surprised if some scalpers were sock puppets. If I could've gotten ahold of two or three GoLion reissues, I might've chanced it. Might've. The lure of being able to throw away (literally stomp down into a trash can) two cases of Marvel Legends for every GoLion sold was strong. But then I thought, where would I sell this? Marketplaces will kill you on their fees _if_ they don't aid in fraud or extortion. And locally, good luck. Shows are, by and large, a cash only affair and nobody's carrying $500 around. It's a lose-lose proposition. Best to just buy one for myself, if I can, and stay out of the chaos that ensues.
You guys need to join toy groups on Discord. They are around for this very reason. I don't know of any Transformer specific ones but the Action Figures Reddit has a very active one and most popular toys are alerted.
Scalpers can go suck a big one. People that buy more than one of something just so they can "sell" the extra, while some poor schmuck (me) sits in the corner unable to buy it, can rot in hell. I'd love to sit outside some Scalpler's "Warehouse" (or shed in their backyard?) and just watch it burn. I'd roast marshmallows. When I'm at the store scoping out toys, and I see some Joe-Bob grabbing 2 or 3 of the same Marvel Legend off the shelf, I always make sure to make a big deal out of it and embarrass them publicly. Why? Because "F" scalpers, THAT'S WHY. Grrrrrrr
I've read some chatter where folks thought Dairugger wasn't as popular...but apparently...it was/is. And for us collectors, underestimating the demand can be costly too. To be fair, not everyone that buys multiples are scalpers. I've bought multiple of the same Marvel Legends figures for buddies/fellow board members here/and one for me. Especially if I was asked to look out for them by multiple people. I've bought 2 SOC GoLions because I wanted one to display in combined mode, and one in their separate lion mode. Unless you know that specific individual actually is a scalper, then publicly shaming someone for their purchasing decisions really just makes you look like an asshole. Not saying you are one, but just publicly shaming someone without even knowing who they are, and what they're doing makes you look real bad. I've had a friend get cussed out for buying multiples of the same figure, but he was helping me get one, and one for each of his two sons. Sometimes...it's better to just not assume too much just because we're angry that we weren't able to score a toy.
Not sure if you're aware, but they've strongly moved away from PayPal. I dropped my billing agreement so fast, in preference of a no fee credit card. If you don't need to use PayPal, I recommend it. It's the one change to their site they've actually done for the better, imo.
One neat tidbit for SOC Dairugger is that it'll be able to store the fists underneath the stand. Not sure if that's been shown yet.
I actually knew a scalper who would go around and mess up the packages to prevent other collectors from picking up certain things when he couldn't pick it up then and there (or he'd hide it). Unfortunately for him...I'm one that opens my toys and throws away the packaging As far as GX-88, I wasn't in fear of missing out, but this was a piece from my childhood. And it's well articulated...dare I say, better than the original one I have (somewhere in my house )...so it made sense for me to try to get one. I wasn't going to be upset that I didn't. But luckily...I got one at preorder price Yeah I haven't shopped at HLJ in a long while. The last time was preorder night, and it did let me use Paypal...should I have actually scored an order But alas, I was cartjacked so no worries there With other retailers getting hacked and ID theft going on, I'd much rather NOT store any card information on any retailer's site. Not gonna take any chances at all with that.