As others have said they end up being the last game in town more often than not, and if it's something you really really want you'll probably rather go with them as opposed to someone you don't know on eBay. Also they advertise very very heavily on these boards so I guess a lot of new collectors fall for that as well. Heck I'm from the UK and when I first got into collecting years back for third party I nearly pulled the trigger on a maketoys quantron, luckily I decided before finalizing the purchase to Google it and found bbts half the price, but I was a click away from double paying basically. Customs still bent me over of course... Thank god I found kapow toys, TFS express, showz etc not long after!
not sure why they do the things they do. i stop using them after my credit card info was stolen for the second time on their site. not worth the hassle.
I had to see it for myself that MP 47 Hound is 250? GTFO! I use TFSource from time to time not going to say I never will but those price hikes on certain figures when else where is either less or half I stay away from. Problem is some people are buying them, other wise why would they keep on doing it. It’s sickening and I think it’s even higher on the Target website that TFSource sells through as well.
Sometimes the higher price is worth it because availability is zero everywhere else. Lot to be said for that actually. They helped me acquire quite a few hard to find Iron Factory figures. For the people complaining about price hikes after everywhere else has sold out, you can stop. You are not the market for these late tax items. For new stuff they are super fast. I love ordering from them because they usually ship from PA, and I get it the next day or two days later. Love it.
https://tfsource.com/masterpiece/mp-36-plus-megatron/ Mp36+ for $400 Despite RTB having him for $200 +30 shipping Is a favorite of mine. https://robotoybase.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=150_31_69&product_id=4907
I fail to see why a trusted overseas retailer isn't comparable to a trusted domestic retailer. Break it down for me...
Reading through some of the replies... Blaming it on "greed" pulls at my emotional heart strings like it does for many here, but the reality is it's just prudent business practice to allow the market to guide the pricing rather than holding to an outdated MSRP for a figure no longer in production. On rare or older items, sometimes that involves testing out different pricing. If the items don't sell, you can bet they will reduce the prices until they find the price where they clear the market. Thinking things through fully (which many here do not), they had to pay to acquire the inventory rather recently, long after production ended, so they may well have paid above the original MSRP to acquire the units, in which case there's no reason they should be forced to sell them for a loss. And if they're selling at the higher price, it tells us that their prices are indeed reasonable to buyers, which is all that matters at the end of the day. The buyer is theoretically paying to acquire a relatively rare product from (what they consider to be) a trusted retailer vs a random person on eBay or overseas TaoBao/Ali front. The market currently offers the choice if they prefer to do that over paying less for the added risk of the unknown/unfamiliar. That said, there are reasons to not use TFSource. This isn't one of them, imho. I wouldn't personally pay an inflated price for a figure, and I avoid buying things that have been opened/used, but I have the benefit of being in the hobby since those figures were originally released and didn't miss out on them at retail. There are other hobbies where items were acquired after their original runs and I've paid the late tax for those. It's my choice in order to acquire the thing I want. I'm thankful to be able to afford them at all.
I've not used TFSource in years. I've also transitioned, started to anyway, to Super Robots and Gundam Kitbashing so I've not needed their services. When in doubt, BBTS, ShowZ, for TF, ShowZ. When their hacking fiasco hit, is when the rubber hit road for me.
No that’s no what I’m saying, hell I haven’t bought anything from them since they had a store in Minnesota. I really don’t care if the price stuff sky high, cause I’ll shop around anyway, but I’m sick of hearing people with the “it’s not fair” attitude of stores and there pricing but then don’t acknowledge the same issue with everyday stores. That’s my point!
The topic says 'TF Source Prices.' Why the hell would I spontaneously bring up other stores for the sake of making you feel better? Every other member on these boards whines about off-topic discussion like this is a maternity ward. But here you are, saying "Why didn't you change the topic so that it was more fair in my eyes?" Start a thread about how shitty another store is. I'll gladly join in.
BBTS had him up for 250 when he was in stock..... that ain’t overseas pal. Transformers Masterpiece MP-36 Megatron (With Orange Barrel Plug)
Seriously. Anytime somebody would like to explain why, if their prices are just a product of shipping costs, the base price isn't significantly lower with the additional fees added in, if applicable, I'm all ears. And the response of "bEcAuSe ItS nOT hOw ThE mArKeT wOrKS cUZ iTs GoTTa Be tHe SAmE pRiCEs!!" isn't going to cut it. It's everyone else's point that they aren't actually reflecting shipping expenses.
High prices are just a consequence of collector behavior. When I was ordering toys by the case for resale, I would've been thrilled to make 10% profit on average. It's not enough to have a physical store or employees but it would've been enough to fund my side project. But something happened between 2014 and 2017 that completely destroyed that dream. There I was, offering supposedly sought after toys at fair prices in a ridiculously dry market, and...crickets. They would sit for months and even years. Then, when prices had started to skyrocket on eBay, I was beset by a steady stream of beggars offering half retail like they were doing me a favor. Pretty soon, I learned to do what people accuse these established businesses of doing. New stock went right into storage for two years. Two years was usually long enough for supply to dry up and people to open those crusty wallets. But, like I always tell people, that is no way to run a healthy business. On the scale I was doing it, sure, you can get away with it for a while. How long depends on the quality of your picks and deepness of your pockets. But I sincerely doubt these places with warehouses are keeping a rotating two years of toys in cold storage, hoping to cash in on a market uptick. They'd prefer to move higher volumes at reasonable prices. But, if they can't do that, and the choice is between squeezing latecomers and losing their shirts, I know which I would've picked if I had depended on the income to make my house payment and put food on the table. Plus some of this is a natural consequence of peer-to-peer markets being destroyed. eBay, Amazon, etc are real pains in the ass for the hoops you have to jump through and ludicrously high fees charged. You know the old saying - fast, cheap, good, pick two? Well, it has its parallel in toys - buy from Embarrassment Earth, sell on eBay/Amazon, charge fair prices, pick two. This situation removes competition from the market, making it far more difficult for economic forces to keep big players in line. You want to really stick it to places you think are gouging? Go to toys shows when they open up in the summer and don't try to weasel $2 off every $20 toy. Let some of these upstarts that're more like fellow enthusiasts than your dealer make a few bucks.
Next time, just ask this to start, man... For fuck's sake, this is all it would take: "Does anyone know how this works? I don't." TF Source does not charge more because of freight. They charge for shipping on orders under $150 anyway, and their prices are still higher than other domestic retailers (not to mention, foreign ones which have to ship your order clear across the planet) on top of that. They also charge exorbitant prices for the secondhand stuff which they buy from individual collectors domestically, and yet, the quotes they offer for those items are absurdly low. It's not the cost of shipping and freight, dude. You keep telling people to shop somewhere else if they don't like it. But you could also piss off if you don't like that people complain about this, right? Okay. Glad we agree.[/QUOTE] yeah that wasn’t for you to answer, it was for the other people that started this thead, I just went back on topic
I have no idea what's up with them these days. It's like, yeah, they were always more than buying from Asia (even after factoring in shipping), but the same as places like The Chosen Prime or BBTS. And while I've heard and don't discount people telling about how they'd had bad service they'd always taken care of any issues I'd had, no problems. So sure, I used to do a lot of business with them. But lately? Only BBTS takes longer to get stuff in. Their prices for brand new items tend to be a little more, but after a few weeks they start going up. Aside from some Fans Toys stuff I have preordered that I don't want to lose out on I've since moved my other preorders to TCP; their website's not as polished, but their service is just as good or better, I don't pay tax on their orders since they're not in my state, they have the same free shipping on $150+, and their prices aren't crazier than X-Transbot's.
Is this for real? I thought they advertised 'bulletproof shipping'...is that a thing of the past once they started offering free shipping over $150?
