It's incredibly ironic that you of all people would agree with this practice. Especially considering the number you have in stock and what you're doing with them.

 

Don't feel too bad about it. The real test is whether enough of the people who are pissed off about it can carry through on taking their business elsewhere. If enough do it, then TFSource will feel it on their bottom line, which is the only way this whole thing will have any impact at all.

Lots of people will talk big, say how angry they are at these shady practices, and then when the next big thing comes out, they'll have their wallets out all over again. That's the way this crap usually goes.

 

It's understandable that people would be upset when retail outlets don't sell items for MSRP. Car dealers do that on hot cars/trucks and how do we feel about that?

 

seems to have quite a few Snowman Appendages too..hummmm! Curt is that you? lol

 

Give it a few months, the next source of outrage will pop up, and someone will top this thread. No doubt of that.

 

Very well said bro! I feel the same way.

 

mac&cheese=falconsfan777

TRANSFORMERS FANSPROJECT SHADOW SCYTHER ADD ON KIT MISB - eBay (item 290519853347 end time Jan-12-11 23:16:35 PST)

 

So the guy that couldn't decide on getting ONE...and needed to sell himself on getting one, has three or four up on eBay. Nice.

Wish I could have gotten ONE from TFSource...who was my only supplier of overseas Transformer goodness since they started! It's all good...I ended up with one from RobotKingdom, but again...wish I could have ordered from my one and only trusted location. Personally, I don't see a problem with what TFSource.com did, but I can understand the negative publicity it would attract. They seem to be handling it in a positive manner now, and I think that is the true test of a company. Follow through.

 

My experiences with TFSource have been very positive. They have fair prices, amazing packaging and quick shipping. They also have one of the nicest looking sites around.

Unfortunately, though, TFSource seems to keep giving themselves a self inflicted black eye over FP exclusives. Next time, TFSource should clearly indicate how many units they will hold back to cover damaged/defective units on the item's page. Then, clearly state that remaining units, after 'X' amount of time, will be made available at the current rate on a first-come-first-serve basis (1 per customer) to those that used the 'Personal Assistant'. The amount of items available might actually be more due to canceled or non paid for units. This method would more than likely mean that those receiving it will be actual fans who want it and not scalpers, because they placed the order shortly after it went out of stock and before prices become inflated in the after market. In other words, these people requested it before they knew what the price would become (though it's a safe bet that any FP exclusive will go up in price, but that's not the point).

Alternatively, if TFSource wants to play the aftermarket price hike game, then also make that clear on the item's page. They should state that we have 'X' amount available at this low introductory price. After this initial quantity is sold out we'll make 'X' amount available in 'X' amount of weeks/months (after we've covered returns/exchanges due to defects & damages) at a fair market value. The higher price will help us defray the costs due to returns/exchanges and to make a tidy profit. This option is honest, but also seems a bit mercenary.

As for losing money on exclusives due to returns/damages/cancellations (shipping to and fro) that should be factored across all of the units and not tried to be made up on the back end. First, that's just a risky business move. What if all of the reserve is used for damages/defects? Then, you're really at a loss. Second, it looks like scalping when you try to make up your profit on the last 'X' amount of product several weeks/months later after the item is sold out and the market value has predictably gone up, creating negative threads like this one and on Facebook.

I hope this post isn't taken as criticism for this debacle. I truly hope it's taken as constructive advice for how future exclusives could be handled. As a Transformer fan I want to see all the sponsors of this site and others succeed. Not only for themselves, but for us the fans and for the sites they support.

 

Don't know if Curt is BS'ing or not. It's up to everyone to personally decide but I've got counters to some comments I see slung around.

1) "There should have been a limit of 1"
The exclusive market for colletibles is too hard to accurately predict demand for figures. There were only about 2,000 Shattered Hot Rod/Wildriders made so you couldn't really predict that they would sell out in hours. Funpub ran into the same problem with PCP because they couldn't price it lower but didn't think the demand was going to be as high as it was at that price.

2) "Funpub sells it's warehouse finds at original price."
That's part of Funpub promise to its members as a transformers club, not a retail store. They are the only ones who do this. BBTS and RK raise prices all the time. Also, in Funpub's case they are licensing TF's directly from Hasbro so there might be other limitations.

3) "Robotkingdom doesn't do this, Robotkindgom doesn't do that."
Robotkingdom had the "warehouse finds" of its Superion Crossfire sets within a week. When Robotkingdom was selling the Shadow Scythers their stock was fluctuating both up AND down and we never did find out why. There's a whole lot of unknowns out there.

4) "TFSource bad! Fansproject should stop doing business with them."
Are you people already forgetting the TFCON Powered Commander Fiasco? Fansproject screwed up, apologized, some believed them and some didn't, but so far Fansproject has seemed to have learned from it. If TFSource is sincere (or even to improve their business) they'll learn from this experience also.

 

Thanks for killing the dream. I was having a fun time deciding if mac was trolling or mentally deficient. What will I do for fun now?

 

Didn't I see him crying about how he didn't get one in News & Rumors section?

 

Thanks to all who purchase one. I will not waste my time saying what ive said before about them. I already mention them enough. People have the right to sell at whatever they want to, even tf source. Im perfectly fine with that as well. thanks for all who supported. btw just for the records. I missed out of them too. I did my very, very, hard work and found another way to get some.

 

So, in the News & Rumor thread on the Shadow Scyther set, were you lying when you said you didn't get a set? You went on forever how you were hoping BBTS would get them so you could buy one since you missed it from TFSource and RBK didn't you? Maybe I missed where you said you picked up several. If not, what the hell was that all about? Why act like you were having a hard time getting one when you had 3 or more already ordered?

 

No I was not lying, I really missed out, as I said before. I did my very, very hard work and found a way to get more. I mention that enough already. I did email bbts they decided that they werent sure anymore. bbts said they are deciding and never got them in yet. So who knows what they will do.

 

So you did very hard work to find more, but not from BBTS? How may I ask did you manage to buy multiple sets if I may ask?

 

I bought some from another seller and resold them. So I really dont earn much at all of these. I wished I would have got them for retail. But hey a little is better then nothing at all right? it pays off some of my ko sets, and whatever else I might need. I think thats ok to do as a collector myself.

 

Man, don't try to explain why you do what you do. Some people will respect that and others will ridicule you - it's the nature of people in the fandom. Personally, I understand cause I use TFs to fund my collecting habits as well cause my career is used to fund all the other aspects of my life.

 

I would like to know an answer from Mac to this as well but I will ask more directly:

Why are you trying to be an ass so hard?

 

I'd been a bystander to all this, checking in on this thread for the past day or two out of curiosity, and nothing had even slightly startled me, let alone made my jaw drop...until I saw that link.

My my.