I got the same email from Baba requesting payment in full also. Should i go ahead and pay in full or wait? the $214.99 is with shipping fees correct?

 

You are speaking out of ignorance when it comes to the pricing increases on FT figures. The "huge" increase in freight is on the order of 10-20% more per kilo than in the past, meanwhile FT's price has increased around 30-35% of the overall solicited price for the product in the case of Berserk/Thomas. Most of that increase is unrelated to freight costs, though that provides a convenient excuse for the timing of the price increase.

Sellers like baba that established themselves on eBay a few years ago through price arbitrage that enabled them to resell products acquired at the China market rate with none of the costs of a North American retailer, have continued to increase their prices over time to where they are only saving you a few bucks vs local retailers. They were leaving too much money on the table and had no reason to sell you the product for tens of dollars less than local retail price when most of the people who shop with baba will still buy it from them even to save only a few dollars.

 

Got an email as well, given that he's currently charging $45-70 shipping on similar products, I'm extremely hesitant right now.

I don't mind paying the current price, maybe even $10-15 for a little extra shipping, but current shipping bumps him up to TT prices.

 

Got the same email. He's back up for full price pre-order: Pre-order Transformers FansToys FT44 FT-44 Thomas G1 Astrotrain Action figure Toy

Sounds like FT has decided to make another production run based on how many guaranteed/full paid pre-orders get done. Rather than just $0, no penalty POs like BBTS where you can just submit an order, never pay and then just cancel it at any time. They're saying, people who pay up now - we'll make one.

 

Wonder how long we'll have before payment is needed

 

Got the same email. Ugh. Full payment Pre-order? Who knows when this thing will even see the light of day.

 

Not to derail too much but what a world we live in where people pay $45 for GoBot-sized legends class figures. People were fleeing the high prices of larger figures only to wind up paying anyway. Reminds me of how every time I cut electricity usage to save money, the price per kWh or fixed transmission charges goes up so I don't.

But to get back on track, if you want to feel better about $200 for Astrotrain, go look at what NewAge and Magic Square are charging for legends these days.

 

Well this is some bullshit. I'm not willing to pay up front on a pre-order unless I'm sure it's going to release within the 180 day paypal protection period. For now I'm going to leave my pre-order where it is and if they insist on full payment or they'll cancel, then I'll cancel. I want Astrotrain but I'm only willing to put up with so much to get him. The obscene price has already pegged the meter on what I'll put up with.

"No reason?" I mean I have no reason not to go around kicking puppies but that doesn't mean I'm going to do it. Chinese sellers can afford to sell for less because they're able to get it from closer to the source without paying the customs and other overhead that comes from being a seller in the US. If they're able to make a fair profit while charging less than the competition, then I'd argue they have no reason to sell for the same price as the competition. Other than greed, that is, I don't count that as a legitimate reason. I mean we have no reason to buy from them if we can get the same product for the same price closer to home, right?

On the other hand, I don't think it's as simple as that in this case. ShowZ will always undercut the competition if they can, yet their price is about the same and their listing doesn't allow for a deposit like usual. I'd bet that FT is enforcing this price and they're not allowed to price it lower, like we saw with XTB's Gravestone last year.

[edit] Hey, @ibot you've got a golden opportunity to undercut the competition here. I'd drop this product in a heartbeat if XTB announced their version of Astrotrain and I bet I'm not the only one.

 

There is always the possibility its an error.

I was waiting for baba to update the final price on Iceman considering that's the next FT release,

However he updated the final price on Iceman and Thomas at the same time, Probably just sent the payment email for the wrong figure, since Iceman is released next week.

and I haven't received my email to pay the balance for Iceman yet

 

Man, what a crappy situation for everyone. On one hand, Baba is a trusted seller. But then again, he/she wouldn't be the first one that went rouge (I doubt this is the case).

And outside of PP protection, geez. If you must, I'd just use a CC as a backup payment for the transaction so that at least you are covered even if PP tells you to eat crap.


This is truly a shitshow.

 

Got the Baba email. Was expecting a shakedown for shipping on Sheridan now this? I’m not going to let them sit on 200 bucks. This hobby just keeps getting harder to enjoy.

 

You mentioning cancelling made me go look and see if there was a way to cancel the preorder and there is none. So guess the only option is to do what you are doing which is to just wait and let them cancel the pre-order then lose the deposit.

Edit: Meant that second sentence to be more of a question than statement. Sorry.

 

Yeah the fact that Showz is only taking full cost too is strange. It must be FT specific because they aren't doing that for Unicron or Bruticon or any other high priced pre-order but are also doing it for Iceman. Something's different with FT preorders

 

FANSTOOOOOOOOOYS

 

"No reason" in the context in which I wrote it, which is to say, the business economics perspective rather than an emotional, subjective "what I think is fair" commentary.

There is every reason for a seller like baba to make as much profit as they can while taking advantage of the market economics (the gap between acquisition price in China and retail price in North Ameica) for however long they can. It is the reason they exist in the first place. Should that gap shrink too far or go away entirely, it is likely this alternate purchase pathway for North American consumers would disappear as well. Such is life, things ebb and flow. They know that, too, which is why they need to make their profits while they can.

They have a prime position being able to acquire the product for less and being able to keep so much of the margin as profit vs the costs of a retail establishment in the US. They have no reason to continue pricing as aggressively low as they did when they first started and had a need to establish themselves using price as their primary attractant.

People were more willing to take the risk with a little-known overseas seller when the price was significantly lower than local retail price, as the savings were significant enough to offset the communication barriers, extra shipping time, etc. As they grew and established themselves as a trusted seller, they no longer needed to discount as heavily, so they could expand their margin.

 

wonder what is going on with FT. is it a miscommunication or did they overextend themselves at the exact wrong time with the pandemic hitting? or something else?

 

Honestly, if it came down to it I don't mind forking up front like Ami-Ami or AE Express, as long as it isn't the new norm. My problem is forking over $215 up front, only to learn at release that shipping is an extra $45. Fuck that!

 

Their products sell faster and more heavily than practically any other 3P. They can raise their prices because the market can bear it, as evidenced by the sellouts of pre-orders even on figures with the new, higher pricetags. This is both a convenient time to do a price increase while there are other factors at play like freight increases and the recovery from the pandemic that can be blamed for the entirety of the increase even though that only amounts to a portion of it, and it also helps cover any real increased costs of production as well, so win-win. There's nothing significantly amiss at FT, no "overextension" I'm aware of. There's actually just a lot in their favor right now and they are doing what they can while the opportunity exists, and what consumer behavior and pricing strategy at other companies like Takara showed them they can do with little downside risk.

 

Yeah, I don't mind paying up front. I've done it with all my orders with him. But I don't want this figure to get an extra email upon release saying I got pay $50 extra in shipping costs.

A price I didn't realize was possible until I started looking at ordering a General Grant on his site.

 

Dang. I got the email just now also. Not too worried about payment up front it’s the unknown shipping that’s bothering me.

What to do??