Seriously? Scalpers make items harder to acquire and drive up the cost -- why wouldn't collectors hate scalpers?

 

Please, you must pardon me. I am brand new to this forum and brand new to the collectors community at all.

If you buy at item at the TRU MSRP, you can sort of thank scalpers for making your $70 MP Grimlock a $260 Grimlock. If not for them, the value of the toys would be less...

I guess I can see it both ways.

On the one hand, I am beginning to get excited about collecting TF figures, and of course would like to get them as cheap as I can (for me). On the other hand, once I have something, I would be really excited to hear that it is worth 2-3 times more than I paid. Makes it way easier to justify to the wife, lol..

To be honest, it's the fact that there is such a huge interest in the toys that people would scalp them to begin with, no?

 

Yes, the theoretical story makes you a scalper! The differnce between scalping and the comic shop owner is that the shop owner has a business license, and buys direct from a distributor to sell to customers as a retail outlet. You are buying from the retail outlet to resell on the aftermarket for an increased profit that is above the going rate. Sorry, but if you don't consider what you're doing scalping, what do you call scalping? What is your definition of it?

Now, if you were reselling them for "cost" to other collectors, and were buying everything you could, that's a different story since you're helping fellow collectors.

 

The solution to scalpers is for the toy companies to make plenty of product available and not do exclusives so the scalpers can't sell at prices significantly above what the retailers are selling them for. The thundercracker prices on ebay have pretty much tanked now that there is a lot of product out there.

 

Can we not argue about scalping in a non-related thread? Take it to the Toy forum and argue to your hearts content.

 

You say "What you're doing". I have not done anything. I am just trying to sort out the mentality here...

So if there was like an "Anti Scalper" who went around to TRU buying MP TF figures, and then hopped on the forum was like HERE WE GO GUYS! I BOUGHT 25 OF THESE MP FIGURES! JUST PAYPAL ME THE MSRP YOU WOULD HAVE PAID IN STORE AND I WILL SHIP FOR FREE!!! YAY!

Like... how is it fair for someone to ship things free, to sell at the same cost he paid, when his time/gas/effort is worth something too?

Believe me, I would LOVE for someone to make a thread saying they bought 100 of the TRU MP Grimlocks and have been saving them for the good members of TFW, and will sell them at a cost of $69.99 to be fair...

But that will never happen.

Loads of Comic Stores and Vintage Toy Stores buy people's collections at a low cost, with the specific intention of selling them on ebay. I don't think that makes them bad, but they certainly are buying "as much as they can to sell it on the aftermarket".

Here is a photo I took at Dallas Vintage Toys last week.



Scalping? They obviously bought a LOT of the same thing... at a low price... to sell at a higher price. I never thought "woah, these are some bad guys"....

 

Either your trolling or plain dumb, there is no mentality to "sort out" it is a normal human reaction to hate on people that buy from a retail outlet and resell in a secondary market at much higher prices.

Why is this a surprise to you?

 

Scalpers driving up cost and adding value to ones collection only really matters to those who are interested in re-selling their collection at some point. So, yeah, there might be some who don't mind scalpers because of that, but you're just now getting into collecting, right? Imagine that even with all the time in the world, you're still not able to get to the stores before the scalpers clear it out. It's their right to buy and re-sell, but now you'll be forced to either give up, or buy one of the scalped toys online.

It might be legal and maybe even fair, but for those that lose out at buying it at the store price, yeah, they have the right to hate the scalpers.

 

Easily the post of the day!!! Upzzzz!!!!

 

He has a point, scalpers do drive up the secondary market.

I don't scalp, it's an irritating part of the hobby, but I think some the hate is a little much. Why don't people get mad at the people that pay scalper prices? Scalpers would have no market if not for them. Things can only sell for what people are willing to pay. I see this as a chicken or the egg scenario. Isn't the buyer a jerk for driving up the price on people with less money?

It sucks when something gets priced out of your budget, but remember at the end of the day it's just a toy.

ps..... happy to see Thundercracker prices tanking on eBay

 

Understood, and thank you.  

Sorry for taking this thread off-topic.

And no, I was not trolling. So let's just chalk this one up to stupidity and move along.  

 

This is way off topic... I've started a new thread so this one can get back on topic, as requested. Sorry guys for getting so off topic!

http://www.tfw2005.com/boards/transformers-toy-discussion/662462-scalping-discussion-continuation.html#post8351037

 

Awesome! I can't afford to order him now anyways. I wanted him last Christmas (Japanese figure). To get pretty much the same thing for almost 200 dollars cheeper is great news indeed!

 

i guess i'll just have to call the store in the next state over when they are released. :z

 

I do not see where this was mentioned, but do we have an item number yet? The item number listed online is longer than 6 digits and the stores are telling me it has to be a 6 digit number. Help! Thanks so much in advance.

 

Seems like there is a pre-order Prime SKU ( for pre-order stock) and a SKU for brick and mortar retail store stock Prime. They will both be different because it seems the TRU computer systems have issues talking to each other

 

Should be 863856

 

Thanks all.. very much.

 

Just clled local TRU and they don't have this item for preorder . Damn ~BTW Im in Jacksonville FL

 

Actually, many small comicbook stores sell aftermarket Toys at akyrocket prices.
A store I frequented in California had RID Scourge for $75 at the same time regular retailers had him for MSRP. When the RID line was phased out, they jumped the price to $100.