Official Sales, Deals, and Coupons Thread- Rules in First Post

Discussion in 'Transformers Toy Discussion' started by Matty, Nov 19, 2010.

  1. RodimusRex

    RodimusRex Well-Known Member

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    Theft, damage, and loss are a factor too.

    Also, brickseek generally doesn’t work for individual item UPCs or DPCIs very well because the stores track by assortment code. The individual UPCs/DPCIs are generally only useful for online orders.

    My recollection with DPCIs is that between stores and through most software, they can only look up assortments which is all they report to the vendor tracking data used by Brickseek but some in-store stuff sometimes is visible to managers or people at the store level only if it’s not been released through a reset.

    Short answer: Brickseek can be helpful with Walmart and Target but treat it as an estimate and avoid individual item codes.
     
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  2. jru42287

    jru42287 Ass Möde is a way of life.

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    It's usually pretty accurate, in my experience. The problem is the store's inventory is wrong most of the time. This is due to stocking errors and, as @RodimusRex said above, theft, damage, and loss.
     
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  3. Diecast G2

    Diecast G2 Transtectorless

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    Usually it's awful right after store-wide inventory too. Wal-mart used to use a third party company to come in and do their inventory, (you know, people with lots of experience just matching UPCs and SKUs and all that unfun stuff) but in the last year or two switched to just using in-store staff. Which includes a lot of people who have never been in the toy aisle before scanning what they think counts as a deluxe class figure or what they think is a ultra 3 step figure...

    One of my local stores basically stopped ordering generations figures for 6 months because who they had scan the transformers messed it all up.
     
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  4. Fleebnork

    Fleebnork Well-Known Member

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    Ok, well, I don't really know who is at fault. Brickseek has never worked out for me. Not even one single time. Zero. Nada. Zilch.
     
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  5. TFXProtector

    TFXProtector TFW2005 Supporter

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    Long story short, the following are all factors:

    -Store reporting systems and staff inability. (Walmart wants to say they're stolen so they don't have to go look.) Anything 3 and under of an item is "limited stock", and systems don't update until midnight usually.

    -Blocked on the retailer end. Target has been blocking Brickseek for months, now. I was even asked to leave the Target in Mentor, Ohio because the guy refused to help me because of it. Fortunately, Walmart still plays ball.

    -Codes may have changed. If an item goes on clearance, they can assign a new DPCI or UPC for such purposes. If that's the case, current numbering will report errors.

    More often than not, Brickseek works for Walmart, not Target, and it's imperfect.
     
  6. Toker

    Toker Well-Known Member

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    60% of the time, it works every time.
     
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  7. BenjaminXavier

    BenjaminXavier Well-Known Member

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    Yeah, another problem I've seen is when the stock is buried in a back room somewhere and employees can't find it or aren't bothered to. there was a Walmart near me that supposedly had 4 Jetfires when they were on clearance for $20 and I went several times and couldn't find them (and I never saw them at full price either). One day Brickseek said "low stock" instead and I went in and there was only one on the shelf. I grabbed it to buy it and an employee stocking the shelves nearby said he had just been handed the box by someone in the baby dept that morning, it was apparently buried in a large pallet of diapers that had never been un-palleted. So it sat in the back for months where no one knew where it was.
     
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  8. itMFtis

    itMFtis Well-Known Member

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    It's great we agree that Brickseek isn't completely reliable. Use at your own peril, that sort of thing. Can we get back to the deals?
     
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  9. Kingragnork

    Kingragnork Well-Known Member

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    That isn't right how that Target employee treated you. They cant ask you to leave because you asked them to look up an item that you saw on brickseek. Me and my GF both work for Target and whoever that guy is needs to be reported for that since that is not how we treat guests. We are supposed to go above and beyond for every guest and never ask anyone to leave not even thieves, that's what AP is for.

    I dont work in toys every week but have on occasion and the system we use in store that also reports online inventory with the target app is semi accurate. They moved away from wanting guests to rely on Brickseek and more on the app is my guess. As was mentioned before we do our own inventory reporting from the moment it comes in off the truck.

    Since I'm a collector myself all I pay attention to when I look up to see if we got new figures in is based off the last shipment received date for specific assortments. You can do this as well when you go in store and have them look up by item # aka DPCI. Since all the figures go by case assortment even if I have the exact item # of say Siege Astrotrain as soon as I type that # into the system it instead pulls up an assortment based on the price point/class of figure. You can ask them if it shows any in the back and what the last received shipment date was. Implying that if something came in recently it is likely new and not out on the floor yet because the older stuff is taking up space. Every Target I go to when I'm toy hunting will go and check all the backstock locations for me for the figure I want so long as they actually understand what im looking for specifically. I generally will show them a picture of what the figure looks like in its packaging along with the name since most people dont know anything about toys much less Transformers. The more info the better. It is how I found an entire case of rung/singe/pteraxadon and Spinister/Crosshairs/(forget the other deluxe) just sitting in the backroom for days not put out on the floor.
    This happens for numerous reasons, the primary being that when employees are pushing out inventory that came in off the truck that day they are checking either or both (supposed to be both, always) the store inventory off our device and what is physically there on shelves. Like I said, some people, generally lazy ones will go by what the device says only and not bother checking the shelf location to verify the quantity there and if anymore can fit. So, these people will end up just back stocking the item(s) or of course the device and shelf location match up with each other and it's full so they then correctly backstock that item that just came in off the truck. A savvy person like myself will know what is new and is not new and if the shelves are full I'll make it a point to backstock some old waves of figures and put out the new stuff. Most employees are not toy savvy so they dont know, nobody's fault.
     
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  10. Teepo

    Teepo Well-Known Member

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    Friendly PSA: ebay bucks expire on SUNDAY NIGHT, February 2nd, which is Super Bowl Sunday, at 1159PM. That is 3.5 days from now. Happy hunting and I hope everyone finds some good stuff :) 
     
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  11. DukeFett

    DukeFett Well-Known Member

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    I've been waiting to see if they'll do an 8-10x eBay bucks thing in the last few days. I think they have the last few quarters.
     
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  12. Foster

    Foster Haslab Victory Saber Backer #3 Veteran

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    Oh man no wonder my eBay sales have been brisk inis week!
     
  13. AzT

    AzT Moderator News Staff TFW2005 Supporter

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  14. Exastiken

    Exastiken Into the Cyberverse

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  15. Fc203

    Fc203 Jazz is a Pontiac not a Porsche

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  16. heltskelt

    heltskelt Well-Known Member

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  17. Matthew Haskett

    Matthew Haskett Well-Known Member

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    I have never worked for WalMart, nor do I know how Brickseek’s algorithms and data scans work but I think it is likely that one of the major weaknesses is related to how WalMart tracks and reconciles damaged inventory/returns, layaways, and WalMart.com pickups.

    While I imagine returns at most locations are processed and returned to a point of sale location quickly, your mileage will certainly vary based on the productivity of your WalMart’s staff. However both damaged inventory and layaways have two issues that retailers often struggle with. Not only do they they sit around for long periods time, the inventory itself is reconciled at irregular or infrequent intervals.

    The WalMart.com sales and pickups are another potential issue, however it’s possible that it is completely unrelated. The reason I suspect it is involved is related to the point made by RodimusRex that stores track by assortment.
     
  18. TheGame2K5

    TheGame2K5 Well-Known Member

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  19. OCProwl

    OCProwl Autobot Dad

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    Buy and return. Store pickup is free...
     
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  20. Fc203

    Fc203 Jazz is a Pontiac not a Porsche

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    Bluestreak and barricade are the best versions of the mold imo i still need to get smokescreen but the black makes them look so sleek
    You can try to get barricade he is on sale on a few places too
    Transformers Generations War for Cybertron Deluxe WFC-S41 Barricade Figure

    http://www.walmart.com/ip/Transform...ron-Deluxe-WFC-S41-Barricade-Figure/913005633
     
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