Stop the Scalping!
Or why you can't find those toys you want |
|||||||
With the latest Toy Island Sonic lines currently on the shelves in 2006, the issue of scalping has come up again. Many toy lines before Sonic have had the problem, and their fans have also written articles. But now that someone's messing with Sonic...
First of all, what is scalping? Who is doing it? Why are grownups a problem? What does Scalping do? The real problem with scalping is, it is self-escalating! |
|||||||
Of course, online retail is guilty too... If you look around at online toy-stores, you'll see their own brand of fan-fleecing. All you have to do is look for Shadow the Hedgehog! It's disgusting how he is always TRIPLE the price of nearly anyone else available. Why? Because they can get away with it. Stores are allowed to price things however they want, and they know that Shadow is "black gold" to the fans so they have no problem charging outrageous sums. The only saving grace of online retail is, they didn't swipe it directly from under your fingers. Most places order them by the case, at wholesale from the company and then just do whatever they feel like with the prices. How can YOU stop it or avoid it?
Second: Use your voice. Third: Ignore high priced Ebay Auctions The Next Level The parent company doesn't really benifit from figure scarcity. Why? They have a set price (wholesale) for the item that retailers can buy it at. For example, maybe Toy Island has figures wholesale for $4.00 each or something. No matter how many they sell, they're always getting $4/per guy. But that's ok, because they had them made for $2.00 per guy. And the store is getting $5.99 per figure, which is still not outrageous. But if some ripoff joint is charging $19.99 for every Shadow, Toy Island is still gonna get $4.00. Same thing with 'used' or second-hand stuff. The original maker only profits ONE time: the original sale. If you want to go to the next level for yourself and other fans, you could write to Toy Island (mysteriously, they do not have a website) and ask for better distribution/more Shadow/Rouge etc. or just bring up any issues they have. Just type up something and throw it in the mail. It takes 5 minutes, can't hurt you, and may improve things. You can write to them at: Toy Island Mini-Note on International Sonic Friends |
|||||||