Marvel Legends discussion

[philtastic]

And just going back to CMD, they're a large(ish) toy retailer that usually has lots of inventory, so they list their items on all the various marketplaces to get in front of more shoppers, because most people know Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy, but they don't know CMD.

In fact, most people don't even know they're buying from a third-party seller. My dad bought a Transformer for my nephew on Amazon, and paid almost double. But he thought it was straight from Amazon. I showed him the real price, and he was pissed. But I went and got the toy at EB Games for 15% off, because I have an Onyx Edge card, and he returned the expensive one to Amazon.

Ultimately, it's a case of Caveat Emptor. Buyer beware. There are lots of places where you can find collectibles for regular prices, and even pre-order to make sure you get it. But if you want to just wait for sales, then you take your chances. And fair enough, these toys aren't cheap to begin with, but there's a risk it could sell out.

Again, I'll go to EB to start, because I have a permanent discount, and I buy enough to maintain it. Plus, ordering from Amazon and Walmart you're almost guaranteed to receive a damaged item. I picked up Squirrel Girl at Toys R Us today on a price match, because it was there in the store, and I could see it was in good shape. So screw Walmart.

[sixshot1981]

Originally Posted by ssjgoku22

It's not just them, the other marketplace sellers are doing that too. The figures were there for the sale price for a few hours. Suddenly they're all gone and CMD Stores price shows up. Where did all the figures end up? The same nonsense happens on Amazon too. The figures are up for MSRP. They suddenly sell out and the Marketplace prices show up.

Not every store does this, but CMD always seems to be the one selling stuff as a 3P seller for ridiculous prices.

Dont get me wrong part of me agrees with some of that. But unless there's proof I don't see how that would be allowed.

[ssjgoku22]

Originally Posted by sixshot1981

Dont get me wrong part of me agrees with some of that. But unless there's proof I don't see how that would be allowed.

I agree with everyone's points as well, but why wouldn't it be allowed? The store doesn't limit the amount you can purchase as it is, so someone buying out the current stock to resell it at a higher price is fairly logical.

I know it's speculation, but it's the same seller on multiple websites.

[philtastic]

Originally Posted by ssjgoku22

I agree with everyone's points as well, but why wouldn't it be allowed? The store doesn't limit the amount you can purchase as it is, so someone buying out the current stock to resell it at a higher price is fairly logical.

I know it's speculation, but it's the same seller on multiple websites.

Again, CMD has their own store, and their own inventory. They don't buy exclusives from Amazon, and resell them, because then Hasbro would stop selling them their regular stuff. When you sign up with Hasbro, or other distributors, you agree to their terms.

So you won't see an Amazon or Walmart exclusive sell out, and then show up as being sold by CMD. That only happens with real scalpers, because they don't have contracts with Hasbro.

But CMD does list their own inventory on all the marketplace sites, to get access to more customers. So when Walmart's inventory sells out, then it automatically shows the next lowest price, which many times, but not always, is CMD.

For instance, CMD's $75 for Cosmic Ghost Rider is high, but it's not scalper high. And since the extra $11 is just the Walmart/Amazon/Best Buy fee, it's more or less "reasonable." They're not charging double. I mean, sometimes they do charge a lot, because they don't stick to MSRP, but they aren't specifically buying retailer exclusives just to flip them for a profit. They'd probably lose their contract with Hasbro if they did.

[philtastic]

And regarding exclusive contracts, I believe that Amazon and the other big retailers should not be allowed to have their exclusives being re-sold at a markup on their own marketplaces. They could easily police that, but as I said before, they totally don't care. And Hasbro isn't going to go after them, because they represent 2/3 of their North American sales, and 1/3 of their global sales. That's why their are so many annoying exclusives to begin with. But Cosmic Ghost Rider was not an exclusive, in this case.

[Zeroflamez]

Originally Posted by philtastic

And regarding exclusive contracts, I believe that Amazon and the other big retailers should not be allowed to have their exclusives being re-sold at a markup on their own marketplaces. They could easily police that, but as I said before, they totally don't care. And Hasbro isn't going to go after them, because they represent 2/3 of their North American sales, and 1/3 of their global sales. That's why their are so many annoying exclusives to begin with. But Cosmic Ghost Rider was not an exclusive, in this case.

Amazon Pays Hasbro a large sum of money for exclusives. After that Hasbro could care less cause they already got paid. Hasbro doesn't get the money from the figure purchases, Amazon does.

[philtastic]

True. But if Hasbro wants to keep the end customer buying its products from its retail partners, it would be a smart move to try and ensure more equity in sales. For instance, Hasbro Pulse often limits exclusives to one or two units per customer. TRU and EB are doing the same, so that more people can get the exclusives without having to worry about scalpers buying out the lot. Amazon may be a special case, but maybe if collectors started to organize, and maybe even boycott some of these bigger companies, they might be forced to change, too. Wishful thinking, perhaps, but we have the ultimate power of deciding not to support companies who don't respect their customers.

[philtastic]

And let's not forget that half the time, Amazon can't even deliver their exclusives. At least not in Canada. Though that's likely more to do with our small size relative to the US.

[Lord Scareglow]

Originally Posted by philtastic

Again, CMD has their own store, and their own inventory. They don't buy exclusives from Amazon

Yes they do, they buy exclusives from other Stores all the time and mark them up

Just examples, exclusives from EB, Walmart, TRU, Amazon.

https://www.cmdstore.ca/products/mar...2f659d36&_ss=r

https://www.cmdstore.ca/collections/...-5010993800858

https://www.cmdstore.ca/collections/...-5010993801916

https://www.cmdstore.ca/collections/...-5010993742295

https://www.cmdstore.ca/collections/...igure-red-hulk

They have an entire Section dedicated to other Retailers exclusives, how else are they obtaining them ? if they are retailer specific exclusives, they are buying them and marking them up.

[philtastic]

I stand corrected. Regardless, that's not the same as what we were talking about in regards to marketplace sellers.