Friday, April 24, 2015
Thursday, April 23, 2015
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Razyera, isn't that hoarding?
The Wasp action doll has been a peg warmer that is why it has been offered for a reduced price of PhP500 locally. Unlike other characters, the Wasp toy sold out after the price reduction. I thought it was normal because it can be used as base for a customized female character since there are few female characters. When I saw an online seller (Razyera) posted a lot of Wasp toys, I figured that it was possible that the toy was hoarded. The ad posted above is only for local buyers who could have bought the toys themselves locally had the toy not been hoarded.
Hoarding is different from reselling as the latter helps in the distribution. We know that toy manufacturers can't reach everybody. Resellers help alleviate the distribution problems. If a well distributed toy is hoarded, it prevents others from accessing what should have been an accessible toy.
Yes, I know a lot of people do it. I don't mean to single out this specific seller but I figured I needed an example. More than hating on possible hoarders, I'm curious on how to deal with them. Sure, ignoring them is an easy thing to do but it feels like a big cop out. It's not something we learn from the superheroes that inspire us.
Is the collecting community a society that allows opportunistic people to propagate? I know we have no right to keep them from doing what they are doing. I guess we can just talk about them and serve as warning to others, make a blacklist of sorts on which people to avoid even if they are offering some good deals. This blog will be my blacklist.
Monday, April 20, 2015
Mattel goes Quirky
...I mean goes to Quirky for help. They probably are looking for the next big thing in toys and I guess it can have nothing to do with the Barbie toy line.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/smallbusiness/mattel-toy-inventions/
As for me, I'll pass.
Source: http://money.cnn.com/2015/04/17/smallbusiness/mattel-toy-inventions/
As for me, I'll pass.
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Store Math OR Predicting some toy store will rightfully close down soon
If a toy kiosk owner pays 10,000+pesos per month for the store space that has 200 boxed dolls in their inventory, a monthly cost of 50+pesos per month is added to cost of the doll. The store owner pays 600+pesos a year just for keeping a doll on display.
A Holiday Barbie from 2011 could be had for 1,500+pesos. The small toy store is still trying so hard to sell it for 3,000pesos since 2012. Three years have passed so that means the owner has already spent about 1,800+pesos just by displaying the doll for that long. The total cost so far is 3,300+pesos and is still increasing as long as it doesn't sell.
If some misinformed collector buys it for 3,000pesos, the seller still has a net loss of 300+pesos.
The figures above are just rough estimates. The loss in one toy can be covered by a profit from another toy. That explains the high markup in the prices. But it doesn't explain why they can't cut their losses early on by offering discounts after a year of not being sold like what normal toy stores do.
A Holiday Barbie from 2011 could be had for 1,500+pesos. The small toy store is still trying so hard to sell it for 3,000pesos since 2012. Three years have passed so that means the owner has already spent about 1,800+pesos just by displaying the doll for that long. The total cost so far is 3,300+pesos and is still increasing as long as it doesn't sell.
If some misinformed collector buys it for 3,000pesos, the seller still has a net loss of 300+pesos.
The figures above are just rough estimates. The loss in one toy can be covered by a profit from another toy. That explains the high markup in the prices. But it doesn't explain why they can't cut their losses early on by offering discounts after a year of not being sold like what normal toy stores do.
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