Scalping 4 Dummies Edit

[@TrypticOwen]

I guess the question is: Is the person I'm buying from also the reason I don't already have it?

[@Transfixed]

I think you nailed it

[@TrypticOwen]

@@Transfixed :-) thanks. I think intent probably figures in it, too, but in terms of when it would be human to be annoyed by it, yeah...

[@SlashTheWeasel]

Thumbs up!

[@SymbiSpidey]

Perfectly put.

[@LucasTigy2]

i feel like the main attribute of scalping is a quick turnaround. when a new product goes on sale on amazon and stock only ends up lasting about an hour, then suddenly there are several third-party sellers out there already selling that same product for a higher price just to make those quick bucks off the lack of supply that they created, you have a true scalper. someone who buys something just to immediately turn around and sell it for their own profit.

[@DillonTooley]

I do like the term “late to the party” tax.

[@TheLukemcdaniel]

While I feel the need to point out that not everyone can make it to every con to get the con specials. There's a difference between tacking on a finder's fee, and tripling what the piece should be worth(even on top of it carrying it's own premium)

[@chojinacd]

I think technically as a collector every purchase with the intent to sell at a higher price is scalping. You what you did with the exclusives is the same. Everyone had to pay a fee of admission, not just you. It's just that the scale at which you buy matters a lot, 1 is hardly a nuisance it would be nano-scalping which almost sounds cute😂, buying 5 with the intent to sell is far more annoying. Doing this with a product with no risk because it is guaranteed to sell out is even worse .

[@SlashTheWeasel]

Well said!

[@chopwinsky]

Great discussion as always. I might be sitting on a high horse but it is pretty black and white for me; (at the point of buying) if you know you're buying it to sell it without using it, you're scalping, whether you buy one or one thousand.

[@williamkious5349]

As a collector of the "cheap shiz", I gotta say this... Having all of my local vendors sold out BEFORE product ever hits shelves, and being forced to pay an inflated secondary market price, is infuriating. Thing is, I can't be mad at the people who buy up all the product because they're just taking advantage of the situation. Hell, I'd do the same thing if I made my living selling toys. I'm mad at the inside information that leads to this sort of thing. I'm mad at the distributors who do nothing to intervene.

[@kingragnork]

Agree 100%. But there's people who definitely do it just to be pricks.

[@oceanmanland7076]

Fans toys does reissues, just not often. Their Grimlock is a good example

[@Matunahelper]

Ocean Man Land Robert knows that but they do reissues so less often than other companies, him saying they “never” was just a slight exaggeration.

[@i.still.function3463]

Still waiting on that Forager/Kickback lol

[@kobalt8845]

i freaking love these 4 dummies discussions.

[@cybersilver5816]

There's this one person at my local Walmart that keeps opening the boxes, taking the figures, and putting random figures back in. Not sure if he's selling them afterward or is just a straight up thief, but I would really like him to stop... cheated me out of a SS Ironhide...

[@twilight_phantom2969]

What was in the box instead?

[@DESTRAKON]

How do they get away with some blatent bs like that

[@cybersilver5816]

@@twilight_phantom2969 I should've used a different example, but it still erks me. The Ironhide was missing his head and one of the weapons were gone, all of the plastic ties were cut. Here are some actual examples: 1. TKL voyager Megatron inside SS Brawl box 2. TKL Hotrod inside SS Cogman box 3. SS Stinger inside SS Shatter (different location) 4. WFC:S Ironhide, once again with parts missing. 5. TKL Dragon storm inside SS Grimlock (this one was at a target, however still noteworthy) 6. SS Starscream replaced with a halfway repainted version of the same figure (that one confused me because it was actually pretty decent) Although these take place over multiple locations, I have plenty reason to believe it's the same person due to proximity and timing.

[@cybersilver5816]

@@DESTRAKON no idea, I really wish I can catch them in the act. But then again, what's a scrawny teenager like me gonna do, point and shout?

[@DESTRAKON]

@@cybersilver5816 kick him in the balls

[@8474Starscream]

Scalping is Mfer's buying say all of the action figures on a shelf keeping one and selling off all of the rest. Scalping is just as much about screwing people out of having a chance to own a collectible / action figure as it is jacking the price up. Another word for scalping is WEASEL.

[@SlashTheWeasel]

I agree with you except for one thing. Weasels are furry creatures who do not deserve to be put in the same catagory as scalpers.

[@8474Starscream]

@@SlashTheWeasel I retract giving Weasels a bad name! 😉

[@AgtWashingtub]

So those guys who preordered 4-5 of FT-10x with the intent of selling them for double MSRP the day they released are, in fact, scalpers.... Interesting that those same guys are the ones gate keeping so hard in the cafe acting like they are entitled to determine how you should price your items.

[@kingragnork]

Lol yea, the cafe is kinda ridiculous with fanstoys prices. People constantly selling misb for 2 or 3x the amount of MSRP. And FT has been doing reissues so i just laugh. They'll rerelease the insections too i bet.

[@Casey-ez2ko]

Robert + Sinus Infection = George Zimmer from Men’s Wearhouse.

[@Ravenfellblade]

I despise scalpers. I can't tell you how many times I've seen someone buying out stock of figures that I never saw on the shelf, but got to see on ebay at 500% markup. A couple years ago, when they reissued MP Grimlock, I was delivering at an Office Depot next door when the TRU was about to open. So I head over there, and there's a line of six dudes ahead of me. I used to routinely check TRUs in the morning when my route took me near them, and at this point I had several figures I was hunting. So the store opens, and these guys straight up jet through the doors. I take my time, mostly because this particular store wasn't very familiar to me and I wasn't quite sure which side the Transformers were on. I'm not even halfway to the aisle, when thr group of six fly right back past me toward the register, each carrying an MP Grimlock. Odd. I get to the aisle, and they're cleaned out. I find only a handful of figures that have been pegwarming for the past few weeks, but I decide to grab something I'd been on the fence about for a bit, and head back to the register. While I'm waiting, I mention that I've been hunting Grimlock for a couple weeks. Dude in front of me looks nervous, but a guy by the door, who's already checked out, perks up. So I check out. Walk outside to head back to my truck, and see these six guys huddled around blue car, all of them piling the Grimlocks in the trunk, with one dude handing the other five $10 bills. He hollars at me "hey, so you're looking for a Grimlock? You can have one for $400." In the parking lot of TRU, this guy is trying to sell me a Masterpiece Grimlock he just got for $60, plus the $10 he paid some other guy to circumvent the "one per customer" rule that TRU already rarely upheld. Also: dude had a TRU name badge on a jacket on his passenger seat. So he obviously worked in this store, or a nearby store, and knew they had just gotten these in, and paid other dudes to help him buy up the entire stock before anyone else would ever even see it. People like this aren't being clever, and this isn't good business or capitalism. This is parasitism.

[@EmilyTempest81]

You know I dont mind if I buy something that is a little higher than where I cant get it at a store but when it is double or triple the price that is ridiculous. Or when something is free at a convention that is sold for 500 to 700.

[@iamtheomnimonkey]

I don't know all the voices, but whomever said that Fanstoys doesn't do reissues is 100% wrong. I have bought several Fanstoys reissues.

[@johngavin1175]

My mom works in the Toy department at Walmart. There is people who come in and open the master boxes looking for and buying a bunch of Hot Wheels toys. I wonder if they are scalping,though it's just Hot Wheels... To hell with scalpers.

[@HashbrownMashup]

My buddies in high school used the term "homie prices". For a completely different context, obviously.

[@hugopulido9446]

I remember the "homie price."

[@DESTRAKON]

@@hugopulido9446 5$ off

[@i.still.function3463]

That "FAM BRO" list Hahahahahah!

[@tydiriumhanger1320]

Great Vid as always Bobby! I enjoyed it 1000%. So if I buy 2 mp-44 figures and sell one for $800 when they sell out is that scalping or just applying the late tax? Thanks for the great topic!

[@Alzeal07]

Love how you know it's the end not by watching the time but when they start saying nonsense

[@SymbiSpidey]

Put simply, I feel like scalping is when you deplete the supply of a certain product in order to make that product scarce, and then sell it at a significantly higher price. What makes scalpers bad isn't that they sell figures at a 200% or more markup, but rather the fact that they make it difficult for other people to get the figures they want. Now if you buy a figure that you intend to sell after its production run is over and the value of it has increased, that's acceptable. That's how stocks work basically. What I take issue with is when a product should be readily available to consumers, yet nobody can find it because a few scalpers in the area bought up all the supply. That's why con exclusives don't really bother me, because either way most people probably wouldn't be able to get it if they don't go to the convention. So a markup in exchange for the convenience of not having to attend the con to get the exclusive is fine.

[@kaizen209]

and this is why people like myself go with ko companies

[@brenoferreiraferreira4409]

I'm Portuguese so it's almost impossible for me to buy some exclusives at regular price points and I'm not talking about convention exclusives, I'm talking about Game Stop, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. It's all fun and games when you're able to get what you want for a fair price but imagine you need to import everything you're collecting!!! You have to pay international shipping, import taxes and on top of that you have to pay an extra 75% on the retail price. I would love to see all those companies that release exclusives and don't care if foreign collectors can get them for a fair price, lose 50% of the total sale profits because those same foreign collectors refuse to buy their products any more. This companies should think about this for a bit, from the top of my head I can think on a couple of fair for every one solutions to this unfair for some issue.

[@mirosawaleksandermiernik473]

Some loose comments: - Purchasing enough of something to manipulate the prices on the market is also known as cornering (mostly in terms of financial instruments and investments, like the Gold Corner). I think that one caveat is doing this intentionally. - Like you say, venues often are worried, because they don't get in on the money - it turns out that they could have charged more. However, there are also other issues, like people selling forged tickets (sometimes poorly). If they're forged well, there may be the issue of more people at the venue than allowed/safe.

[@kalron27]

Great use of Cameron sick in bed! Good topic. Scalpers are part of the reason why I shop exclusively online for my TFs nowadays. That and I moved to an area that has spotty shipments and arrival times, some times missing a wave completely. When I lived in a larger area, going on "the hunt" was at first rewarding but when it started to get to the point where everything was out of stock within an hour of it showing up in store and then those items showed up on ebay immediately for 2x the price, I was out. I pay a little more on price and shipping but in the end it's worth it to not waste the gas in travel and getting frustrated over a toy :)

[@ZetZatar]

FanBros sounds like a store. “Buddy Prices every day!”

[@SlashTheWeasel]

On the convention part, ya the person who went to the convention verses the person who didn't but if I go to con, wait in line then after how long of waiting in line told I can't get certain toy cause someone ahead of me bought up so many whether its to scalp or to gather up for his friends who couldn't attend, would make me mad. I think the one per person rule helps again there (like when Hasbro did it for online toys). It helps spread out the love and fairness.

[@henmar354]

I hate con exclusives. If you are from a third world country you are never ever getting that product.

[@chikex]

I think the best way to determine if one is scalping or not is time. If someone buys several and immediately turns around to sell it for a highly jacked up price, it's scalping. If someone has bought one and had it saved for some time, I don't see that as scalping...

[@petergianakopoulos4926]

To reduce scalping I never ever ever pay more than retail for an item that should be currently available at retail..

[@rickytoddbotelho9555]

At the celebration I sold my old lady and my custom 'star van' to get action figures I got off another scalper that I could have got without going to all the trouble of bringing my old lady.

[@kronos6948]

New Edition/Wu Tang/Rammstein...what an eclectic mix.

[@MythsAndHeroes]

kronos6948 somebody actually caught it. Bravo sir. Bravo

[@kronos6948]

@@MythsAndHeroes I think some people were hung up on Rammstein. A couple got New Edition and Wu Tang.

[@AgtWashingtub]

Also that person rolling the blue paint on is doing a terrible job.

[@crazyzorimonkey1]

Oh, that clip really bothered me. I wanted to reach through the screen, yank the brush away, and slap the living hell out of that moron! haha!

[@cdeuceriley4044]

Great episode!

[@spencergellsworth]

Almost made it through without interrupting Mrs. Skullface!

[@mikekz4489]

To me scalping applies to toys that are available now in brick and mortar stores. I haven’t seen anything in recent years to make me think that sort of thing is going on in my area. The time when I strongly suspected it was during the days of Toy Biz Marvel Legends.

[@SlashTheWeasel]

I've not kept up with the Motormaster exclusive but I guess I'll be mad that I didn't get one especially since there are four other Stunticons to get and I wanted to complete the set without having to go though riducilous pricing and who knows what else. Reason why I'm not is that I have so many different wonderful versions of Stunticons that it doesn't bother me and there are more toys coming somewhere (like Siege).

[@BK-qu6lj]

Would love your take on Snake mountain even though it’s outside your wheel house

[@donborracho3019]

Ok guys. Johnny gets moved of the Fam list, & Methodman gets moved over.

[@SentinelBayReviews]

Nice subtle Wu Tang reference

[@LatenightLyle]

@Bobby Skullface L: So basically scalping is speculative investing in a way that feels like an affront to common decency. Because of this I think "scalping" really isn't about market manipulation...that's just business. If you have the capital to invest at a scale that has a direct effect on the market then it's a power play, not scalping. I think scalping is better defined as significant markup based on time and/or convenience rather than agreed value. If you buy up all the Masterpiece Bumblebees and sell them at double the price, people that buy one aren't doing so because that's how much they feel they are worth. They know when they get it that it's not worth what they paid despite the market normally dictating that it would be (because value=what someone is willing to pay under normal circumstances). When you buy a concert ticket from a scalper you could hold out and try to find one at value. If you give in then you've just paid a premium for time and convenience.

[@TimKaysNerdcrate]

The only thing I gotta say, is to Robert D: FT not doing re-issues?! Sovereign got a re-issue. But they don't re-issue in the wider scale sense, I give you that.

[@TheCandymannnn]

Poor Bobby getting a hard time for all this cutting and pasting he must endure. This was a really cool talk since I was just at Calgary Expo and you always see the variation in pricing from different vendors whether it is a store/company or if it is more individual. Cause then I tend to judge for myself what do I personally value said item at and what I would be willing to spend over that value to get it. I really hope for another great video like this....not that they aren't all great....Just keep up the good work.

[@raykincaid684]

Bruh the Wutang and New edition Easter egg. Nice

[@arielcordero]

I've always thought that if you really want x or y figure... or anything else for the matter... you will have to be ready to pay for said thing. When I started, I had to over-pay for a lot of things. Nowadays, I always buy when stuff comes out. Because if you miss that opportunity you will have to pay more. That's how it goes with everything, not just toys.

[@AgtWashingtub]

I agree for old figures that nobody has had new stock for some time. However, with FT-10x, people were preordering extras of a limited run item with the intent to double retail price on release day. That is scalping.

[@SlashTheWeasel]

I do argue about the house anology cause houses require maintenance which can be serious money. Roof, water heaters, landscaping, appliances. If they don't do home repairs, they are not worth as much cause someone whether its the homeowner or the buyer has to put the money into the house to make it livable. Would you buy house with no water heater? Also the cost of inflation. People want to at least break even on the house when they move, not make profit. Making profit is awesome but not always doable. Selling home can be more work than selling toy due to market. I'm against scalpers cause then I can't get the toy I want when I should have equal opportunity to get it (say though regular store like Walmart, Target, online store) and pay the same price as them, not them buying up any and all figures to just turn around in heart beat to sell off. I like that Hasbrotoystore did that one per customer rule. It made it fair to all who wanted one.

[@erikw5]

I thought I knew what a scalper was and then I watched this video and now I’m confused as to that a scalper is.

[@THEShoky]

Okay. Story time folks. And going by the definition Robert laid out here is the latest scalping attempt here in the great state of Texas. I say Texas because it went beyond the scope of Houston. So as the story goes, some new boys roll into town, 3 of em to be exact. By some speculation, they go into Hobbytown San Antonio at different times and clear out almost the entire Gunpla selection. I mean left the scraps that no one wanted. These enterprising young men then, under the guise of their new "company" drove to Houston to sell those kits at Model Mania. Now these gentlemen proceeded to attempt to sell these kits at well, well, WELL above retail since they themselves had already paid retail for them. Luckily only 2 people were dumb enough to buy from them. Oh but the story doesn't end there, this is the part where by it effects the supply in the market. Now with virtually nothing on the shelves in San Antonio, the owner and regional (district?) Manager decide that they need to refill the stock asap. Due to massive industry wide problems new stock is slow to come by, but luckily the own another store! Can you guess which city? Houston. So they decide that in this failing market to prioritize the SA store. Monday night after closing, they went to Hobbytown Houston and started clearing shelves of anything they knew could be sold. All the RC stuff, all of the model kits, and tools and paint. Left a note on the desk with new daytime hours and when the story would be closing for good. And that how the employees, my friends found out they were losing their jobs. It was for sure not the scalping idiots fault but it began a short chain reaction resulting in a store closing. And they still haven't sold the bulk of that stock.

[@jirayasama7]

Videos are never long enough for me, but I guess that's the point. To keep people wanting more from the opinions of the dummies

[@marktran9137]

Greatest video ever....fam bro price 😂😂😂

[@jettcolt8927]

Scalping is buying all the stock at the local stores which dicks the rest of us from getting one at retail value and then selling it for 3 times its price. Would you buy power of the primes rippersnspper for 50 bucks? Of course not its not worth that. Selling a rare hard to find/get figure for a fair price is not scalping its just trade.

[@tacruzer96]

I have no choice but to scalp! That was a bald joke.

[@michaeldort7069]

so what about if exchange rate factors in

[@Dumpster-J-]

When that menasor set is done and all the Motormasters are sold out hes gonna be $600 and I can't wait for the crying.

[@AgtWashingtub]

I have given some serious consideration to scooping 3-4 of him just for that. But the way my luck moves, FT will reissue him at the same time their final limb drops, packaged with the combiner parts.

[@scottmcclary594]

I had to drive 2 hours away from my toys r us to get the legacy dragonzord dragon dagger and morpher because of 1 guy, he kept buying all the restock to sell for almost triple on ebay for 2 months when those came out!

[@SlashTheWeasel]

That is wrong that scalper did that to you! I wish TRU when it was around would have had some policies in place or made it more difficult for scalpers.

[@lennyofnyc]

Had to buy the shirt.

[@KaneStarkiller]

Is the panel living on the same planet I am? Wanting something means you need it and needing it makes it a human right. Oopps. I just dripped some sarcasm on my device.

[@KaneStarkiller]

Just in case I'm being too obtuse with my point, the attitude of entitlement is culturally pervasive and not limited to the oft-maligned "Millennial" set, nor is a restricted to various fandoms. You'll see it wherever you set your gaze and if you're active in general "Nerddom," you'll see a lot of it there.

[@kek23k]

What about people that buy stuff that's on clearance in their area but then try to sell it for an inflated price?

[@toyshanger8945]

kek23k buying anything to sell at a higher price is considered scalpers. Make no mistake. It doesn’t matter, main thing is You are not buying the Toy for your own. Once it exceeded the purpose of your own purpose is redundant stock that you intended to keep and sell higher. While someone out there might be looking for one but was all sold out. Hope this makes sense.

[@AgtWashingtub]

@@toyshanger8945 What about buying a figure for yourself that a store put on the shelf early, but first giving the community a chance to snag it at a small premium +10-15$ on a 50$ figure?

[@vivendusx5401]

At least the savvy buyer of TF figures looking to make a profit is happy to receive the item and can appreciate it first as opposed to the ticket scalper whos just in it for the money. I believe the definifion is still a grey area; those with the foresight and money tomake an initial outlay are smart buyers, those with the intention of buying massive amounts to just sell on profit border on scalpers if they are basically becoming a distributor. Its point of view. I was pissed i missed out on the MK11 kollectors edition with the mask and theres no way iwould pay those ludacris ebay prices, but if i had the money to buy a couple at the start i wouldve sold the 2nd for profit for sure.

[@lowellmartens6135]

I find toy scalpers annoying but those who scalp tickets for music especially, really annoy me. Perhaps it is because I have so many friends either in bands or or in the music industry and I know most of them are barely making a living, so as much money sold for ticket sales should go to the artist and not to some ass hat that just bought a bunch of tickets. Ticket sellers take enough off the top already. Love these 4 Dummies conversations. It is always fun being able to listen to Robert, especially since you left Shattered Cast and I eventually stopped listening to it.

[@lowellmartens6135]

I have very little respect for ticket scalpers. These people that make ridiculous amounts of money with no intention of seeing the event with having nothing to do with the event make me sick. The artist (for example) tries to keep ticket prices at a level their fans can afford then these people rip people off when they buy the tickets out. In the toy world I don't see buying an extra one to sell later when they are no longer available as scalping. Thanks for the fun conversation.

[@tanthis24]

What Bobby did I can see but when I was at celebration I saw a vender selling the game of thrones Oreo cookies for $10 a pop. I leafed cause I just bought three packs of them at my store I work at for $1.99

[@kingragnork]

Yea we bought a case from Publix for that price lol.

[@Superdimensional]

This would’ve been a great Live Q&A topic, you guys need to go live at least once

[@petergianakopoulos4926]

Scalpers ie like that guy dom on the realm who drives around to walmarts with the intention of selling.. people like him I have had to restrain myself from knocking them out... they are pathetic

[@aaronmauer7225]

Robert D should sell the the fanstoys menasor 3 years after it is sold out for a fair price

[@mark4flair376]

If you don't like the price then don't buy it......

[@toyshanger8945]

mark4 flair that’s not the point! It becomes you cannot buy it because idiots just buy it up.

[@toyshanger8945]

I actually disagree scalpers are regardless of quantity they purchased it to sell knowing the demand and predicting its value. This is happening for Macross chogokin by Bandai. The fault lies mainly with manufacturers creating false sense of demand as the product sells out within 10 seconds? So how many does each retailer really hold in stock? Yes is pathetic! Many who are not interested in the toys buy it to resell on auction sites.

[@antoniovistcoatis1541]

I think you guys are spot on about what a scalper is. Robert gave a great definition.

[@Qc4073]

Fan price = not crazy eBay price bro lol. That’s all over our FB groups.

[@toyshanger8945]

JH4073 it depends on what item what group. I know chogokin groups selling scalping prices.

[@DolkkarToyznstuff]

Excellent video with an excellent explanation of what scalping truly is. Well done dummies! Haha!

[@macrossa6064]

Give me the Fam Price, Bro!

[@IsaidQUIETnHERE]

Hate the game, not the player?

[@blammers]

Give me the bro price, fam

[@eyescovered]

scalping is not black or white. very, very gray

[@AgtWashingtub]

Very. I found the new Galaxy Prime in early April, bought him up, and posted him online for a premium price. Granted, I did price it way too high by my own mistake, I got cut up on the cafe by people who scalped double the retail price of FT-10x on its release day. It is so strange how when it is an 'established' party scalping the market, it is fine. But if an unknown entity breaks in with an exclusive figure, for its moment, that guy gets shouted down. It almost felt like they wanted the fam bro price and their haggle method was to get angry and gatekeep on market prices they had no influence setting. Unfortunately it worked, as I sold way below my asking price to one of the fist people crying about the asking price.

[@Alzeal07]

The fam bro buddy crew of loving fiendship friends bro fam

[@jasonreyes1342]

No Fam Bro love for Masta Killa, lol?

[@matthewkrawczyk2234]

or cappadonna?

[@jasonreyes1342]

@@matthewkrawczyk2234 To be fair, Cappadonna wasn't part of the original nine.