People who post about how much they want a figure or release....that is , how bad they want it....they get it.....and then , in a couple of weeks , they say they are spring cleaning , short on cash, trying to make room , or they want some new joint...and they up the thing they were pissing and moaning about.....whats up with that....its like plastic crack hits....when the high wears off they want their new shiny object......fake ass fans... some people need to get their R.F.S.O. cards pulled and shit.... Questions, comments?....love me....hate me....oh well....
Unfortunately, I think you see this alot with some people. For some, it's collecting a series of figures and once they've completed the set, they're bored with them for some reason. ?!? Attention Deficit Disorder? This can also be seen in other areas of life. People dream of the new red sports car, hooking up with someone, new restaurant whatever. Once they attain that goal, they get bored and move on to another obsession. People want what they can't have, or what is out of their reach. Vicious circle.
I agree, turnaround times do seem weirdly short in some cases. Best one I saw was someone selling before receipt, while singing the praises of said toy, but still offering it up for sale. Weird. I think a lot of collectors (of anything) have varying levels of borderline OCD - picking up stuff like a compulsion....and then maybe regretting it....or thinking what did I just buy? Quick strikes kinda fuel that behavior too...its like, shit! better grab it before its gone. RFSO all the way baby!
the only japanese vinyl i have sold has been pieces i did not see in person first. when i got them in the mail, i realized they were either super tiny or the colorway was way funky, or the original shots of it didnt show how goofy it looked from the side, etc. but i also sell(japanese vinyl) for what i pay for it, or as close as my memory can remember. but i have noticed what you all are saying. the ikas were a great debacle for that. people saw "kozik" and "limited to 100" and "SDCC exclusive" and stocked up on them. now they can't hardly give them away. i will glady buy all clear ikas for around 50 bucks. it's called the reverse flip. what else bothers me is seeing threads in the b/s/t with a bunch of urban vinyl/western vinyl shit for sale in it. i dont come here to buy that stuff. i read the KR boards for that. and it is almost always someone who was not successful selling them over at KR, so they migrate here and try it out. ehh...what the fuck do i know though
That CCH (collecting crack high) is pretty rad tho, and slightly safer than the real thing. My favorite high is from injecting SB Mad Points....sssshudder
One last thing - Insta-flipping something is lame, as is buying something u don't really want and thus stopping someone who truly wanted it from getting it at retail. But we've all gotten some real old skool collection gap fillers from people on this board thru sales, and occasionally trades (no one trades much these days tho). I think its great that people offer stuff on here first, because we all get to expand our collections without having to duel on ebay or YJ....and it kinda stays in the family. Oh, and Cesar, I applaud you for "keeping it real" with this topic - its definitely wirth opening a discourse on.
Yeah I really can't complain when people sell off old hard to find shit at higher prices because that's how I got most of my stuff, and it is older and harder to find so I don't mind paying what I have to sometimes.
+1 I don't think anyone minds paying extra for older, hard to find stuff... but the insta-flipping thing just make me . I don't think I've managed to do a straight trade for figures on the board, but I did manage to broker a three way trade by proxy with a Full Color Brain and a Plant Brain. I think everyone was happy with what they ended up with (even if I take forever to ship stuff out)
yup insta flipping can be annoying, although there have been things that I couldn't pick up when they came out for one reason or another and I've gotten them from people shortly after for a bit more than I would have originally had to pay and I still don't mind, there's definitely a line that can be crossed though.
I think some people just buy into the hype too easily, so they purchase stuff they don't want all that much. I thought I read somewhere that many online buyers achieve their biggest "high" or feeling of excitement while actually making the purchase. When the items actually arrive at their doorsteps, these buyers are not as excited as they thought they would be. In the case of toy collectors, this results in people turning around and selling what they just purchased. I wish there were fewer impulse buyers around, but they don't bother me that much. It should come as no surprise to anyone here that the people who really piss me off are the ones who buy figures with no intention whatsoever of keeping them.
This is a tough one. Buying to flip is a drag and certainly NOT something I agree with. I would have loved to get a Restroyer however, but unfortunately did not. That said, I also made the seller an offer on the one recently for sale here (not enough though it seems). Does this fuel the fire for what is considered by many here to be an unacceptable sale? Possibly, but it also allows me to add a figure to my collection that I would really like. It's always the same. How much is too much? What is considered an acceptable amount of time before a "new" figure can be sold for more than its original price? Who's really in it for what? All this and I still don't have my Restroyer...
Yeah, the "insta flipping" is unfortunate b/c it deprives some people who really want a certain fig...btw, I love how there is a term for this now... What is really annoying is seeing the same stuff posted a billion times for the same price (um...you might need to lower the price to move it) or my fav is the WTB (insert exceedingly rare fig here), PM me...no cash offer, no trade offer, nothing! If you want something, you're probably going to have to offer something in return...btw, most of the people on this board rock and are great to BST with...including Cesar!
i'm the type that doesn't really mind or see much wrong with "insta-flipping" unless it's something I wanted... then I whine and stomp like a baby.
I'm just glad I have liked all the Toys I've bought enough to want to Keep them.Taking advantage of other collector's pocket books to feed ones own addiction is not cool.
I dunno if the original query is directed towards me, but being over in the UK all the cool shit is 5,000 miles away! I often have to buy stuff and ship it over just to check it out! Case in point the Mecha Terror Wind-up and Jar of Pus I just listed on the BST . . . . it's cool shit but just not for me (that and the fact the Pushead shelf recently got a whole lot fuller). If I saw it in a store and had chance to check it out 1 on 1 I woulda probably bought it on impulse then taken it back if/when I changed my mind . . . re-selling it's just the same deal! Sorry if it pisses anyone off
there are a lot of interesting points in all this. from the perspective of an artist, if i sold a painting, and the buyer resold it shortly after for double my price, i would be pretty unhappy. i painted the thing after all, why does someone else deserve a profit for buying it? that said, its some murky area where the line is between owning something long enough for its value to appreciate and make the re-sale seem legit. how does anyone determine how long is long enough or what increase in value is appropriate? add in any number of possible situations, sudden money troubles, etc, and the waters get murkier still. as for the vinyl crack quick fix aspect of it, being just out of school, my finances are very very tight, which is really frustrating most of the time, but in a way is a good thing with toy collecting. i cant swing nearly all the stuff i really like, but since a $60+ figure is a big budget consideration for me, i only end up with the toys i absolutely love and have no regrets with.
personally if i was the artist or a toymaker... if someone flipped my stuff and doubled their money, i would be doing a Mr. Burns impersonation and twiddling my fingers saying "excellent". it is a sign that i'm doing something right (and pave the way for more $$ in my pocket) that's my two cents
From the artist's perspective, I think part of becoming a seasoned artist is knowing what you can sell your stuff for. If you're selling art for under what the market will pay, then that really isn't the flipper's fault if he does his homework and makes a quick profit. I think that in the case of setting the initial price, the onus is on the artist/seller, not the buyer.
People's tastes do change. Figures do sometimes look different in person. Unexpected financial problems do occur. You can't blame people for any of that because those things are all out of people's control to a greater or lesser extent. In my opinion, those are all decent reasons for selling what you already own. Selling for any of those reasons is not flipping/speculation.
