In store or online: Which is better?

[uncleduke]

Originally posted by Luke
I doubt it's Walmart - they are having the same internal problems as TRU right now.

Actually, and please note: this is pure conjecture on my part,


I suspect that it is Walmart.
They have had a ton of exclusive toys in the past 18 months, and with the new vendor getting exclusives so frequently, they are a logical choice.
Also they sell more toys than Toys R Us (or at least they were a couple of years ago).

They are building up their toy sections, while Target seems to be trimming theirs down drastically.

 

[ResidentLilly]

As much as I really, really, really wish that were true, it's not WalMart. But MAN the line would explode if that were to happen. WalMart is the biggest toy retailer in THE WORLD.

 

[Luke]

Yeah i wish it were Walmart too - they own Adsa over here, we might see some discounted Muppet figures ! *wishes*

Walmart i think have about a 5% greater share of the toy industry in the states than TRU, maybe it went up last year too. I wasn't aware of how big they are toy wise internationally.

They do have the financial advantage over TRU obviously because they can be more discerning about the lines they buy and buy them in greater bulk, and not being a specialist can just move those lines in/out quickly and more economically than a dedicated store like TRU that have to hold large amounts of slower moving more specialist stock. So if the financial situation in the states goes even more belly up they have less to lose than TRU, but at the same time they are by all reports being cautious, their toy sales were down (i think) by the same percentage points as TRU. The whole industry was down 1% last year in the states compared to a 5% rise in Europe. I've heard both companies are being cautious about buying in even the stock that they are pretty sure they could sell, incase things change i guess and they're left with a large inventory.

So i guess it's all about shifting the stock they already have first, and being more conservative even when taking new heavily promoted and popular lines from the bigger companies in the toy business. I guess that leaves little hope in these bleak times for the smaller toy companies and any products geared toward a more niche market than say Harry Potter, Bratz or Transformers.

 

[bc-fraggle]

Okay so Walmart is out for us all - sad news Canadian folks... it is looking bad.
Any idea that it would be a retailer that is also based here in Canada? Like Zellers or some other speciality type store similar to EB games. Why anyways are us Canadian folks getting dealt a bad hand anyhow with the loss of TRU and EB? Are our Sales bad here?

"Feeling sad once again and running out or prayers!"

 

[Luke]

What are the price points for these like in Canada ? Here in the UK we pay almost the equivalent of $19 for just one regular figure. Apparently it's the sales import tax but exactly the same distributor is bringing in Simpsons for just a tiny bit more than the states prices. Seems like Playmates are willing to lower their prices to get these into the UK cheaply but i guess Palisades has a lower profit margin or something because of the smaller distribution.

It really jips me that i can buy them from the states AND pay international shipping and it still comes out cheaper than buying them from the local shopping mall. Plus they get placed next to the Simpsons on the shelves and i guess the big difference between the two doesn't look that great for the Muppets - they still sell out though.

 

[GPrime1]

There really isn't much of a price difference between the Canadian and US stores. When series one came out EB was selling them for about 10.99. TRU was a bit more expensive, selling their figs at 14.99. However, with series two (EB the only store selling them), they were going for 9.99! In the States I saw them being sold from anywhere from 7.99 to 9.99, so there really wasn't much of a difference.

 

[Luke]

Thanks for the info, glad you are getting em at a decent price. Hope you can find a retailer near to ya !

 

[bc-fraggle]

Hey GPrime! Are there any comic stores that you know of in our area that are pre-ordering series 3? Do you know if Golden Age is still selling the mupppets?
Thanks for the imput, and help!

Online I payed with shipping included $30 bucks canadian for one figure, that was after the exchange rate. That is liveable for some figures but I fear that playsets will be up real high like $90 with shipping and the US exchange rate.

 

[Stryder Wolfe]

Luke, if you were to convert those figures, we have always gotten the figures cheaper than the US. Even at $14.99 CDN, that's only 9.86 USD....with te exchange rate, we pay the same or much less...basically series 2 was half-price...

That's why I don't understand a lot of Canadians complaing about having to buy the figures in smaller stores for 15 bucks...basically they're paying market value now, while for the first two waves we were getting discounts...

 

[Fozzie Bear]

I'm just buying what I can from Suncoast Motion Picture Company. I've FINALLY been able to send off for my collector's club membership. I need my invisible Fozzie (of course).

FOZ