darkSpyro

I've been to three different Toys R Us and they've put up these signs.



I guess it's working because I see Double Troubles, Whirlwinds, and others on the pegs. While I was at the last one some lady tried to buy multiple Legendary 3-packs by going back into the store and using a different register other than R-zone. She had taken off her coat too and I wondered, hey, it's cold outside, she must be freezi....oh wait. So I pointed her out to the R-zone cashier and he went over. There was some arguing, then I saw her push the figures off the counter at the cashier and storm out saying words that the little children in the store didn't need to hear. I'm betting she just lost her ebay quota for the week. It felt pretty good.

feels good, man

I would have been curious to see the arguement and I would probably find it humourous at some point.

Nice job outta you, Jin.

A very good idea, could be mildly annoying to genuine players but that's more than made up by the massive inconvenience to the scalpers I hope they get a good picture of that woman from the security cameras and make 'Do not sell to this woman' signs... they probably won't but that's what I'd do.

On another point, it's nice to see that your TRU knows the difference between triple packs and adventure packs... most don't in my experiance (seriously, do they not know what the word 'triple' means? Adventure packs clearly have 4 items in them).

good story, now we need people hanging out at the big store and reporting scalpers if there is more of them trying this...

Yah I think it is a great idea!!!!
Hard for people who have lots of children and buy more than two though.
Scalpers will start bringing their friends with them now! haha

That explains why My tru had stock

great

My stores still don't have a limit. They should, but I doubt that will stop employees from grabbing as many as they want.

What do you have against employees that buy them? Sorry, but I enjoy the game, and WILL buy one of each character to obtain all Skylanders.

Quote: julio71599

That explains why My tru had stock

IMPOSSIBLE!

Quote: VendettaACS

What do you have against employees that buy them? Sorry, but I enjoy the game, and WILL buy one of each character to obtain all Skylanders.

i think the issue is employees who grab them right off the truck, or lie to customers about current stock while hiding their own away. that's low

I have no problem hiding away my Skylanders until the end of my shift for that day, then buying them once I'm off the clock. In the mornings on shipment days I sometimes grab the ones I need right out of the box.

My money is just the same as a customer's money. I'm not selling mine on Ebay, not buying 4-5 Cynders at a time, etc. One of each. Being opened and used.

Quote: VendettaACS

I'm not selling mine on Ebay, not buying 4-5 Cynders at a time, etc. One of each. Being opened and used.

I think it's the people who do that that everyone is against, not genuine fans like you who just buy 1 or 2 of each thing.

I am talking about a scalping TRU employee in my area, who bought about 8 Cynders when they came in and sold them on Ebay.

Then another TRU employee told me that someone at their store bought a few Legendary 3 Packs and sold them on Ebay.

It's different if they're on hold for an employee, who doesn't intend to scalp them.

I hate to say it but I believe limits may only imposed by corporate , if a scalper calls corporate and complains heads could role in that store. Corporate = sell as many as you can ,dollers are more important

Quote: Flamethrower

I hate to say it but I believe limits may only imposed by corporate , if a scalper calls corporate and complains heads could role in that store. Corporate = sell as many as you can ,dollers are more important

unlike most other stores, TRU tends to have a lot more autonomy at the store level, managers can make calls like this if they deem it necessary.
also corporate doesn't like empty shelves either. scalpers are indeed more profit, but at the cost of clearing out stock, which reflects badly on the store. it's a fine line, but considering how bad things have gotten in this case, i suspect corporate would fall on the side of the store manager in most regions.

For any one or two scalpers that call and complain, there are 5 or more parents who give the workers a giant thank you. My son hugged the lady yesterday when we got the Legendary 3 pack. No way is this not sticking. TRU hasn't given in to the insanity just yet.

i'm glad they placed a limit on these figures, but you have to wonder why they did. I mean, they were the ones who originally advertised and wanted Skylanders to succeed. If they sell 100 figures to one person or 100 people, they are still making the same amount. From a business perspective, I just wonder why they care.

Quote: Spyro Forever

i'm glad they placed a limit on these figures, but you have to wonder why they did. I mean, they were the ones who originally advertised and wanted Skylanders to succeed. If they sell 100 figures to one person or 100 people, they are still making the same amount. From a business perspective, I just wonder why they care.

Somewhere along the line, the headache and backlash from the public probably struck a nerve with them.

Quote: Spyro Forever

i'm glad they placed a limit on these figures, but you have to wonder why they did. I mean, they were the ones who originally advertised and wanted Skylanders to succeed. If they sell 100 figures to one person or 100 people, they are still making the same amount. From a business perspective, I just wonder why they care.

Because business isn't just about dollars and selling goods and services. Running a business is also about managing people. Both employees and customers.

Many people want Skylanders. They are in high demand. If they allow a VERY few scalpers to just come in and grab the whole stock, sure they sell the same amount, but they in turned really upset the other 95% of their customers.

They may make the same amount of money on Skylanders, but since they failed to provide quality customer service in the process they will lose customers. And Customers buy more than skylanders.

Domer

ugh thats no fair my toys r us is limiting it to one thing per family

Also, How many man hours have been wasted answering the phone telling customers that Skylanders is sold out? One employee told me that over half the calls the store receives is to inquire about availability. Being able to end that will allow their employees to spend more time organizing and doing retail stuff.

Quote: VendettaACS

I have no problem hiding away my Skylanders until the end of my shift for that day, then buying them once I'm off the clock. In the mornings on shipment days I sometimes grab the ones I need right out of the box.

My money is just the same as a customer's money. I'm not selling mine on Ebay, not buying 4-5 Cynders at a time, etc. One of each. Being opened and used.

The issue with scalpers is not just scalpers reselling them for higher prices BUT the issue of not giving people like your customers a chance to buy them from the store. Which is basically what you are doing. Regardless if you are making a profit OR not, you took away the opportunity for the customer to purchase that item.

Just imagine 5-10 employees doing what you are doing. How much stock you think will end up on the shelves with the fact that employees get first pick. That could pretty much result in empty shelves.

And also please don't justify what you are doing by stating "My money is just the same as a customer's money" because for one thing you are an employee and you have access to these merchandise first which puts your customers at a disadvantage.

Also when does "to grab the ones I need right out of the box" always option from the customer? I know the only time this happens is when the boxes are out and items are being put on the shelves. Being able to do this right when the merchandise gets there is again another advantage you have on your customers.

Retail employees get little to no perks with their job. Allowing them first access to a product doesn't bother me at all. Most of the people working at Toys R Us arent going to be there for a life long career. I get pissed just as much as the next person when there are empty shelves but I'm not going to knock the employee that really likes the game and is shelving one of the new packs for themselves in the back. They have just as much right to be a "customer" to the same store they work at.

Quote: SkyDaddy

Quote: VendettaACS

I have no problem hiding away my Skylanders until the end of my shift for that day, then buying them once I'm off the clock. In the mornings on shipment days I sometimes grab the ones I need right out of the box.

My money is just the same as a customer's money. I'm not selling mine on Ebay, not buying 4-5 Cynders at a time, etc. One of each. Being opened and used.

The issue with scalpers is not just scalpers reselling them for higher prices BUT the issue of not giving people like your customers a chance to buy them from the store. Which is basically what you are doing. Regardless if you are making a profit OR not, you took away the opportunity for the customer to purchase that item.

Just imagine 5-10 employees doing what you are doing. How much stock you think will end up on the shelves with the fact that employees get first pick. That could pretty much result in empty shelves.

And also please don't justify what you are doing by stating "My money is just the same as a customer's money" because for one thing you are an employee and you have access to these merchandise first which puts your customers at a disadvantage.

Also when does "to grab the ones I need right out of the box" always option from the customer? I know the only time this happens is when the boxes are out and items are being put on the shelves. Being able to do this right when the merchandise gets there is again another advantage you have on your customers.

No one cares if the customer is at a disadvantage. Let him take as much skylanders as he want. Your not his guardian are you.

Quote: GothamLord

Retail employees get little to no perks with their job. Allowing them first access to a product doesn't bother me at all. Most of the people working at Toys R Us arent going to be there for a life long career. I get pissed just as much as the next person when there are empty shelves but I'm not going to knock the employee that really likes the game and is shelving one of the new packs for themselves in the back. They have just as much right to be a "customer" to the same store they work at.

1 Employee is not a problem. Having a couple of them do it affects the amount of merchandise destined for the shelves.

Quote: Rays

Quote: SkyDaddy

Quote: VendettaACS

I have no problem hiding away my Skylanders until the end of my shift for that day, then buying them once I'm off the clock. In the mornings on shipment days I sometimes grab the ones I need right out of the box.

My money is just the same as a customer's money. I'm not selling mine on Ebay, not buying 4-5 Cynders at a time, etc. One of each. Being opened and used.

The issue with scalpers is not just scalpers reselling them for higher prices BUT the issue of not giving people like your customers a chance to buy them from the store. Which is basically what you are doing. Regardless if you are making a profit OR not, you took away the opportunity for the customer to purchase that item.

Just imagine 5-10 employees doing what you are doing. How much stock you think will end up on the shelves with the fact that employees get first pick. That could pretty much result in empty shelves.

And also please don't justify what you are doing by stating "My money is just the same as a customer's money" because for one thing you are an employee and you have access to these merchandise first which puts your customers at a disadvantage.

Also when does "to grab the ones I need right out of the box" always option from the customer? I know the only time this happens is when the boxes are out and items are being put on the shelves. Being able to do this right when the merchandise gets there is again another advantage you have on your customers.

No one cares if the customer is at a disadvantage. Let him take as much skylanders as he want. Your not his guardian are you.

Really? So I guess you are the few that are not bothered by the empty shelves or finding no stock at all?

I for one care because I am the customer.

Quote: SkyDaddy

Quote: Rays

Quote: SkyDaddy

The issue with scalpers is not just scalpers reselling them for higher prices BUT the issue of not giving people like your customers a chance to buy them from the store. Which is basically what you are doing. Regardless if you are making a profit OR not, you took away the opportunity for the customer to purchase that item.

Just imagine 5-10 employees doing what you are doing. How much stock you think will end up on the shelves with the fact that employees get first pick. That could pretty much result in empty shelves.

And also please don't justify what you are doing by stating "My money is just the same as a customer's money" because for one thing you are an employee and you have access to these merchandise first which puts your customers at a disadvantage.

Also when does "to grab the ones I need right out of the box" always option from the customer? I know the only time this happens is when the boxes are out and items are being put on the shelves. Being able to do this right when the merchandise gets there is again another advantage you have on your customers.

No one cares if the customer is at a disadvantage. Let him take as much skylanders as he want. Your not his guardian are you.

Really? So I guess you are the few that are not bothered by the empty shelves or finding no stock at all?

I for one care because I am the customer.

Nope. I am not bothered. If you don't skylanders just deal with it. Also, if you don't like an employee buying a skylander how about you buy online.

For perhaps the first shipment, yes. After that they should have the products in stock on a regular basis. Still not a reason to start bashing the guy because he admits to hiding a pack for himself. The employee is just as much right to be a customer as you or I. I've worked in retail before with Target. It's a pretty deadend existence. Our managers told us straight up back in stocking. If something came in we wanted we could take it first before it was placed up so long as at least half the box went on the shelf for opening.

See the problem with that is there's a line there that gets blurred. While it's not so bad when you see something you want for any line, lets take for instance the Gold and Silvers. Regardless of whether YOU personally want them, if they're not actually going out on the shelves at all, that's absolutely unethical.

Employees have a right to take advantage of their position. As long as the employee isnt like a scalper then i see no reason why he shouldnt take the skylanders. He is just as much a fan as the next guy

Quote: cooliothex

Employees have a right to take advantage of their position. As long as the employee isnt like a scalper then i see no reason why he shouldnt take the skylanders. He is just as much a fan as the next guy

Scalping is not the issue. The issue here is the item never gets on the shelf and thus 1 more missed opportunity for the customer to buy it. With a type of distribution Activision has, just taking 1 figure from a lot of 6 figures basically takes a chance for a person to buy that figure because it only comes 1 in a case. Same goes for the adventure packs where 2 will come from a case.

If you really think it isn't a big deal to take a product off the shelf as an employee to stash it away for purchase after you are off shift then inform your employer or manager that you are doing it and see what he/she thinks.

It's also entirely possible that the practice is prohibited in your employment contract via your employee handbook.

I'd actual find it hard to believe that such actions are not prohibited.

Domer

I have to say I've been told that TRU have a strict zero-tolerance policy on staff hiding stock to buy later... but if that guy's boss allows it cut him some slack, he has a right to be a customer as much as anyone else. Just because he has the advantage of being there when the shipments arrive doesn't make it unfair... if you have a problem with it quit your job and get one at TRU or GameStop or wherever... but chances are you won't because your job is probably better, better paid, better work, better benefits... just better. And if it isn't then stop complaining and go work there.

I do think it would be unfair for staff to get all the golds/silvers but why can't he get the regular Skylanders? It's not like it's impossible to get regular Skylanders if you really want them... you can buy them online whenever you want from reputable retailers, it just may take a while for them to get in stock. I ordered Dragon's Peak from amazon.co.uk over a week ago even though it won't be released until who-knows-when and I'm happy knowing I will get it when the stock comes in. It's no consolation to someone who has dissapointed a kid because they couldn't get the right one in time for a birthday but that's why there are 4 people looking for my neighbour's son's 11th birthday present even though it's over a month away... organisation and patience are what the regular Skylander hunter needs instead of raging at someone just because they work in a place that sells things they want.

So what if there's a shipment that comes in and all of one type of item goes to the staff? The next time they get that item the staff will already have it and therefore it'll go out on the shelf. If they don't buy it there they'll be forced to get it from another store which will reduce the stock in that store instead...

As long as staff aren't scalping them or hogging all the golds and silvers I don't care and you shouldn't either.

i say again, more sales is good, but keeping the pegs non-empty is usually better in the long run. Customers who come into the store and find what they want tend to want to get other things. if they see empty shelves they just take a U-turn and go right back out frustrated.

it's bad buisness to keep high demand items scarce at the store level (in a macro economic sense it's ideal, but this isn't exchanges between china and the us, it's your local toys r us)

Quote: Deandria

I have to say I've been told that TRU have a strict zero-tolerance policy on staff hiding stock to buy later... but if that guy's boss allows it cut him some slack, he has a right to be a customer as much as anyone else. Just because he has the advantage of being there when the shipments arrive doesn't make it unfair... if you have a problem with it quit your job and get one at TRU or GameStop or wherever... but chances are you won't because your job is probably better, better paid, better work, better benefits... just better. And if it isn't then stop complaining and go work there.

I do think it would be unfair for staff to get all the golds/silvers but why can't he get the regular Skylanders? It's not like it's impossible to get regular Skylanders if you really want them... you can buy them online whenever you want from reputable retailers, it just may take a while for them to get in stock. I ordered Dragon's Peak from amazon.co.uk over a week ago even though it won't be released until who-knows-when and I'm happy knowing I will get it when the stock comes in. It's no consolation to someone who has dissapointed a kid because they couldn't get the right one in time for a birthday but that's why there are 4 people looking for my neighbour's son's 11th birthday present even though it's over a month away... organisation and patience are what the regular Skylander hunter needs instead of raging at someone just because they work in a place that sells things they want.

So what if there's a shipment that comes in and all of one type of item goes to the staff? The next time they get that item the staff will already have it and therefore it'll go out on the shelf. If they don't buy it there they'll be forced to get it from another store which will reduce the stock in that store instead...

As long as staff aren't scalping them or hogging all the golds and silvers I don't care and you shouldn't either.

I agree with you completely. If the store allows it, then give the guy a break. He is a player, not a scalper. All jobs come with benefits, and working in retail sometimes means you get to be at the front of the line when new stock comes in. If this benefit is SO important to you, then quit your job(which I'm sure has it's own wonderful benefits), and apply to work in retail, so you can have that benefit. There are only so many employees in each store, plenty that probably don't even care about Skylanders and plenty who aren't even there when stock comes in, so stock will eventually hit the shelves. You didn't get it the first week or month it came out? So what! LEARN PATIENCE! Employees using their benefits are not the problem, it's scalpers who come in and CLEAR out the shelves by taking everything. Don't blame the developers, don't blame Activision, don't blame the store, don't blame employees. They are doing the best they can to handle this situation, such as shipping new stock and posting limits. It's not their fault, it's the scalpers, so blame them.

My store limited it so you can only get 4 characters, no doubles of one character, 3 pack, Adventure pack.

thank goodness! i REALLY wanted a limit so i could actualy find skylanders

Quote: Osbor

i say again, more sales is good, but keeping the pegs non-empty is usually better in the long run. Customers who come into the store and find what they want tend to want to get other things. if they see empty shelves they just take a U-turn and go right back out frustrated.

it's bad buisness to keep high demand items scarce at the store level (in a macro economic sense it's ideal, but this isn't exchanges between china and the us, it's your local toys r us)

If the pegs are always full a customer can come in and buy what they want and then leave ,ya they might buy something else but they got what they needed and left . Now If the store has empty pegs that customer will go to that store more often to look and keep comming back and there for has a greater chance buying other items .

And for the others that say employees should not have first dibs? Is it really fair to the employee to say that they cant buy them ? they have to wait till end of shift when they are all gone ? Thats nuts . There money is the same as everyone else and jobs do have some benifits to them and this might be one for the TRU guys ,get over it.

Quote: Landerfan2012

thank goodness! i REALLY wanted a limit so i could actualy find skylanders

Thats not good. I doubt that toysrus cares about the limit of skylanders you can get.

Is this really to combat scalpers?

I think this is more to combat people constantly buying duplicates for no reason, therefore preventing kids from buying any. I doubt TRU knows about scalpers, or sees them as a threat. They probably did this when they noticed kids getting upset when they don't find Sonic Boom because some dude bought 6 of them not too long ago.

I made a topic like this just the other day anyways you're lucky cause mine has a limit of either one triple pack or 3 single packs :/

Quote: CAV

Is this really to combat scalpers?

I think this is more to combat people constantly buying duplicates for no reason, therefore preventing kids from buying any. I doubt TRU knows about scalpers, or sees them as a threat. They probably did this when they noticed kids getting upset when they don't find Sonic Boom because some dude bought 6 of them not too long ago.

oh no they're quite aware of scalpers, at least my local TRU's manager knows about them, and he can spot them a mile away
strangely enough though, at my store, he hasn't really seen any.

^The local manager knows.

But does the entire company? No. I'm pretty sure they did this because they saw a kid crying when someone bought all of the Skylander toys. Not to specifically target scalpers.

Quote: CAV

^The local manager knows.

But does the entire company? No. I'm pretty sure they did this because they saw a kid crying when someone bought all of the Skylander toys. Not to specifically target scalpers.

Let's really think this through: Toys'R'Us, which has been in the business for over 60 years, is going to put up a limit because a store saw ONE kid crying vs being told constantly about Scalpers.

I see...

You do know I'm obviously not referring to just one kid, right? I'm pretty sure many kids got upset about this, lowering customer satisfaction, therefore having those parents instead go to other stores (Target, Best Buy, etc.).

Also, how does one know that several people emailed TRU HQ about scalpers, or that they read those emails at all instead of tossing them in the imaginary trash bin?

Quote: CAV

You do know I'm obviously not referring to just one kid, right? I'm pretty sure many kids got upset about this, lowering customer satisfaction, therefore having those parents instead go to other stores (Target, Best Buy, etc.).

Also, how does one know that several people emailed TRU HQ about scalpers, or that they read those emails at all instead of tossing them in the imaginary trash bin?

You do know I'm questioning your logic right? People will always get upset if the stores don't have what they came for but what can the store do if the stock itself doesn't meet the demand? They could essentially buy the figures online anyways since Amazon and other shops have the better prices... (I still love ya Toys'R'Us)

Also, how does one know that a bunch of crying kids are the cause of this new rule? Was it in a press statement?

In short, the rule was probably put forth for neither crying kid nor the people groaning about scalpers. It was most likely because of the shortage.

You do realize that you somewhat agreed with me right? Shortages and upset kids go hand and hand. Fixing a shortage means making some kid happy. Ergo, you essentially restated my point, only in a more broader term that I couldn't think of at the time. Thanks!