darkSpyro

What are people's take on scalpers this time around? It's still early, since only wave 2 has come out, but do you think they are still in issue with Swap Force as they were with the previous Skylander games?

The stock for Swap Force looks to be plentiful which makes scalping all the more difficult. It seems silly to see someone trying to clear the shelves when there are multiple stores with large amounts of stock. Even with the wave 2 release coming to TRU, and Sam's, first, it will be a matter of weeks before that wave is everywhere. The scalpers are still out, but with Activision's mass quantities, it makes it unlikely for them to make the effort since the profit margins would be so low.

I was wondering the same thing. The scalpers are definitely still trying it, like you said, but I hope they feel silly now. There really does seem to be a good supply. Hopefully that will be true of subsequent waves. I'm thinking the problem is going to be the variants. It will be easier for them scoop those up, and they are rarer to begin with. The Enchanted Hoot Loops were gone pretty much instantly at my Walmart, so I hope at least some of them went to actual players.

Well, I saw a Dark Force Edition Start Pack on Amazon for $180. Considering its $99 at the store....

All the places I've been have had good supply except EHL seemed to go quickly.

I appreciate the attempt at preventing scalpers, but I could see this being harder on families with multiple collectors or getting one for my son and a birthday present for his cousin.

Wow, honestly I think that is cool of Wal-Mart. I see your concern, but I am sure that you could go through the line twice, or send your son through once and then you. Most cashiers would think that was adorable I am sure and be ok, plus, if it is anything like my Wal-Mart, the cashiers don't care anyway. My experience with scalpers on opening day sucked. There was one guy who grabbed like 5 Enchanted Hoot Loops. A family who I had seen at the TRU midnight release showed up late to the game at Wal-Mart and there weren't any EHL left, mostly because of the scalper. We gave them ours and went to a different Wal-Mart and found one. It just made me sad that these kids weren't going to get to play with the one they really wanted because of this one person. So kudos to one Wal-Mart at least trying to make it fair.

What she said, bring it up to an associate. Many will stay iron-clad, but I'm sure a few people will understand and let you get what you need.

Saw some Dark Starters actually sold for 150 on ebay. Not surprised. Some Skylander items are not yet above retail, others are heading that way.

I don't think we will see true scalping for a few months. My Orlando TRU did their best to prevent this.

I went out of my way to get in on the ground floor of SWAP force. My sons currently have at least one of every rare Skylander from SWAP Force. For the next rounds, I don't know how we will fare.

I've found this site to be one of the best to stay on top of things. Honestly, wish I could find one like this for Disney Infinity, as TRU pretty much sucks at getting the word out. Though part of this is my collect 'em all attitude. LOL "Gotta catch 'em all" as well.

I'm trying two strategies. One is having them learn and want the skyalnder before they can get one. The other is they spend their own money on them. For my part I make sure I know the when/where on release, and pre-order if possible. I will purchase in advance when I can. Also, they will pay for the pre-order or mail order, advance purchase. If they don't pay, the item will join my army, or well someone is getting a rare skylander.

You may find that the eBay/amazon sales are to other countries as well, and distribution is not always even. We've all heard of the Wall of Skyalnder X by now, and different regions of the the States and the world getting different figures and varying quantities. I even buy a few transformers from asia, as they simply don't have them on the market here.

Also, I'll take a limit of one any day. If you have others to buy for, enlist some help. No questions were asked when my boys and I separated our orders and there were a few duplicates between them.

Checked my local Craigslist and only found 1 ad for any Swap Force related items. He was selling the Nitro Magna Charge for $20, $15 for Rattle Shake or Free Ranger, $30 for 2 and $40 for 3. I'm actually going to buy a Nitro Magna Charge as $20 is only a bit over the actual cost after taxes AND I don't have to open a pack and have an extra Swapper!

I am definitely glad they are preventing scalping. My son is only 5 but loves to be the "money man" and pay for things. It all worked out fine for us, but I hate how scalpers make things harder on everyone else.

death to scalpers!

I see scalpers as desperate money whores who steal fun away from kids (& big kids) who try to buy them to actually play with. The sad reality is that over time, all the figurines will eventually stop getting made. This is when the scalpers will make a dollar. I hope they have to wait a couple of years before they can sell them, so they can have some stress throughout the time.

I can see Pop Thorn's adventure pack being the new Darklight Crypt.
Mainly because the sky diamond will be highly valuable later (If training dummies exist in skylanders 4)

Quote: Doobrywhatsits

I see scalpers as desperate money whores who steal fun away from kids (& big kids) who try to buy them to actually play with. The sad reality is that over time, all the figurines will eventually stop getting made. This is when the scalpers will make a dollar. I hope they have to wait a couple of years before they can sell them, so they can have some stress throughout the time.

You know, I personally don't have a problem with the second hand market taking over once it is out of print. My main issue is with people that buy out a bunch, creating rarity and sell them at a premium - while they are still current. It is skimming profit at the expense of fans that could find the figures more easily if these low lifes didn't contribute to the rarity. You aren't providing a "service" when you go clear out a store, then sell them on Craigslist for four times what you got them for.

Now on the other hand, if you have a dust covered Boomer sitting in your closet and someone wants to buy it for $100 then fine. They are paying to get something that isn't available through normal channels. Retailers handle distribution just fine, they don't need Ebay mouth breathers putting on an additional layer of overhead.

I can't lie, I got into buying lots and selling the individual characters - mostly because the price of some of them were outrageous. I've watched the market heavy, and while there are some people who get lucky and sell something for more than its worth, the market has essentially crashed on itself - (same with Disney Infinity) - its resellers - buying from resellers. so I'm *personally* clearing out my resell lot and whiping my hands. There might be a few alt decos worth something over time, but I don't think we[ll have another Ghost Roaster or even Punch Pop Fizz and Gnarly Tree Rex (blame re-releases for that as well).
- Unreall

Quote: Windumup

I can see Pop Thorn's adventure pack being the new Darklight Crypt.
Mainly because the sky diamond will be highly valuable later (If training dummies exist in skylanders 4)

Heck even without the training dummies that thing would be really good. Find a place in the game with tons of enemies and profit!

IMO, the one thing that would kill scalping is patience. I saw it too many times with the Giants releases. A new Giant was released, sold out quickly, and, after a couple weeks, people could find it all over the place. The initial fever had people buying them at ridiculous prices. If they had simply waited, the figure easily could have been purchased at retail. The hardest ones to find are the exclusives, but that's because they stopped being produced. The others (for the most part) can be found all over the place.

I don't mean any offense by this but the community here is extremely sensitive to these things, as someone who's new to DarkSpyro it's really striking to me. I got into Skylanders really late and didn't think any of the figures other than the Royal Double Trouble were very expensive on the secondhand market. Yeah, at some times eBay prices were too high on some figures, but 95% of them the prices were about the same as in the store. In fact I think I got a full green base SSA collection for a total of about the same as anyone would have paid in the store even with the inflated price on Boomer. I don't know if some people are turning some kind of profit on scalping Skylanders, but if they are it's pocket change for the amount of driving and running around they have to do just to make $5 here and there.

Also some of the eBay sellers are probably just honest people who simply spent too much on this hobby, got buyer's remorse, and went to sell some things to make up for it. Like if you decided you didn't want your Enchanted Hoot Loop it'd be hard to not sell him for $20 if that's what the market price on eBay was for him. There are definitely people out there who'd consider it worth it to buy a figure like that for $5 more than in the store if it saved them an hour trip out to their closest Wal-Mart... or even some people who don't have a local Wal-Mart.

Quote: Windumup

I can see Pop Thorn's adventure pack being the new Darklight Crypt.
Mainly because the sky diamond will be highly valuable later (If training dummies exist in skylanders 4)

It won't be really based on what is useful in the game. What will make rarity most commonly is something that is not really desired, so they stop making it. Once they stop making it and the stock dries up, people realize they need it but cannot get it. Boomer and Darklight Crypt used to sit on shelves all alone, untouched. The consumers told TFB they didn't want them, and they listened. I saw stores that had nothing but those in stock a couple years back. Now people realize (and new players have come onboard) they cannot have the whole set without them.

I would have guessed Flashwing for Giants, but since she got a Lightcore this time people can find her and get her well into Swap Force. I now think Swarm or Bouncer is going to be the one down the road. Rarity creates demand, not usefulness in the game.

As the years go on you will run into less and less scalpers, as they won't be running into profits which is what I have seen so far.

Quote: Friendzie

I don't mean any offense by this but the community here is extremely sensitive to these things, as someone who's new to DarkSpyro it's really striking to me. I got into Skylanders really late and didn't think any of the figures other than the Royal Double Trouble were very expensive on the secondhand market. Yeah, at some times eBay prices were too high on some figures, but 95% of them the prices were about the same as in the store. In fact I think I got a full green base SSA collection for a total of about the same as anyone would have paid in the store even with the inflated price on Boomer. I don't know if some people are turning some kind of profit on scalping Skylanders, but if they are it's pocket change for the amount of driving and running around they have to do just to make $5 here and there.

Also some of the eBay sellers are probably just honest people who simply spent too much on this hobby, got buyer's remorse, and went to sell some things to make up for it. Like if you decided you didn't want your Enchanted Hoot Loop it'd be hard to not sell him for $20 if that's what the market price on eBay was for him. There are definitely people out there who'd consider it worth it to buy a figure like that for $5 more than in the store if it saved them an hour trip out to their closest Wal-Mart... or even some people who don't have a local Wal-Mart.

I don't consider everyone selling on the secondary market be scalpers either. It's the people who clear the shelves when new stuff is released and stand in the lines with the actual gamers and buy all of them up in front on them that are the actual menace. How they can do that without a qualm when there are disappointed children in line behind them I will never understand.
But if you have stuff you never opened that you don't want, or it's used, or something like that I don't have a problem with that. I got into Skylanders late too, and got quite a few used ones online for perfectly reasonable prices. Also, my husband has a used game store and people sell their Skylanders to him. To be honest I pretty much paid for all my Swap Force stuff by buying those used figures from people that didn't want to bother with eBay and then reselling them online. I've also sold a Darklight Crypt I found recently at Target. I don't feel bad about that. It's been out for two years. I didn't take out from under anybody's nose. I run around to a lot of stores looking for figures for myself and my niece, and finding that Darklight made up for a lot of money spent on gas, lol. But I think it's the people that snap up all the new stuff that everyone's mad at.

Just looked at craigslist today and someone is trying to sell Riptide and Scorp for $18 each and the wave 2 swappers for 27 each, and clearly states they have 15-20 of each of them here in the DC area. Now that just seems greedy to me.

Quote: alliedanielle89

Wow, honestly I think that is cool of Wal-Mart. I see your concern, but I am sure that you could go through the line twice, or send your son through once and then you. Most cashiers would think that was adorable I am sure and be ok, plus, if it is anything like my Wal-Mart, the cashiers don't care anyway. My experience with scalpers on opening day sucked. There was one guy who grabbed like 5 Enchanted Hoot Loops. A family who I had seen at the TRU midnight release showed up late to the game at Wal-Mart and there weren't any EHL left, mostly because of the scalper. We gave them ours and went to a different Wal-Mart and found one. It just made me sad that these kids weren't going to get to play with the one they really wanted because of this one person. So kudos to one Wal-Mart at least trying to make it fair.

So GM78 buys four for his family...is he a scalper? When does quantity turn from a family affair to a scalping affair? Problem is....no one knows...THEY ASSUME.

That's a good point ... where is "the line drawn" regarding "scalping"?

Is two too many? three? four? five? ten?

I think most people here would have a different answer to that question.

The main way that "scalping" can effectively be combated is for stores to limit quantities. And while many people approve of limited quantity policies, they are almost NEVER implemented nationwide ... it's always a store-by-store, manager-by-manager policy ... and then when that happens, we inevitably see complaints about "so-and-so in [insert city here] didn't have to deal with limited quantities, but I did?!?! What?!!?"

The other option that would seriously put a damper on scalper activity is to encourage Activision to stop making store-exclusive and limited-quantity variants. Good luck with that. And even if such a change was implemented, we'd then inevitably have people whining and complaining about the lack of variants for collectors to drool and fawn over.

You see? There's really no good solution. As long as we have a free market economy, you have to accept "scalping" as part of the gig. You don't have to like it. But your energy is better spent by beating the scalpers, rather than complaining about them. If you want to beat the scalpers, then go to the store when figures are released and get there before they do, and make faces at them and point them out to other shoppers and embarrass them. Complaining about scalping on an internet forum accomplishes next to nothing.

Scalpers aren't really an issue for me since I live in the metro Atlanta area. There are entirely too many stores, so it's really a matter of me just going to a different store. I can see how it could be a problem in some areas. Although, online purchases is also an avenue for getting figures and you don't have to drive anywhere. The main instance when limited supply becomes a problem is when that one person tries to buy everything while other people are trying to just buy one. That is easily handled by complaining to management.

Quote: defpally

Quote: Windumup

I can see Pop Thorn's adventure pack being the new Darklight Crypt.
Mainly because the sky diamond will be highly valuable later (If training dummies exist in skylanders 4)

It won't be really based on what is useful in the game. What will make rarity most commonly is something that is not really desired, so they stop making it. Once they stop making it and the stock dries up, people realize they need it but cannot get it. Boomer and Darklight Crypt used to sit on shelves all alone, untouched. The consumers told TFB they didn't want them, and they listened. I saw stores that had nothing but those in stock a couple years back. Now people realize (and new players have come onboard) they cannot have the whole set without them.

I would have guessed Flashwing for Giants, but since she got a Lightcore this time people can find her and get her well into Swap Force. I now think Swarm or Bouncer is going to be the one down the road. Rarity creates demand, not usefulness in the game.

I still think later on (Lets say for example Skylander 10)
The Sky Diamond will increase in demand if it keeps its usefullness. And Pop Thorn is VERY popular.

Quote:

I still think later on (Lets say for example Skylander 10)
The Sky Diamond will increase in demand if it keeps its usefullness. And Pop Thorn is VERY popular.

You really think they'll keep such an obvious oversight on their part in all of their upcoming games?

Quote: wombatandchips

Quote: Friendzie

I don't mean any offense by this but the community here is extremely sensitive to these things, as someone who's new to DarkSpyro it's really striking to me. I got into Skylanders really late and didn't think any of the figures other than the Royal Double Trouble were very expensive on the secondhand market. Yeah, at some times eBay prices were too high on some figures, but 95% of them the prices were about the same as in the store. In fact I think I got a full green base SSA collection for a total of about the same as anyone would have paid in the store even with the inflated price on Boomer. I don't know if some people are turning some kind of profit on scalping Skylanders, but if they are it's pocket change for the amount of driving and running around they have to do just to make $5 here and there.

Also some of the eBay sellers are probably just honest people who simply spent too much on this hobby, got buyer's remorse, and went to sell some things to make up for it. Like if you decided you didn't want your Enchanted Hoot Loop it'd be hard to not sell him for $20 if that's what the market price on eBay was for him. There are definitely people out there who'd consider it worth it to buy a figure like that for $5 more than in the store if it saved them an hour trip out to their closest Wal-Mart... or even some people who don't have a local Wal-Mart.

I don't consider everyone selling on the secondary market be scalpers either. It's the people who clear the shelves when new stuff is released and stand in the lines with the actual gamers and buy all of them up in front on them that are the actual menace. How they can do that without a qualm when there are disappointed children in line behind them I will never understand.
But if you have stuff you never opened that you don't want, or it's used, or something like that I don't have a problem with that. I got into Skylanders late too, and got quite a few used ones online for perfectly reasonable prices. Also, my husband has a used game store and people sell their Skylanders to him. To be honest I pretty much paid for all my Swap Force stuff by buying those used figures from people that didn't want to bother with eBay and then reselling them online. I've also sold a Darklight Crypt I found recently at Target. I don't feel bad about that. It's been out for two years. I didn't take out from under anybody's nose. I run around to a lot of stores looking for figures for myself and my niece, and finding that Darklight made up for a lot of money spent on gas, lol. But I think it's the people that snap up all the new stuff that everyone's mad at.

I just wanted to quoite this for how I personally feel. I collect shoes and in that market resellers have become a HUGE problem. I resell stuff at store, but I NEVER shortcut anyone else, I was told today I should work at TRU because I was helping a kid find something. It's the same with DI, we'll buy extra copies of stuff, but never clear the shelves. The people who clear shelves though at ANY store irritate the heck out of me. Whether it's to make a buck or its just a good sale - leave some for others.

And in the long run I don't think there is anything *anymore* for the Skylander franchise that will be like that - any super expensive chase variant will be a random find like the Purple Eye Brawl - not a mass commodity item like Pumpkin Eye Brawl. I'm surprised they haven't reissued Dark Light Crypt at this point...
- Unreall

I'm not a fan of the Scalpers either, because of the country I live in is very rural and gets little to no variant’s I have to shop online and I hate going to an ebay listing and seeing a photo of a stack of twenty or so variant’s like crystal lighting McQueen or polar whirlwind or jade flashwing it's really annoying not to be able to get these because some jerk has gone into a shop and swiped a whole shelf of them.

I'm worried about SWAP Force stock in my area.

Those of you in the US may get plentiful stock, but where I live, usually we have each wave stocked once or twice, and then about two more restocks up to the next game. It's painful, because it usually means I have only one oppurtunity to get my Skylanders, otherwise- to eBay.

Now that EB Games are no longer accepting pre-orders, this means I can't just have them hold it. They do usually alert me straight away when they get new Skylanders because I'm a very loyal customer, but it's still a stress.

I just gave up on variants. We usually have to wait months more to get them here so it's just worth paying more for the convinience of having them that much sooner and not having to make a trip to a shop for one new recolour.

My tru had scalpels

Quote: Skylanders fan

My tru had scalpels

Scalpels?!?!

Saw Nitro Charge 2 pack on Kijiji here for 60$...

Scalpers exist no matter what. Already seen it with the store exclusives mostly EHL and nitro magna charge. Hopefully this time around there won't be as many but as most of you know, patience! Don't do the secondary prices on eBay for a new figure, wait a few weeks and it'll be regularly available (remember ninjini?) anyways, let's hope more stores take the example and limit quantities, I know tru does.

I've got a fairly decent Skylanders collection of over 200 figures and have never bought from a "scalper". Anyone who does has no one to blame but themselves.

Honestly, folks who get themselves in a tizzy over someone reselling little plastic toys... well, I guess they should count themselves lucky that little plastic toys are the biggest concern of their lives.

Quote: BahamutBreaker

Quote: Skylanders fan

My tru had scalpels

Scalpels?!?!

And we use those to fend off scalpers.