Do you think this guy got a fair deal?

IDontThinkSoTim · Post by **IDontThinkSoTim** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 7:27 am

I was at my local toy shop the other day. While I was there, a guy came in with a lot of Transformers for sale.

From what I can remember:

Metroplex, mint, white, did not notice all his parts but there was a lot of stuff in one box and I couldn't make everything out (or I saw the parts and don't remember now!).
Trypticon, complete, mint
Mindwipe, complete, mint
Sunstreaker, in box, couldn't tell if it was MISB or MIB. The box was perfect.
Shockwave, box was perfect, did not check if MISB or MIB.
Skylynx, box beat up, complete
Skorponok, box beat up, complete

There was a few other items boxed, and a few others bagged and loose in a bin. Wish I could remember all the other items! I think the Seacons might have been in there, too.

They gave him 500 for all this. judging by the condition all the items were in, and factoring in the markup they'll give the toys, it seems like they completely low balled him. Anyone else agree? They've got a few stores in the area, I bet he would have gotten a better deal if he had split it up and sold a few items at each of their stores.

Discuss!

Banzai-Tron · Post by **Banzai-Tron** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 8:40 am

That looks reasonably fair to me. There's also always the chance that Shockwave and Sunstreaker could be counterfeit.

Especially with a brick and mortar store, you've got to leave room for profit, overhead, wages, etc. It's not any different than going to a pawn shop with a guitar. Are you going to get full value? Not a chance. Are you going to get 75%? Only if your item is worth several thousand dollars AND it's a surefire, easy flip. Will you get 50% of value? Maybe, if you're lucky.

Is that fair? I would say so. At this point, everyone should be able to have *some* idea of what their more common stuff is worth, or they're just lazy.

EDIT: If either the Sunstreaker or Shockwave were MISB, of course, they offer was pretty solidly unfair, assuming they were actually vintage. But then, to give truly fair value, you'd have to tell the customer that they need to pony up the AFA fee, wait a few weeks/months, and then we'll see what the offer is. Which for some, could be offputting.

Jazz · Post by **Jazz** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:35 pm

Seems pretty fair, I wouldn't feel cheated.

LD2062 · Post by **LD2062** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 12:44 pm

50% Is really about all you expect to get from someone who is going to resell the stuff. Especially like Banzai-Tron said, if the have all the overhead involved in a brick a mortar store. Even someone just selling on ebay has to right off almost 20% of the total sale price just in fees alone. + shipping supplies and taxes. So you'd be hard pressed to sell to them for more than 50%.

You want top dollar you have to sell yourself on something like ebay. And that takes a lot more time than most people think.

Jose · Post by **Jose** » Tue Sep 14, 2010 9:18 pm

Assuming they were original, I think the price was a steal. However, when you purchase/sell in bulk, you may expect the 50% off as normal.

IDontThinkSoTim · Post by **IDontThinkSoTim** » Wed Sep 15, 2010 10:43 am

I don't think he got a totally unfair price, just on the low end of the spectrum. There were other figures included (and a couple others boxed) that I don't remember.

Also, from what I saw, everything was original. I did not get to check the boxed stuff, but it did look legit. The guys working there looked everything over and they know their stuff.