Deposits on Exclusive Pre-Orders: Sideshow's New Policy?

[thenammagazine]

I hear a siren.

Make sure you bleach under your fingernails.

 

[goldbuffalo]

Well, they've been asking for a deposit on all the EX's,

but they have posted the ES from the beginning.

That's fair enough.

 

[quadcent]

love the new policy

 

[jinxx]

Precioussss hates it, yesss!

 

[tomandshell]

I just got my very first "Non-Refundable Deposit Confirmation" e-mail.

 

[quadcent]

Precioussss hates it, yesss!

DOOOO IT, you know you want it.

i just did it and it felt great. kiss that NRD good bye

 

[Corrose]

I wasn't sure how I felt about this policy until yesterday. I have decided that even though I kinda hate putting money up front for a piece thats 6 months away, I think the policy works. So far it keeps window shoppers out of the picture and allows things to not hit sold out status in 5 minutes.

I hated those PPO fridays around the time of Wolverine, Darth Talon etc where it was a crap-shoot if you got one or not. Not to mention when you're reading a thread about a particular piece, it gets cluttered with messages around processing "meh, I think Im going to cancel".

This allows you enough time to look at the pics, decide how your budget looks and pull the trigger with confidence.

Take Vampirella for example, with an ES of 350 and all her assets showing, under the old system it would have sold out in minutes. Then you would have to WL knowing half of those 350 were going to cancel because they never intended to buy anyway.

I have seen people say in the past say something along the lines that getting a T on their PO even though they knew they were going to cancel was the exciting part. In other words the thrill of the hunt is more exciting than the kill.

I think eventually the serious collectors will pull the trigger faster on the deposit orders and things will sell out a little faster than they do now. All I ask SS is that they put out the images of every piece BEFORE pre-order starts. That way you can take your time to look at the pics without the fear of it selling out why you were looking. I think thats part of the reason things sold out in minutes in the past. You had ZERO time to look at the images, you just placed in cart as fast as you could just to make sure you got one.

Just my 2 cents

 

[Hulksmashed]

I might feel differently in 6 months...but for now I'm ok with it! It makes sense.

 

[jgama25]

I wasn't sure how I felt about this policy until yesterday. I have decided that even though I kinda hate putting money up front for a piece thats 6 months away, I think the policy works. So far it keeps window shoppers out of the picture and allows things to not hit sold out status in 5 minutes.

I hated those PPO fridays around the time of Wolverine, Darth Talon etc where it was a crap-shoot if you got one or not. Not to mention when you're reading a thread about a particular piece, it gets cluttered with messages around processing "meh, I think Im going to cancel".

This allows you enough time to look at the pics, decide how your budget looks and pull the trigger with confidence.

Take Vampirella for example, with an ES of 350 and all her assets showing, under the old system it would have sold out in minutes. Then you would have to WL knowing half of those 350 were going to cancel because they never intended to buy anyway.

I have seen people say in the past say something along the lines that getting a T on their PO even though they knew they were going to cancel was the exciting part. In other words the thrill of the hunt is more exciting than the kill.

I think eventually the serious collectors will pull the trigger faster on the deposit orders and things will sell out a little faster than they do now. All I ask SS is that they put out the images of every piece BEFORE pre-order starts. That way you can take your time to look at the pics without the fear of it selling out why you were looking. I think thats part of the reason things sold out in minutes in the past. You had ZERO time to look at the images, you just placed in cart as fast as you could just to make sure you got one.

Just my 2 cents

couldn't agree more!!!

 

[samueljd]

I wasn't sure how I felt about this policy until yesterday. I have decided that even though I kinda hate putting money up front for a piece thats 6 months away, I think the policy works. So far it keeps window shoppers out of the picture and allows things to not hit sold out status in 5 minutes.

I hated those PPO fridays around the time of Wolverine, Darth Talon etc where it was a crap-shoot if you got one or not. Not to mention when you're reading a thread about a particular piece, it gets cluttered with messages around processing "meh, I think Im going to cancel".

This allows you enough time to look at the pics, decide how your budget looks and pull the trigger with confidence.

Take Vampirella for example, with an ES of 350 and all her assets showing, under the old system it would have sold out in minutes. Then you would have to WL knowing half of those 350 were going to cancel because they never intended to buy anyway.

I have seen people say in the past say something along the lines that getting a T on their PO even though they knew they were going to cancel was the exciting part. In other words the thrill of the hunt is more exciting than the kill.

I think eventually the serious collectors will pull the trigger faster on the deposit orders and things will sell out a little faster than they do now. All I ask SS is that they put out the images of every piece BEFORE pre-order starts. That way you can take your time to look at the pics without the fear of it selling out why you were looking. I think thats part of the reason things sold out in minutes in the past. You had ZERO time to look at the images, you just placed in cart as fast as you could just to make sure you got one.

Just my 2 cents

Nice take on the new policy. The policy change kind of annoyed me at first, but then I considered some of the same points you have, and feel it may be the best way SS can handle some of the folks who jump the gun or just order to flip in the long run. I just hope the production pieces turns out about as good as the previewed ones do.

 

[quadcent]

I wasn't sure how I felt about this policy until yesterday. I have decided that even though I kinda hate putting money up front for a piece thats 6 months away, I think the policy works. So far it keeps window shoppers out of the picture and allows things to not hit sold out status in 5 minutes.

I hated those PPO fridays around the time of Wolverine, Darth Talon etc where it was a crap-shoot if you got one or not. Not to mention when you're reading a thread about a particular piece, it gets cluttered with messages around processing "meh, I think Im going to cancel".

This allows you enough time to look at the pics, decide how your budget looks and pull the trigger with confidence.

Take Vampirella for example, with an ES of 350 and all her assets showing, under the old system it would have sold out in minutes. Then you would have to WL knowing half of those 350 were going to cancel because they never intended to buy anyway.

I have seen people say in the past say something along the lines that getting a T on their PO even though they knew they were going to cancel was the exciting part. In other words the thrill of the hunt is more exciting than the kill.

I think eventually the serious collectors will pull the trigger faster on the deposit orders and things will sell out a little faster than they do now. All I ask SS is that they put out the images of every piece BEFORE pre-order starts. That way you can take your time to look at the pics without the fear of it selling out why you were looking. I think thats part of the reason things sold out in minutes in the past. You had ZERO time to look at the images, you just placed in cart as fast as you could just to make sure you got one.

Just my 2 cents

you can add my 2 cents also, well put. i also took some time to order Vampirella and first thing this morning when i got up i say the low alert at around 40-50 and decided to pull the trigger. now i hope ssc doesn't start playing games with the low alert warning to pull people into ordering, but either way i'm very pleased with the new policy

 

[Ktjn]

^^^^

if they had implemented this policy with Conan, there would be no EX currently in stock. But that piece will eventually sell out since it turned out so well.

I fear Carnage and Ms.marvel may end up on SC. It's a slight maybe with Ms though.

 

[fuzzylojiks]

The products also are up a lot longer with this policy so no excuses of not getting one due how fast it sells out yet.

 

[fuzzylojiks]

I wasn't sure how I felt about this policy until yesterday. I have decided that even though I kinda hate putting money up front for a piece thats 6 months away, I think the policy works. So far it keeps window shoppers out of the picture and allows things to not hit sold out status in 5 minutes.

I hated those PPO fridays around the time of Wolverine, Darth Talon etc where it was a crap-shoot if you got one or not. Not to mention when you're reading a thread about a particular piece, it gets cluttered with messages around processing "meh, I think Im going to cancel".

This allows you enough time to look at the pics, decide how your budget looks and pull the trigger with confidence.

Take Vampirella for example, with an ES of 350 and all her assets showing, under the old system it would have sold out in minutes. Then you would have to WL knowing half of those 350 were going to cancel because they never intended to buy anyway.

I have seen people say in the past say something along the lines that getting a T on their PO even though they knew they were going to cancel was the exciting part. In other words the thrill of the hunt is more exciting than the kill.

I think eventually the serious collectors will pull the trigger faster on the deposit orders and things will sell out a little faster than they do now. All I ask SS is that they put out the images of every piece BEFORE pre-order starts. That way you can take your time to look at the pics without the fear of it selling out why you were looking. I think thats part of the reason things sold out in minutes in the past. You had ZERO time to look at the images, you just placed in cart as fast as you could just to make sure you got one.

Just my 2 cents

Yeah, it's gonna decrease the order now cancel later mentality that bloats the ES.

 

[thenammagazine]

I think eventually the serious collectors will pull the trigger faster on the deposit orders and things will sell out a little faster than they do now. All I ask SS is that they put out the images of every piece BEFORE pre-order starts. That way you can take your time to look at the pics without the fear of it selling out why you were looking. I think thats part of the reason things sold out in minutes in the past. You had ZERO time to look at the images, you just placed in cart as fast as you could just to make sure you got one.

Just my 2 cents

I would beg to differ here. I'm a serious collector and I'll tell you straight up. With the exception of Jason, or a grail in my collection, I won't be paying NRDs when Sideshow's QC is still so horribly hit and miss. A perfect example is their new Nosferatu statue. Every aspect is crisp and beautiful. Now compare that to their Mummy PF. Looks like ____. Likeness is off, paints suck, etc. I'm not going to just hand sideshow my money so they can go, "Well, looks like everyone's paying up. No need to improve. On to the next!"

 

[Corrose]

It's all just a matter of personal opinion. You speak on QC issues with Sideshow, but from my side of the fence of the nearly 40 sideshow pieces I own, I have only ever had to get replacement items for one, Scarlet Witch, but I can understand and respect that others may not have been so lucky. Also from my side of the fence I have never PO'ed a piece and gotten pissed at slight changes made to the final, maybe I'm not that picky, or maybe I've just been lucky, who knows. Also none of the pieces I have ever pre-ordered had entire sculpt changes made. You mentioned likeness being off. Well the likeness is something you judge before placing the order, because there are pictures available when you order it. And even then you have the option of just getting a flat out refund if you aren't happy.

Above all I'm just happy that I no longer have to be glued to my computer the second an item goes up because I'm competing with a couple other hundred collectors who don't even want the item, they just wanted to say "I GOT A "T" ON MY ORDER!", then cancel later.

There were a couple of instances where Sideshow put up PPOs for items that ended up selling out in literally minutes and I was in situations like at work in a meeting, trying to focus and order on my iphone at the same time, or trying to enjoy lunch with friends, and watching my iphone during a PPO timeframe, because waiting until the meeting or lunch was over was not an option if I wanted a guaranteed exclusive order.

Now I can relax and know if I'm busy, I'll still be able to place my order later. This is no different than other sites like Urban Collector and others, they require deposits.

Again, Hobgoblin went up on Saturday. I was hosting a Halloween party that night, so I had shopping and errands all day Sat, and then Sunday was a hangover and cleaning up the house. I had no real time to look at pics and make a rushed decision. Now it's Monday and it's still available. My weekend didn't have to stop on Sideshow's watch and to me thats worth $30 down.

 

[Blackthornone]

It's all just a matter of personal opinion. You speak on QC issues with Sideshow, but from my side of the fence of the nearly 40 sideshow pieces I own, I have only ever had to get replacement items for one, Scarlet Witch, but I can understand and respect that others may not have been so lucky. Also from my side of the fence I have never PO'ed a piece and gotten pissed at slight changes made to the final, maybe I'm not that picky, or maybe I've just been lucky, who knows. Also none of the pieces I have ever pre-ordered had entire sculpt changes made. You mentioned likeness being off. Well the likeness is something you judge before placing the order, because there are pictures available when you order it. And even then you have the option of just getting a flat out refund if you aren't happy.

Above all I'm just happy that I no longer have to be glued to my computer the second an item goes up because I'm competing with a couple other hundred collectors who don't even want the item, they just wanted to say "I GOT A "T" ON MY ORDER!", then cancel later.

There were a couple of instances where Sideshow put up PPOs for items that ended up selling out in literally minutes and I was in situations like at work in a meeting, trying to focus and order on my iphone at the same time, or trying to enjoy lunch with friends, and watching my iphone during a PPO timeframe, because waiting until the meeting or lunch was over was not an option if I wanted a guaranteed exclusive order.

Now I can relax and know if I'm busy, I'll still be able to place my order later. This is no different than other sites like Urban Collector and others, they require deposits.

Again, Hobgoblin went up on Saturday. I was hosting a Halloween party that night, so I had shopping and errands all day Sat, and then Sunday was a hangover and cleaning up the house. I had no real time to look at pics and make a rushed decision. Now it's Monday and it's still available. My weekend didn't have to stop on Sideshow's watch and to me thats worth $30 down.

Interesting observations. All of the problems with availability and flippers and most of the problems with left over stock would be eliminated if all items were made to order for a period of a few months, all with deposits at time of ordering. Then everyone who wants one could get one if they could afford it, and would ensure that only those people who actually would buy one would order one. The problems all solved. No more speculation, and no more left over inventory. The fact is that not many people would actually WANT to pay x amount of dollars for these statues anyway, so I suspect that the ES of these would not go up that much.

 

[kl241]

I would beg to differ here. I'm a serious collector and I'll tell you straight up. With the exception of Jason, or a grail in my collection, I won't be paying NRDs when Sideshow's QC is still so horribly hit and miss. A perfect example is their new Nosferatu statue. Every aspect is crisp and beautiful. Now compare that to their Mummy PF. Looks like ____. Likeness is off, paints suck, etc. I'm not going to just hand sideshow my money so they can go, "Well, looks like everyone's paying up. No need to improve. On to the next!"

^^^ This. There's nothing to hold Sideshow accountable for their sloppy QC and the reason why they hardly ever post final production photos anymore.

 

[Mr. Green]

Man, you guys are typing enough over here to write your way to a doctorate degree or something. Knock it off, you're drying my eye?!!

Horay for NRD. Keep the ES low and flipper away.

K, you guys can get back to your typing now...so type your heart out!

 

[The Mike]

Personally I'm over the whole NRD argument, its obvious that some people love it, some don't care and some hate it. Nothing here has changed my opinion of it and I doubt anything I post will change anyone else's thought.

Although I'd like to remind people that the true purpose of the NRD was to reduce cancelations and overstock. That won't be gauged until the first NRD piece ships and we see if it hits second chance again. It that still happens, love it or hate it, its not an effective policy. That is removing everything from the argument except for the policy itself.