New Sideshow Policy - non-refundable deposit figures over $224

[Invictus Sol]

Personally, I think it's a justified move on their part. Seems to me too many collectors impulse buy and then cancel and there's maybe too much gaming the system currently. Hopefully this will give a more accurate idea of demand and drive the runs down. Something's wrong when so many people expect runs so large that they anticipate the figures being discounted heavily at Spooktacular, for example.

 

[Khev]

Personally, I think it's a justified move on their part. Seems to me too many collectors impulse buy and then cancel and there's maybe too much gaming the system currently.

I think most people cancel because the production pieces are so far off from the prototypes.

 

[TonTon]

The whole point of the nrd is that it's a penalty. Why would they make the penalty less?
P.S. they already had an NRD once for 1/6 figures so this isn't exactly a huge change

My point was put it on everything and across the board thereby making it more balanced. The larger point is I could buy $10,000 worth of figures under $200 with no NRD and cancel them all, but buy one at $224 and cancel and get charged? Doesn't make any business sense. Obviously the first is worse for them yet they're acting as though the second is worse for them. It might be moot if everything is above $225 from now on. Also seems like this doesn't even apply to HT.
Like you said they already had this NRD system in place, but as they lower the threshold while prices are increases, it's suddenly going to cover many more figs.

 

[Invictus Sol]

On another note, I purchase figures from a brick and mortar store in BC Canada, who are now advertising their prices in the store in USD!!! WTF??? I don't get that at all. One thing is sure, my collecting these expensive toys will be grinding to a halt.

Yep, every online Canadian distributor I visit seems to be USD by default. Can't blame them, really, though. Our dollar is tanking. Even in my own for sale threads, I'm only listing in USD, too. That's how I pay, so figured it should be how I sell.

I think most people cancel because the production pieces are so far off from the prototypes.

Yeah, it's true I've seen some pretty bad examples especially with the PFs. In regards to the human 1:6 figures, we should all know by now not to trust the prototype pics. In all seriousness, though, I'll probably never trust SSC to produce an HT level human likeness, so I'll never PO one from them. At least not until they have a rock solid track record, but like many here, my 1:6 collecting is going to be seriously curtailed after my current POs are done.

 

[Rambler]

If theres a figure I want I may PO up front with BBTS. I usually shy away from them because of the sales tax I pay them. But no NRD with them is fine with me. I usually pay for most of my figures all at once recently anyways.

 

[Mike86]

Realistically though like I said before, what really is the point of penalizing a customer for canceling an order? It would be one thing if pre-orders directly determined how much of something they need to manufacture or order, but the way it sounds that isn't really the case. They likely have a certain production number figured out already or distributors allocate them a certain amount so they'd have stock regardless of someone canceling an order or not. Seems like a silly policy to charge a customer for canceling. I think for some bigger ticket items it's a bit more justified (like the Hulkbuster or something outrageously expensive).

 

[marker2037]

My point was put it on everything and across the board thereby making it more balanced. The larger point is I could buy $10,000 worth of figures under $200 with no NRD and cancel them all, but buy one at $224 and cancel and get charged? Doesn't make any business sense. Obviously the first is worse for them yet they're acting as though the second is worse for them. It might be moot if everything is above $225 from now on. Also seems like this doesn't even apply to HT.
Like you said they already had this NRD system in place, but as they lower the threshold while prices are increases, it's suddenly going to cover many more figs.

$10,000 of one product vs one order of another is not a realistic interpretation of orders. How about 5 $200 figures for $1,000 vs. one $224 figure . My guess is that Sideshow needed to put the NRD start at a certain price point or else everything would need an NRD, so they went with north of the $220 mark as the $200 point seems to be the low average of 1/6 figures.

All I think this does is prevent flip-floppers. I'm not sure how the rest of you buy, but when I commit to buy something, I go through with it. You just need to be a little more selective everyone.

 

[marker2037]

Realistically though like I said before, what really is the point of penalizing a customer for canceling an order? It would be one thing if pre-orders directly determined how much of something they need to manufacture or order, but the way it sounds that isn't really the case. They likely have a certain production number figured out already or distributors allocate them a certain amount so they'd have stock regardless of someone canceling an order or not. Seems like a silly policy to charge a customer for canceling. I think for some bigger ticket items it's a bit more justified (like the Hulkbuster or something outrageously expensive).

Stock. It costs money to have things sit in a warehouse.

 

[Invictus Sol]

@ Mike: Eh, either way I just don't like the fickleness on the customer's side. Don't order unless you're sure and if you change your mind, then accept the penalty.

 

[karamazov80]

Well the NRD isn't really a penalty. It's a potential penalty. Thus, it's a deterrent. And I think their production levels are strongly influenced by pre-orders, and so from that POV the NRD makes some sense, but. . .

Personally, I think it's a justified move on their part. Seems to me too many collectors impulse buy and then cancel and there's maybe too much gaming the system currently. Hopefully this will give a more accurate idea of demand and drive the runs down. Something's wrong when so many people expect runs so large that they anticipate the figures being discounted heavily at Spooktacular, for example.

. . .the only thing there is, you would think SSC would have enough data to estimate cancellations from non-paying pre-orders at this point. But maybe the data is too all over the place, which necessitates the NRD. On the other hand, maybe the NRD isn't affecting production levels, and this new policy will just mean that more impulse buyers are compelled to buy, thus increasing non-discounted sales.

But putting all that aside, I suppose that seasoned collectors should know what to expect at this point, and should pre-order or not pre-order accordingly. Yeah, SSC gave us a song and dance about an updated, superior process for handling heads. And many of us were willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, but now they're released enough figures that we know the truth of what we're likely to get there. So. . .I will be pre-ordering less now, but deep down I usually know which ones I'm more or less likely to cancel upfront, because I've got a pretty good idea for how well or badly things are going to turn out. And I'm probably not the only one in this boat.

 

[Mike86]

@ Mike: Eh, either way I just don't like the fickleness on the customer's side. Don't order unless you're sure and if you change your mind, then accept the penalty.

I generally don't cancel a lot of orders but the policy just seems kind of petty. Basically justifying it as an overhead cost. Seems a bit sketchy to me.

 

[marker2037]

Petty? You act like they're doing it to spite collectors. It costs them a ton of money to ship figures from china and then have to store them in a warehouse.

 

[SwedishHeat]

Same. BBTS has got to love this new policy. I don't want to take it up the wallet if their final product is their usual garbage final result

If SSC can't handle the amount of pre-order cancellations they're getting, what happens when BBTS starts having to shoulder all that burden?? Someone is paying for those cancellations sometime, if it's not the customer, it's the retailer.

I'm seeing other stores like Cotswold and Alter Ego charging NRDs. . . presumably because SSC is enforcing them on retailers as well. It's been theorized that SSC and BBTS have a special relationship, so perhaps BBTS doesn't have to deal with that, but it's only a matter of time.

 

[Mike86]

Petty? You act like they're doing it to spite collectors. It costs them a ton of money to ship figures from china and then have to store them in a warehouse.

I'm not saying it doesn't cost them but it's a new policy so they've done fine without this before. Just seems a bit odd they'd suddenly implement a policy like this on items that let's face it make up a large number of what they carry and make their overhead the justification for doing so. Unless things have gone up for them that much or something recently.

 

[TonTon]

@ Mike: Eh, either way I just don't like the fickleness on the customer's side. Don't order unless you're sure and if you change your mind, then accept the penalty.

I paid the NRD on the Taun taun but after seeing the seam I was less than thrilled. That's the only item that had a NRD and turns out to be the only one I've considered canceling out of 10 or so figures. That's not fickleness, it's being disappointed by the final product. But in general the whole thing really doesn't bother me. I'm sure they're sick of lots of cancellations when coupons work, etc.

 

[Invictus Sol]

I'm not saying it doesn't cost them but it's a new policy so they've done fine without this before. Just seems a bit odd they'd suddenly implement a policy like this on items that let's face it make up a large number of what they carry and make their overhead the justification for doing so. Unless things have gone up for them that much or something recently.

I guess I just don't see what the big deal is. Delay your pre-order until it's coupon-eligible/double rewards/you're totally sure, etc., or order from BBTS. *shrugs* Like Swedish says, though, I bet it's only a matter of time until their policy changes, too.

I paid the NRD on the Taun taun but after seeing the seam I was less than thrilled. That's the only item that had a NRD and turns out to be the only one I've considered canceling out of 10 or so figures. That's not fickleness, it's being disappointed by the final product. But in general the whole thing really doesn't bother me. I'm sure they're sick of lots of cancellations when coupons work, etc.

Everyone gets one cancellation with SSC where they will transfer or credit back the NRD. If you've already had that done once, yeah, I can see it's an annoyance but I'd still rather lose the NRD than keep a disappointing figure and shift it at a loss afterwards (especially something like the Tauntaun... It's just not possible for a Canadian to even break even with shipping, exchange, taxes, etc.). Anyway, check some of the Marvel threads if you want examples of what likely prompted them to implement this. It's ridiculous the amount of people there cancelling at the drop of a hat or b/c something new goes up, etc.

 

[marker2037]

I'm not saying it doesn't cost them but it's a new policy so they've done fine without this before. Just seems a bit odd they'd suddenly implement a policy like this on items that let's face it make up a large number of what they carry and make their overhead the justification for doing so. Unless things have gone up for them that much or something recently.

They used to have the same policy and got rid of it. My guess is they're trying to free up warehouse space and then once that's done they'll remove the policy or move it up to the $300 mark.

 

[marker2037]

The old ways are figures under $70. Nothing is going back to them. Blame HT.

 

[SwedishHeat]

The old ways are figures under $70. Nothing is going back to them. Blame HT.

LOL, blame Suncoast, Tower Records and all the other mall stores for closing. The specialty market was already dead by the time HT hit the scene. You can't keep prices low when you can't sell 30,000 units. You can't sell 30,000 units without getting these things in front of people's face. We were all talking about it years ago when those stores closed up and now you're seeing the ramifications of what happened.

No retail stores were around to deliver these figures to the "mass market". SSC had already changed their business model to be direct to consumer, and prices starting increasing. HT has always been a higher priced brand. You don't blame Mercedes for the cost of cars going up.

You can see SSC trying to liven up that specialty market, they're no longer catering to collectors, instead they're sending figures out to pop culture blogs and trying to re-invigorate the mass market.

 

[Boba Ben]

I don't think it's working.