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The one thing letting this idea down is as you stated the retail savings factor. Not every statue is a grail, and retailers at the initial release do not get overly inflated prices or inflation due to popularity unless they initially price them that way. The the EX is essential to $ideshow. It is their bacon on profit margin, it must be - given 40% of their usual sales are EX and they are already profiting on wholesale. Sometimes I think that they are heading in the direction that because some of the EX versions are worth so much more on the secondary market that they can rip collectors off, increase the edition sizes drastically and make a cut of what these statues are worth later on.
Problem is for every grail there are multiple turds.
A lot of Ex statues are still around retail.
Word of mouth, scarcity, and sculpt quality usually make for a grail piece. How many $$ pieces fulfill all of this criteria?
Just the grails and probably ManThing!

I am thinking beyond the retailers as that really did not occur to me in my thought line and I understand the value of an "exclusive" but my point was that SS would have regulars left over themselves. I just figured that include everything on the piece and just reduce the ES. SS does not really care about after market value.

I was thinking if the included a print with every piece and just charged $10.00 more across the board (of course we would just see it as a cost increase) then it would mean more money overall and would end the exclusive debate. The only people it would reallly hurt is the flippers.
 
Well, we don't know for sure if Sideshow is even doing this considering at this point it is rumor/word of mouth. The OP still hasn't contacted Sideshow to see if they will give him a discount as well.

I agree that it is not fair that some people pay $10 more for the EX than people who got their reg converted. That said, SIDESHOW IS A BUSINESS and, like it or not, this is good business and common sense.

What some of you are suggesting is that you would rather Sideshow have the EX's sitting In Stock or on the gift card list than selling the EX for $10 less and making a few customers happy. Pretty much every business on earth does this when they have unsold product.

I very highly doubt that they will admit to bumping regular orders to exclusive for the same price considering their silence/denial of QC issues, but I suggest giving Sideshow CS a call and find out if they can do anything for you. I know I am going to give them a call and ask about my Ms. Marvel EX I have on preorder. If they say no I will just cancel my EX and pick it up for less later on. :wink1:
 
yup things like this happen all the time around us, most of the time you either don't know about it, or that you're the one getting the good deal so you're not complaining about it, but in any case you really shouldn't feel like it's something against you if someone else is offered a good deal.

Look at the air line business for example. If you bought tickets last minute while there are still seats empty, they practically offer them to you at less than half price. Reason is cuz they have to fly the plane anyway, so they rather sell the remaining seats dirt cheap and get little more $$$ before they lift off. So you end up with someone paying half price for doing something last minute, while someone else who is "on top of things" who bought his tickets two weeks ahead had to pay full price for it, but that's just how it goes. There are other times where they give you free upgrade to business class if economy class is already full, then you're sitting next to someone who had to pay for his ( or his company had to pay for his). And things like this happen everywhere else, in pretty much every business. Like I said, if you're complaining now, you're either not aware of these things, or that you were always the one on the good side of the coin.

I mean for every good deal that comes along, there can be someone sitting next door saying "how come I didn't get it?" In most cases they are like lucky draw, you have to be the right person standing at the right place at the right time. If someone else got the deal and you missed it, you shouldn't feel like they are out against you, instead you should be glad that there are still free offers in this day and age, and the next time the lucky one might be you.
 
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yup things like this happen all the time around us, most of the time you either don't know about it, or that you're the one getting the good deal so you're not complaining about it, but in any case you really shouldn't feel like it's something against you if someone else is offered a good deal.

Look at the air line business for example. If you bought tickets last minute while there are still seats empty, they practically offer them to you at less than half price. Reason is cuz they have to fly the plane anyway, so they rather sell the remaining seats dirt cheap and get little more $$$ before they lift off. So you end up with someone paying half price for doing something last minute, while someone else who is "on top of things" who bought his tickets two weeks ahead had to pay full price for it, but that's just how it goes. There are other times where they give you free upgrade to business class if economy class is already full, then you're sitting next to someone who had to pay for his ( or his company had to pay for his). And things like this happen everywhere else, in pretty much every business. Like I said, if you're complaining now, you're either not aware of these things, or that you were always the one on the good side of the coin.

I mean for every good deal that comes along, there can be someone sitting next door saying "how come I didn't get it?" In most cases they are like lucky draw, you have to be the right person standing at the right place at the right time. If someone else got the deal and you missed it, you shouldn't feel like they are out against you, instead you should be glad that there are still free offers in this day and age, and the next time the lucky one might be you.

:goodpost::clap:clap:clap:clap
 
Retailers do not get a discount on exes. My AD friend buys all SW, Joe, and Indy exclusives for his personal collection and complains about paying full price.


Hmmm... You'd think Exes would be available at a better deal for retailers if they were still available months after release... Oh well. So much for what I think... lol.


I really cannot tell if you are kidding or not. I don't think many of you really know who I am or what I did.


I wasn't being sarcastic at all. My thinking is that these types of deals are relatively common place. I'm not sure the "principle" totally applies in this case. Sideshow wants to sell more Exes so they lowered the price by $10 so they could lure new buyers.

I'm not saying I'm a huge fan of the SS move as I have the Ex on order too at the original price. I just understand it. In all fairness though, it's not a new concept at all.
 
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Same thing happended to me with the Conan PF EX. It sucked, but in the end you realize you received an awesome limited edition piece that hopefully you love (he's sold out now, so I'm glad I got him).
 
Its shady to offer up the exclusives at regulars prices. Offer to convert the regular order to an exclusive order at the exclusive price, period. As customer friendly as Sideshow likes to present itself this is a nice fat F U to a portion of its customers.

As time goes by Sideshow is doing more and more to alienate customers. Sure there will be others to replace those who leave, but it is no less disappointing to see Sideshow move into more shady business practices.

Yeah I think you hit it right on the head. Sideshow pride's itself on superior customer relations, and this is just a kick in the pants to loyal customers that make SURE that they get on every Thursday or priority pre-order day to get the exclusive.

As you said, it's fine if they offer up the exclusive version to customer's with a regular on order, but waiving the exclusive fee is pretty frustrating.
 
Ok..lets look at this a different way. Sideshow contacts 20 people with orders in for the regular statue and says, "you're statue is going to be $10 more then all of the other regular statues". Is this scenario fair? Almost everyone would say "absolutely not!". The reason being, you are paying MORE for a statue then anyone else. You would sit and complain that Sideshow singled YOU out as having to pay more for no particular reason.

Now, take another look at the current situation. It's essentially the same principle in reverse. Everyone with an exclusive order has been charged the extra $10, while others were offered the same product with no extra fee. So, those of us with an exclusive order have been punished for no particular reason and through no fault of our own.

In the first scenario, a select few people are getting nothing extra for an extra charge. In the actual scenario, a select few people are getting something extra for no extra cost, and since the rest of us are paying extra for the same exclusive, it then means the rest of us are getting nothing extra for an extra charge.
 
yup things like this happen all the time around us, most of the time you either don't know about it, or that you're the one getting the good deal so you're not complaining about it, but in any case you really shouldn't feel like it's something against you if someone else is offered a good deal.

Look at the air line business for example. If you bought tickets last minute while there are still seats empty, they practically offer them to you at less than half price. Reason is cuz they have to fly the plane anyway, so they rather sell the remaining seats dirt cheap and get little more $$$ before they lift off. So you end up with someone paying half price for doing something last minute, while someone else who is "on top of things" who bought his tickets two weeks ahead had to pay full price for it, but that's just how it goes. There are other times where they give you free upgrade to business class if economy class is already full, then you're sitting next to someone who had to pay for his ( or his company had to pay for his). And things like this happen everywhere else, in pretty much every business. Like I said, if you're complaining now, you're either not aware of these things, or that you were always the one on the good side of the coin.

I mean for every good deal that comes along, there can be someone sitting next door saying "how come I didn't get it?" In most cases they are like lucky draw, you have to be the right person standing at the right place at the right time. If someone else got the deal and you missed it, you shouldn't feel like they are out against you, instead you should be glad that there are still free offers in this day and age, and the next time the lucky one might be you.

Hell of a post...it simply reeks of common sense as it relates to business.

I hate to break it to some of you...but this "shady" business practice in reality is sound inventory management.

Again, I understand how it can rub some folks the wrong way. But the bottom line is this, nothing will put a manufacturer out of business more quickly than stagnant inventory. It hurts a business in a few ways.. 1) Stagnant inventory ties up working capital. 2) Stagnant inventory means you are likely absorbing increases interest costs (assuming you are financing materials, supplies, and labor via a working capital line of credit. 3) Stagnant inventory likely means you are not paying your suppliers in a timely manner. Suppliers that are not paid in a timely manner have a tendency to cut off future sales to the manufacturer or make the manufacturer pay for everything COD (cash on delivery).
 
They did the same thing with the Conan PF. I was mighty pissed when they did that because I preordered the ex the day it opened and people were ordering the regular one the week of release and getting the ex.
 
In 1999, I worked in a hotel. It was midnight, and a guest with a reservation was checking in while another guest came in off the road without a reservation. The first guest overheard me offer a significantly lower rate than the one she had. When the second guest left, she had a fit. I explained to her that by making a reservation, she had the guarantee that a room would be waiting for her. The second guest had no such guarantee, and took a risk of not having a room at all. Luckily for him, we had rooms and we wanted to sell them. In short, it's just like an airline ticket, and it happens all the time.

Those who take the time to get in for an exclusive during priority pre-orders are guaranteeing that they will be able to buy the exclusive, and they agree at the time to pay the price that Sideshow has set. But the product is Sideshow's to sell as they choose, and if they expect to not be able to get the necessary return on the statue they invested in producing, it's their prerogative to offer overstock at any price they want, particularly in an economic climate like this one.

What's strange about this is that the exclusive is sold out. I don't understand why a waitlist wouldn't be converted instead. I can see grounds for waitlisters to be upset.
 
In 1999, I worked in a hotel. It was midnight, and a guest with a reservation was checking in while another guest came in off the road without a reservation. The first guest overheard me offer a significantly lower rate than the one she had. When the second guest left, she had a fit. I explained to her that by making a reservation, she had the guarantee that a room would be waiting for her. The second guest had no such guarantee, and took a risk of not having a room at all. Luckily for him, we had rooms and we wanted to sell them. In short, it's just like an airline ticket, and it happens all the time.

Those who take the time to get in for an exclusive during priority pre-orders are guaranteeing that they will be able to buy the exclusive, and they agree at the time to pay the price that Sideshow has set. But the product is Sideshow's to sell as they choose, and if they expect to not be able to get the necessary return on the statue they invested in producing, it's their prerogative to offer overstock at any price they want, particularly in an economic climate like this one.

What's strange about this is that the exclusive is sold out. I don't understand why a waitlist wouldn't be converted instead. I can see grounds for waitlisters to be upset.

No your analogy is not correct. The scenario would be that someone booked a cheaper room but got upgraded to a better room at no extra charge because they couldn't sell out the better rooms. The people who ordered the "regular" from Sideshow didn't want the "exclusive" in the first place and wanted to save money but Sideshow said hey we'll upgrade for free. These customers are guaranteed their exclusive order and are paying $10 less.
 
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yup things like this happen all the time around us, most of the time you either don't know about it, or that you're the one getting the good deal so you're not complaining about it, but in any case you really shouldn't feel like it's something against you if someone else is offered a good deal.

Look at the air line business for example. If you bought tickets last minute while there are still seats empty, they practically offer them to you at less than half price. Reason is cuz they have to fly the plane anyway, so they rather sell the remaining seats dirt cheap and get little more $$$ before they lift off. So you end up with someone paying half price for doing something last minute, while someone else who is "on top of things" who bought his tickets two weeks ahead had to pay full price for it, but that's just how it goes. There are other times where they give you free upgrade to business class if economy class is already full, then you're sitting next to someone who had to pay for his ( or his company had to pay for his). And things like this happen everywhere else, in pretty much every business. Like I said, if you're complaining now, you're either not aware of these things, or that you were always the one on the good side of the coin.

I mean for every good deal that comes along, there can be someone sitting next door saying "how come I didn't get it?" In most cases they are like lucky draw, you have to be the right person standing at the right place at the right time. If someone else got the deal and you missed it, you shouldn't feel like they are out against you, instead you should be glad that there are still free offers in this day and age, and the next time the lucky one might be you.

Yes true if you bought them at the last minute. You had a chance of not getting a seat or perhaps even buying a more expensive ticket. But what Sideshow is doing is not this. It is like purchasing a ticket in economy class but getting an upgrade to business class because they couldn't sell out business class.

I really get it if this was a couple of months later after release but the fact is that some people are going to be paying $10 less and receive a product the same time as customers who are paying the regular price. If they were to offer discounts to Sabretooth EX or Wolverine EX right now I'd have no problems (even though I'd be bummed about paying more) because I got the statues much earlier and I was guaranteed my statue.
 
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Profit margins must be huge on statues if they are allowed to do this. These things are very much a luxury item as opposed to a collectors item. I talked to a local hobby shop lately and they told me sideshow wants to cut out the middle man entirely and distribute it themselves. I think eventually all statues will be EXs
 
PS I complained and got free shipping on my next order. This was in regards to them failing to put my account number on my last shippment. I love sideshow, and I hope they continue to provide great quality products and even better quality service. And I really enjoy this hobby and this board.
 
If this is true, I'd be sending them an email. I don't want to be paying $10 extra for the ex if I could just preorder the regular for $10 less and get the exclusive version in the end anyway.
 
How do you know you'd get one?

No your analogy is not correct. The scenario would be that someone booked a cheaper room but got upgraded to a better room at no extra charge because they couldn't sell out the better rooms. The people who ordered the "regular" from Sideshow didn't want the "exclusive" in the first place and wanted to save money but Sideshow said hey we'll upgrade for free. These customers are guaranteed their exclusive order and are paying $10 less.

I stand corrected.

When I started the post, I was thinking they had already shipped.
 
Good for business or not, I still say Sideshow should offer to upgrade the order to an exclusive at the exclusive cost. Sideshow isn't a major airline or Ticketmaster, they are a relatively small company who claims to pride themselves on having the best customer relations and service. This in my opinion is not holding themselves to that standard they claim to be all about, its a handshake to a one group of customers while a kick in the nuts to another group.
 
I see a number of people defending Sideshow saying its a sound business practice to increase profits, and that is true!

Selective breeding is a common scientific practice to increase the fittness or promote desirable traits of a species. Though, when Hitler decided to impliment the technique towards human beings...well we all know the end result.

I'm not comparing Sideshow to Hitler or saying these two events are on the same level of severity! My point, is that every "common practice" has its place, and places that it doesnt belong. Sideshow's "customer friendly" business practice is great, but it means they are held to a higher standard then other companies.

Think of it as Sideshow is a straight A student. When a C average student gets a B parents clap. When a straight A student gets a B parents worry. In other words, Sideshow is held to a higher standard then other "average" companies and thus are condemned faster for any minor failings!
 
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