>>6229021>Someone saying they're a retailer on /toy/ said he orders less because of other DCC lines not selling and upset about prices being too high, despite costing less than two figures sold seperately.Wrong on all counts.
Let's take the cancelled Catwoman. MSRP $28, BBTS $24. Compare to Booster and Beetle, $60 and $55 respectively. The first thing you should notice is that 2x24<55 and 2x28<60.
The second thing you would notice, especially if you were a retailer, is that MSRP is the basis for all discounts. Since no customer actually pays MSRP, a portion of that discount is imaginary. That discount is further eroded by shipping, which the distributor won't quote a price for up front and frequently bungles at your expense.
So, B&B here, sold in cases of 8, went from $24.70 to $33.70 per unit. This is a 36% price increase. Now add shipping, which would run about $25. IF the distributor didn't open cases and mail multiple shipments. Yes, for real. We're talking $36.83 by the time I get them.
Forget for a minute that Icons is just the latest DC line to sit and sink to single-digit clearance (oops, too late). Just focus on how Icons is selling. They don't sell at the previous price point ($24 MSRP, $22 ARP). Shops still have them in stock a year later. One can also look at eBay sold listings and see $22 with free shipping. $22 with free shipping is actually about $15 on the upper end. Some don't even net $10.
But let's be nice and assume $15 is the standard. That's a discount of 38% off MSRP ($24). 38% off the B&B set MSRP is $37.20. If my cost is $36.83, I have a profit of 37 cents. If I use Craig's List or BST. And you pay cash. And MSRP. And quickly to reduce carrying costs.
Here comes reality. eBay will take 14% of the sale price plus shipping ($9.38). Paypal/Square online will take 3% ($2.01). In person (no shipping), the PP/SQ take is $1.80. Go to a show, factor in table rent. It's a loss any way you look at it.
