[Thessair]

I had a lengthy and probably boring response written based on over a decade in retail but lost it. I'll be more brief this time. In general, buying from a secondary retailer costs someone a potential sale. In some cases it's the manufacturer and in some cases it can be a retailer. The manufacturer is paid for goods before they hit the shelves for you to buy. Some retailers have the clout to return unsold goods, pushing the cost of that unmade sale back onto the manufacturer. Smaller businesses that can't usually eat those costs themselves.

However, this is not always the situation. A lot of what Mandarake sells is material no longer in production. Bandai can't claim a lost sale on a product they no longer provide. In that case there is no longer a way to support the manufacturer and it only hurts them in the fact you aren't buying some other toy they still make.

I hope that all makes some sense. I'm still suffering from that going away party earlier (booze). Also, my understanding may be a little out of date since I left retail in 2002.