[Deathryuger]

The answer to this question has to be different depending on whether or not you live in Japan. For most of us, we can't walk into a store and buy these products off the shelf. The reality is that we don't factor into Bandai's equation. It leaves us consumers to search for the most bang for our buck. Even buying from stores like CSToys, Amiami, or HLJ is indirectly supporting Bandai, since it is the store who pays Bandai before we pay them. I try to buy from these stores when possible, but most of the time it is easier to find it on Mandarake. The way I look at it is that my money goes to helping out the overall toku community that is over there making the purchases from Bandai. Hell, we aren't even able to by directly from Bandai on web exclusives without the use of a middleman. I mean the only way we consume the media is through downloading the episodes, so the whole fandom is in a gray area.

[ComicGuy89]

I had considered geographical differences, too. That's actually a pretty interesting post, and I liked how you talked about buying from Mandarake supporting the local toku community. Thank you.

[Baltan II]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deathryuger

Even buying from stores like CSToys, Amiami, or HLJ is indirectly supporting Bandai, since it is the store who pays Bandai before we pay them.

By that logic, no one but direct buyers for those Japanese stores or the main suppliers are "supporting" Bandai, and at that point you're splitting hairs in this discussion. Those stores and suppliers place their orders with Bandai in the expectation that we, the consumers, are going to make purchases and allow them to remain profitable or they run the risk of being stuck with unsold stock to discount or toss out. In such a context, "supporting Bandai" would be ensuring that retailers continue to order particular products in large enough numbers to remain profitable and with minimal issue. One gaijin's purchase is merely a number, same as any Japanese fan's purchase, and in that sense we "count" just as much; the difference is that we have virtually no impact on the local stores (Mandarake is actually a good example of us doing that, as is CSToys, being a couple tiny storefronts) because we rely on the huge e-tailers like AmiAmi or the middlemen services, and we have little to no influence on overall Japanese purchasing trends.

There's nothing more I can add on for the original question that hasn't already been stated by this point. It's a neat perspective I think most of us don't typically consider.

[XW1n5t0nX]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thessair

eBay is practically just cheap storefront software it seems these days. I can't remember the last time I bought from an individual as opposed to a business on there.

I'm the exact opposite. I don't remember when I last bought from a business since most of the stuff I do get off there is from individual sellers.

[Locke]

Although this isn't some deep insider knowledge perspective, I've never had a huge problem with secondary markets. Although the UK isn't a third world country - although go to the job centre on dole day and... - compared even to the US the quantity of what we actually get imported, especially in niche markets, is extremely small and usually very costly. So if a company isn't going to let us support them, then I'm gonna go ahead and find other means.

This is to some extent why piracy exists, most companies forget that (generally speaking, there'll always be an exception) people are happy to pay if it's worth their while. Why would I pay seventy pound directly for an imported Megazord or something from a toyshop here if I could go onto Mandrake and get it for forty with shipping?

[MaskedRiderAsakura]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matrixbeast

You mean everyone finds amazing deals and tells you stories about finding holy grails for pocket change and when you try it all you find are assholes asking for way too much for what they're trying to sell?

To be fair, I've never seen an item on Mandarake listed for much above the current market value.


Except for a glitch like Figuarts Gokai Green being listed for like, 90,000 yen or something equally as absurd.

[MetroPoliceGray]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thessair

True, but a lot of lock seeds are already out of print and Bandai is having issues keeping up with demand for things like the AC line. Now, realistically, Bandai couldn't have foreseen the demand for some of this stuff. But from my point of view, Mandarake sales aren't costing potential sales for Bandai because Bandai doesn't have the stuff to sell. Especially in the case of the AC figures, I think people would rather buy them at a retail level than pay the higher secondary market prices.

I think buying trends are fragile things and just because someone wants to buy something today doesn't mean they will next week. If Bandai is losing potential future sales, from whenever they can provide the product again, I think they would have lost some of those sales from people who just lost interest in buying them over time - even had there been no secondary market to supply them immediately. Not all, obviously, as I think the steady rate of Sengoku driver sell-throughs on both the primary and secondary markets show.

This makes another point. Basically, the secondary market supports said manufacturers. When they have a line, like Figuarts, that's ongoing, and a subline or character goes out of production, it hits the secondary market. But the ongoing characters in that line support the desire for the current line and the discontinued character for those that missed out. So trust me Bandai's not losing much. It's when they (!) end something like SHFiguarts. That's why there's so much involved with diversity of product lines within a company. Just my $.02.

[Orange Ranger]

As others have said it's a lot different than something readily available to buy. Even if it wasn't, used and worn items have been a thing throughout history. There will always be a market for it for reasons of cost and timing. What game companies wanted to due by making used games go away really violates the way free markets have always worked. When people know they can't resell something or lend it to a friend they don't have the same sense of ownership and thus aren't willing to pay as much. We've seen this with PC games. Those have lower starting prices and the bulk of their sales from people who buy at deep discount.


Anyway, I would actually argue that sites like Mandarake help encourage sales of Bandai products. There is the obvious of people looking to make money over time but that isn't what I'm talking about. People in Japan live very differently than we do. They have a whole heck of a lot of space. They can't have a whole room filling with shelves for all their collectibles. Heck, even just one wall is a big commitment. Lots of people like to buy figures short-term. Maybe they just want to have it for a bit. Maybe they take it out and take a ton of pictures and get their fill. Either way, knowing that they have a place to take it and get most of their money back fast helps them feel good about buying in the first place.

[MST3KFan]

If it weren't for Mandarake and Jungle, I'd have never completed...or even tried to get the Shinkenger, Gokaiger, and Dekaranger teams in S.H. Figuarts form given how crazy expensive they are outside of them like on ebay.

It also got me to get S.H. Figuarts figures I'd have never considered in Akibaranger (Itasha Robo being the biggest and heaviest thing I have ever imported next to Masterpiece Megatron), Jetman (the two released), and Ryuranger.

In all honesty, this is the same kind of conversation people bring up when buying used games. More often the vintage stuff like NES, SNES, Genesis... The companies got their money long ago, now you're getting this stuff off people selling what they bought as used goods.