Ringside Collectible figure pricing?

[hitman555]

I already assume the prices are varied on the mattel figures in the elite and legends series based on their popularity and rarity. What I'm not sure of is how they are determining their prices for pre-orders of legends and elites. For example: Why is The Rock $21.99 and Hacksaw $18.99 in legends series 3 when they haven't even been released yet? Are they guessing which will be the most popular figure??

[muccguy88]

im not sure but ive found that RSC has been way overpriced since mattels have been released. i used to order from them all the time and now ive only made one order from them since January 1st (i just got the elite scale ring). now RSC is really only worth ordering from if ur buying entire sets.

[~*Young $ Money*~]

They do it b/c people will buy it no matter what. Look how popular the Rock was. People are oing to buy it so they jack the price up a little bit. Hacksaw had fans too but was not the superstar Rock was so his price is lower. When that Macho Man comes out they could prob. charge 100$ and people would buy them. Just b/c he is in high demand people pay so they charge.

[BuckDenaro7: Elite Trader]

Ive made 3 orders from them since the launch 2 for 1/1000 figs and the other for my ESR

[Glorydaysofwrestling]

I do feel like the prices have risen since mattel took over. A little too high to justify just getting the figures in a couple weeks early

[squaredcircleactionfigs]

I was told by a RSC's employee that the increased price is the result of overnight shipping from Mattel's factory in China. The direct response is below. I was personally pmed this information as a result of my outspoken nature on WFIGS about RSC's pricing. I still do not condone the higher price because you are not receiving them 1-2 months before retail (a fallacy). In addition, RSC's does not lower the retail price of the second shipment. Also, I sent a follow-up pm regarding the different pricing tiers for individual figures and I have not received a response back. Why, because RSC's is trying to generate additional revenue off the characters popularity.

Here is what I suggest. Wait, just wait, until these figures hit retail if you have a problem with the price. As we know, Mattel has been great at distributing WWE figures. With this said, I am sure you can afford to wait an extra 2 or 3 weeks if the RSC price does not meet your budget.

RESPONSE:

Let me explain to you how Ringside Collectibles works.

Our first shipment of figures: we overnight from the factory. It's going to be more expensive to purchase our first shipment of figures, however, you are probably going to get them 1-2 months prior to any other store. The higher price is to pay the overnight shipping fee from China.

IF you wait for our 2nd shipment of figures, about a month or so after our first shipment comes in, the figures will be a few dollars cheaper since this shipment was not overnighted from the factory.

Please let me know if you have anymore questions about Ringside Collectibles.

[hitman555]

Thanks raven i appreciate the insight.. It seems odd too with elite 7.. lol Hornswoggle is more expensive than hbk!

[Kenny Powers]

Not sure if this makes a difference but aren't Mattels already more expensive than Jakks figures were? I am assuming that RSC adds their profit margin to the already higher retail price and the result is sticker shock for the purchaser.

I started collecting the Mattel Legends series because I was such a huge CS fan but I have decided to abandon collecting anymore Mattel because the price is just too high. I saw the new Legends 2 packs at TRU and while they looked cool I could not justify $30 each plus tax. I also picked up the Entrance Greats M$M but wound up putting him back because I didn't want to spend $23 on 1 figure.

It was at that moment I decided to give up the collecting except for characters I don't have. (Steamboat, Macho Man, etc.) Or attires that I really wanted (Roberts, short hair Rude).

One other quick thing...I have noticed that Mattels seems to be much easier to find in stores and arrive in stores much faster than Jakks ever did.

[squaredcircleactionfigs]

Aug 29, 2010 19:11:36 GMT -5 @hitman555 said:

Thanks raven i appreciate the insight.. It seems odd too with elite 7.. lol Hornswoggle is more expensive than hbk!

When an individual figures inventory is low RSC's has an algorithm on their website which increases the price of the figure by a certain %. It has to do with the price elasticity of demand in economics. Theoretically, it is an equitable response.

[squaredcircleactionfigs]

Aug 29, 2010 19:18:13 GMT -5 Kenny Powers said:

Not sure if this makes a difference but aren't Mattels already more expensive than Jakks figures were? I am assuming that RSC adds their profit margin to the already higher retail price and the result is sticker shock for the purchaser.

I started collecting the Mattel Legends series because I was such a huge CS fan but I have decided to abandon collecting anymore Mattel because the price is just too high. I saw the new Legends 2 packs at TRU and while they looked cool I could not justify $30 each plus tax. I also picked up the Entrance Greats M$M but wound up putting him back because I didn't want to spend $23 on 1 figure.

It was at that moment I decided to give up the collecting except for characters I don't have. (Steamboat, Macho Man, etc.) Or attires that I really wanted (Roberts, short hair Rude).

One other quick thing...I have noticed that Mattels seems to be much easier to find in stores and arrive in stores much faster than Jakks ever did.

I agree with everything you pointed out. In my opinion, MSRP is bearable and may even be a little high but the quality you are receiving makes up for it. Any higher price is difficult to justify, as a result, my utility for the product is severely compromised.

[PrideFcF]

Aug 29, 2010 19:00:56 GMT -5 squaredcircleactionfigs said:

I was told by a RSC's employee that the increased price is the result of overnight shipping from Mattel's factory in China. The direct response is below. I was personally pmed this information as a result of my outspoken nature on WFIGS about RSC's pricing. I still do not condone the higher price because you are not receiving them 1-2 months before retail (a fallacy). In addition, RSC's does not lower the retail price of the second shipment. Also, I sent a follow-up pm regarding the different pricing tiers for individual figures and I have not received a response back. Why, because RSC's is trying to generate additional revenue off the characters popularity.

Here is what I suggest. Wait, just wait, until these figures hit retail. As we know, Mattel has been great at distributing WWE figures. With this said, I am sure you can afford to wait an extra 2 or 3 weeks.

RESPONSE:

Let me explain to you how Ringside Collectibles works.

Our first shipment of figures: we overnight from the factory. It's going to be more expensive to purchase our first shipment of figures, however, you are probably going to get them 1-2 months prior to any other store. The higher price is to pay the overnight shipping fee from China.

IF you wait for our 2nd shipment of figures, about a month or so after our first shipment comes in, the figures will be a few dollars cheaper since this shipment was not overnighted from the factory.

Please let me know if you have anymore questions about Ringside Collectibles.

While I do believe they prices may be high due to the shipping, that whole "2nd shipment is cheaper" line is kind of bull. RSC always adapts to demand. The only way they drop prices is if something isn't selling, not because it's a 2nd shipment. Odds are after that 1-2 month wait, a couple of the figures in the set may drop $1-2, but a few others will increase $5-6, if they're even available at all.

The one thing RSC has become good at is doing frequent sales (though I see those days dying out the moment they clear out their old Jakks WWE stock). I just wish they'd do better sales on the Mattel figures themselves.

[AdamBomb]

They're a specialty store.

Aside from the shipping, you're paying for convenience as well.

[squaredcircleactionfigs]

Aug 29, 2010 20:39:16 GMT -5 AdamBomb said:

They're a specialty store.

Aside from the shipping, you're paying for convenience as well.

Yes, we understand. However, historically, RSC's has provided its customers with competitive online retail prices. In comparison, their new products, notably new legends, are priced similar to its competitors such as TOy**z. Basically, I am trying to convey the increase in MSRP of Mattel's figures versus Jakks figures, overnight shipping cost and perception of convenience has resulted in sticker price shock for consumers. As a result, buying from RSC's is less attractive, especially when Mattel is distributing figures to brick and mortar retail stores with such efficiency.

[LaParka]

When you run a business you have to make money on the hot pieces so you sell the lesser desired pieces cheaper, look at Legends 3 Rock is 21.99 but i'm sure when the duggans start piling up and hes on sale for 9.99 there lost money has been made back on the x amount of rocks they sold.

[JoeRocco420]

I don't blame RSC really. I complain that Melina and Kelly Kelly are $20 plus shipping but they are sold out! LoL

[threehgame]

Aug 29, 2010 19:18:13 GMT -5 Kenny Powers said:

One other quick thing...I have noticed that Mattels seems to be much easier to find in stores and arrive in stores much faster than Jakks ever did.

I agree with this. I had to be at TRU the day the Jakks figures were put on the pegs to have a chance of getting anything good. With Mattel WWE toys they re-stock 3 or 4 times minimum and only one or two figures per wave move fast.

The prices aren't all that overboard, but I don't feel like paying anything over $10 a figure. I like that Mattel is working to keep the costs of basics down, but I get a vibe from them that every other line has no cap and the price of elites will go up next year as well as legends.

[sgptripleh]

low supply high demand = high price = sucks

[RingsideC2]

Let me try to explain to you guys the issues that have lead to the increased pricing for Mattel figures versus Jakks and also how our business is different than your local store...

1) Poor case pack assortments and no heavy weighting of popular figures. For example, our cases of WWE Legends have 6 figures in them, 1 of each character. When Jakks released their assortments in the past, it would always contain a weighted case with more of the popular characters and less of the unpopular characters. If you remember, some unpopular characters were even chase figures at 1 out of every 2 cases. When we receive the equal number of popular and unpopular figures, this creates a bad situation where we must charge a higher price for the popular figures to compensate for the unpopular figures in the case that will not sell. Mattel claims they are going to weigh assortments better in the future to help alleviate this problem. If you think we are making an outrageous profit on Ricky Steamboat and Kelly Kelly and are here to rip you off, think of all the losses we are going to face as a result of the unpopular figures in the case not selling even when we price them below cost in future sales. But what choice do we have given Mattel's poor case pack distribution?

2) eBay/on-line Scalpers... If a figure is very hot, we are forced to adapt to market prices or else eBay scalpers will simply buy up our entire inventory and we will be sold out of that item instantly. For example, if we were to charge $14.99 for Ricky Steamboat right now, eBay scalpers would buy up our entire inventory and then we would be sold out immediately. However, because we have increased the price to the market level at $19.99, we are able to provide our customers with the ability to purchase this popular item.

3) Mattel's new and improved pricing.... Our cost of Mattel figures is 50-100% higher than what Jakks charged us last year. Every retailer is charging higher prices for WWE figures this year versus last year. Deluxe Aggression figures in 2009 at Wal-Mart were $5 less than Elite figures are in 2010. If Wal-Mart is charging you $5 more for Mattel figures, what makes you think we do not have the same higher costs?

4) We overnight our first shipment of figures from the factory. We are not looking to compete with your local Wal-Mart here, we are looking to cater to our customers who want the figures first and hot off the presses. If you wait for our 2nd shipment of figures 1-2 months after our first shipment arrives, the prices are generally lower. If we stopped overnighting our first shipment of figures and charged you a lower price to pre-order a new set, then we would receive complaints that it took too long for us to receive the item in stock. It is unfair to compare our pre-order prices which include the figure being overnighted from China with your local Wal-Mart that will get the figure in stock a month or 2 later. We are offering you a premium service and the convenience of receiving a figure overnighted from the factory, hot off the presses, and delivered to your doorstep. Some collectors just don't have the time or patience to go figure hunting every day to find a set of new figures and enjoy the convenience that we provide.

5) Some people make their own coffee at home, some people go to Starbucks and pay $6 for the same cup of coffee. Does that mean Starbucks is trying to rip people off or are they providing a premium service and the convenience of not having to make the coffee yourself? We are providing a service by overnighting the figures from China and delivering them straight to your door. Many collectors who have jobs, families, school, etc, simply do not have the time to go figure hunting every single day and appreciate the convenience we provide them. If you do have the time and patience to hunt down every new figure at your local stores, thats great and no one is stopping you from doing it or forcing you to purchase from us instead. Just like no one is forcing you to purchase coffee from Starbucks instead of making your own at home.

6) Unlike all of our competitors, we provide the wrestling figure collector community with tons of free content, news, reviews, videos, event coverage, contests, and even this forum. Operating this website is not free and if you enjoy our work and if you enjoy this site, it would be nice if you supported us. However, there is no requirement that you purchase from us or ever visit our retail website. We provide WrestlingFigs as a free resource to all wrestling figure collectors no matter where you purchase your figures from.

7) No one is forcing you to purchase anything from us. There is some kind of expectation on this thread that we are supposed to have unlimited endless supplies of Ricky Steamboat for $14.99 available and if we do not we are somehow trying to take advantage of or rip you off. If it were up to us, Ricky Steamboat and Kelly Kelly would have been 4 per case and Sgt. Slaughter would have been a chase figure in 1 out of every 2 cases.

[tonylentelli]

I thank RSC for providing a simple way to get the figures as I work all day and don't have time to check stores all the time. Thank you RSC.

[steveoskillz]

all true