to become a local TF seller?

Hi guys,

I have a serious idea/question to ask you guys and hopefully you can give me your valuable opinions. My question is, why there seems no local Aussie TF seller either with a physical shop or ebay shop? Is there some economic/legal reason that we can't have? or Can I become one?

Here's background story:
I started collecting TFs since 2009. While in Melbourne, I ordered from robotkingdom. Robotkingdom is good, but I just found myself paying so much air transport cost. I am from China, so I thought about to order directly from China, let the toys go by sea instead of air transport. However, the local sellers/shops, they just couldn't bother to stock my order into a T-chest case and call shipping companies for me.

Once I also found a shop in Ascot Vale, Melbourne, selling several Japanese toys, action figures etc including a Encore Skylynx at 44 AUD while the same one was sold at 120 RMB (24 AUD) in Beijing at that time. The shop owner told me he can't sell Hasbro toys in his shop because Hasbro Australia only deals with Kmart, Target, not a small shop like his.

For all those difficulties, I didn't take any action until recently, I got to know the boss who owns the UT and dx9 toy lines. So I start thinking again, if I import 3rd party toys directly from him and ship to Australia by sea, would you guys be beneficial? and am I going to make a profit?

To be honest, selling transformers wasn't a big profit for Chinese shop owners. For an example in Beijing, population is roughly same as Australia, 24 ml + and there are only 5 sellers whose main business is selling TFs. Other than these 5, sellers are more or less lossing money or breaking even or combining other manga figures with TF in the shop.

My business model:
Very simple, contact the manufacturer directly, import from them by sea, and sell in AUD (not USD) only in Australia.

I might only be able to sell 3rd party toys, maybe takara tomy boxes too, but not Hasbro stock.

My target customers will be collectors only.

Possible issues:
Here I think some possible issues that I can't make it work:
1. economic factors:
right now I hardly see this is going to be an issue. importing from China mainland via sea transport, cost should be lower than paying USD and have them shipped by air.

2. legal issues:
3rd party toys could be thought as illegal in Aus? USA is selling them on amazon I think. What about Australia?

Hasbro doesn't allow anyone to import Takara Tomy packaging toys? possible?

3. warranty issues:
as a collector, I am pretty sure warranty is always not smooth unless you buy the toys in Kmart or ToyRus. The official price of Hasbro Titan Return Fortress Maximus is similar to ToyRUs price in Melbourne (if they got that in stock), but only cost me 200AUD to buy yesterday. The problem is, I know there is next-to-none warranty on it. If any parts go wrong, the shop owner almost has no way to get it back. This is not a KO for 200 AUD i can explain later.

3rd party toys can be better. Abundant spare parts. I can call them and say, "he the left leg is assembled wrong, send me another left leg pls". This is all a collector needs but it is still not Kmart type of warranty.

Any thought/input will be appreciated guys. Even you tell me this is not gonna work and reasons.


many thx.

Hmm. Good questions. I'm not the most qualified to answer, but I'll share my perspective.

I've sold Transformers before, but only privately on eBay. From memory, it wasn't a nice experience because it took me a long time to sell my items. I had to wait many weeks until customers became interested in my items, and I still didn't make any profit from the sale. If I remember correctly, I made a loss! That could be why few people are bold enough to open a shop that exclusively sells action figures..

However, it can still be done. Don't get too discouraged. There are shops in Melbourne besides the big department stores (Myer, Kmart, Target, etc) that sell Transformers and other Hasbro toys, like Minotaur and LittleToyCompany. But I presume they buy their goods from a distributor rather than directly from Hasbro.

I'm not sure if Hasbro only deals with the big department stores, like the shopkeeper in Ascot Vale told you. However, either way; I'm sure there is a local distributor who you can contact who could supply you with Hasbro toys.

HOWEVER, since you would be ordering the stock from a distributor instead of Hasbro directly, there's an extra intermediary in the supply chain, and therefore additional overhead costs. So you might have to charge higher prices for the figures to make a profit. The advantage that Kmart, Target, and the big stores have is that they not only buy directly from the source, but they can buy in large quantities and benefit from economies of scale. This is why they can afford to charge lower prices. They also sell other products like clothes, white goods, etc; and profit from those sales can compensate for any losses made by their toy department.

I believe you can open a shop and sell Transformers and robots (Gundams, Evangelion, etc), but you need to do some research and observe other similar shops like LittleToyCompany. You should then start small once you're confident and have enough information. When starting any new business or endeavor, you usually end up learning by trial and error as you go..

Good luck! :)

AFAIK there are one or two (I forget the names), but for the most part it just comes down to money. Australia's a high-cost country to do business in and is geographically close to Asia where a number of established TF/collector stores are based, so it's hard to compete with them. Especially as a start-up/new business, especially if you want to have a physical store. Plus it's a lot of work running a small business, especially for a niche market like Transformers collectors, and most people who have the same idea as you maybe don't really anticipate how much of your life it consumes, especially at the start.

If you want to step up and start another one, good luck to you.:) I really hope it succeeds and you can offer lots of Aussie fans a decent range of TFs at less extortionate prices than we currently have to put up. But before you do, be aware that other people have tried it before, and make sure you do your research and know what you're getting into.:)

Good luck!

Firstly welcome to the boards! Great to hear that you re-found your love for TFs. :)

The others have posted some good comments on this so won't go any further there. I've dabbled with online selling of toys (not TFs) and it does take a lot of time depending on how you go about it. It wasn't my day job but research is and if you're looking to start up I do recommend looking at some of the other players in this market.

Hasbro TFs: Aside from the major retail chains, the below also stock Hasbro TFs. Hasbro Australia do supply to independent toy shops but its usually to those who have a bricks and mortar store. It's also a volume thing so a smaller store will have higher wholesale price than a large chain.
* Premium Collectables
* The Little Toy Company
* Gundam Universe

Takara Tomy:
* Premium Collectables

3P:
* Premium Collectables
* Collectors Drift
* Just Bots

These are the local ones I've either bought from or know of through various posts around here so I may have missed some. Have a Google of them to see how they go about these things. A couple of them are only on Facebook though.

As you can see, Premium Collectables is the largest online store for Australia though as you will notice in the feedback thread here, there are issues which they seem to be attempting to address now.

There are a few options for TF fans in Australia at the moment but the more the merrier especially if you have ties to specific companies.

A few things to consider:

1. For importation, have a look into the upcoming lowering of the GST free threshold for goods from overseas. You may have to factor this into your pricing.
2. Try to consider what kind of model you will go for. Most of the above work on a pre-predominately pre-order model. This does require building up trust though so you may have to offer payment options which will generate higher fees to you like Paypal.
3. Shipping by sea is totally fine but if you do, be upfront about this. Communication with your customers is key.

If you decide to go ahead, good luck and I wish you all the best with this venture!

Just be aware that according to the board rule 17 we cannot advertise, promote, sell, advocate or show support for illegal activities, such as unauthorised third party knock offs.

Under the Copyright Act, 1968 it is an offence to knowingly import, possess, sell, distribute or commercially deal with an infringing copy. Penalties include fines of up to $117,000 for individuals or $585,000 for corporations with a possible term of imprisonment of up to 5 years.

Reference: Counterfeiting and piracy: Criminal Liability - Copyright

Do you like customer service? If yes, that's half the battle won. There's a lot of idiots out there that will test your patience on a daily basis.;)

Have a look at other Australian based online toy dealers. Analyse what has worked and hasn't worked for them because you can learn from the successes and failures from others, then try to replicate that success and avoid their failures. :) Definitely not easy though.

IMO as an end consumer I look for two things:

1/ Price. As others have pointed out, it's really easy for people to order directly online from dealers based in Japan like AmiAmi, HLJ, Amazon JP etc. and pay the same RRP or pre-order discounted prices that online shoppers in Japan pay.

2/ Service. Low prices won't guarantee repeat business if your service is no good. This includes:
* Toys being released around the same time as they come out in Japan. This is to give you a competitive edge with your Japanese-based competitors as many consumers may wonder why they are using an Aussie based business just to receive the toy months later if they can just get it sooner straight from Japan, even if it costs a bit more.
* Prompt replies to customer queries, and as Omega Metro has pointed out, this may test your patience. :o
* Transparency with customers. They may be more forgiving of say slower release times if you're more up front as to why your products' releases are being delayed. Although customers may still become fed up if this becomes a regular trend (as your explanations may be viewed as 'excuses').

Bear in mind that many customers are more than willing to pay higher prices if it means faster and more efficient service. Ultimately don't do what Toys R Us are doing and pretend that overseas online competition doesn't exist. :o Overseas and other domestic dealers are absolutely your competition so you need to think about what can give you a competitive edge.

As for Hasbro stock, have you actually tried contacting Hasbro Australia yourself rather than believing what other people are telling you?!? :confused:
https://www.hasbro.com/en-au/customer-service

After already being burnt by two local stores (tfidu and pc)i wouldn't waste time with a local store again. Having bought directly from taobao before they changed their rules, I've seen just how cheap figures can be sold for whilst maintaining great service and communication.
The only other local retailer i trust is collectors drift, but their prices are too steep and just bots is just an amateur.
So I'll be sticking with HK china and Japan from now on, reasonable prices with great service and communication.

Also, paying more for a toy elsewhere than pc isn't paying a higher price. Buying from robotkingdom or bigbadtoystore is paying a higher price. Buying from hobbylink japan, amiami, toyer city is paying a reasonable price.

Thank you guys!

It seems I would just leave physical store for future, just an ebay one from start.

I don't know anything other than transformers, not Marvel or Gundams at all, so I guess this is a problem.

Price is the key, I will further research on it. If I can't even get myself a better price for my own collection, there is no point going further isn't it?

Customer service is fine for me. My idea is holding local (Aus) inventory, instead of sending by air parcel from China. If sending directly from mainland China, there is 100% sure delays
and lower price can't justify that frustration.

The copy right issue does sound scary. Anyone who have both legal and transformer knowledge can elaborate on that? It sounds like I broke the law the day I order fansproject city commander from robotkingdom?

On the other hand, https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-...+optimus+prime

this is being sold on Amazon US site, surprised me a lot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by langzixinxin

Thank you guys!

It seems I would just leave physical store for future, just an ebay one from start.

I don't know anything other than transformers, not Marvel or Gundams at all, so I guess this is a problem.

Price is the key, I will further research on it. If I can't even get myself a better price for my own collection, there is no point going further isn't it?

Customer service is fine for me. My idea is holding local (Aus) inventory, instead of sending by air parcel from China. If sending directly from mainland China, there is 100% sure delays
and lower price can't justify that frustration.

The copy right issue does sound scary. Anyone who have both legal and transformer knowledge can elaborate on that? It sounds like I broke the law the day I order fansproject city commander from robotkingdom?

On the other hand, https://www.amazon.com/Transformers-...+optimus+prime

this is being sold on Amazon US site, surprised me a lot.

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Im my opinion you would be far better off with a retail website and purely online sales, otherwise, why would anyone buy from you rather than say Kmart? you've got to be either cheap and/or convenient if dealing with mass market items, or nobody will shop there.

Whatever people are on about two things ultimately matter more than ANYTHING else (from a customer point of view)
*Prices
*Customer service

How many stores have I never returned to because of rude staff, bad customer service etc, every business lives and breathes by it, if you happen to have the cheapest possible prices in the entire market, maybe you can get away with bad customer service.......for a while. But enough people get burned and will about it, and no good business person wants that.

As a "seller" I would say develop a formal business plan for your first two years with projected financials, which includes all the boring legal mumbo jumbo, restrictions, research on competitors, how you will differentiate yourself in the market, advertising costs etc, before you go ahead with anything, otherwise, it's just wishful thinking/daydreaming, rather than an actual executable systematic plan.

I say forget it. Too hard and there's no money to be made in the race to the bottom. Get a real job if you don't have one already!

Uh-oh, I too have knowingly imported, continue to knowingly possess, and have commercially dealt with FansProject City Commander. :(
Even worse, just this day the Toyworld Swamper and FansProject MADLAW I picked up on my recent travels arrived in Australia!:eek: I'm triply guilty!!! More than triply!!!!! I have, like, more than 10 3rd Party Knock-Offs!* Maybe even more than 12! Please, please, don't take my RotF Voyager Bludgeon's HeadRobots head away from him, it's not his fault! He didn't know!
Spare me, oh Duly Appointed Enforcer of the Tyrest Accord (are we even allowed to write that here? I hope it's not making an Infringing Copy :( ), I promise I'll straighten all their badges, honest!

*Term not translated from the original Goktimus Primese. :p

Quote:

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Originally Posted by langzixinxin

The copy right issue does sound scary. Anyone who have both legal and transformer knowledge can elaborate on that? It sounds like I broke the law the day I order fansproject city commander from robotkingdom?

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It did sound like that, didn't it? :rolleyes: Goki's quite passionate about all thing Transformers, and tends to be a bit on the Black-and-White side when it comes to The Rules. In this case there's actually a 10% shade of legal grey, and you can see it a lot better in China where most 3rd Party groups are based than here in Australia.
Don't worry though, I'm sure he or one of our other more established Official-Only collectors will be happy to explain it from the cell next to you when they also get thrown into Collector-jail for possessing Knock-Offs as well.

The board owner and Moderators do ask that we keep talk of 3rd party stuff to the relevant section, but other than that don't worry too much about your incoming City Commander...the authorities probably won't send you to the electric chair.

Apart from the Unauthorised TF Products section (already mentioned via Ode's link), I think the other thread being referred to is the:
Knock-Offs, Replicas, Copied TFs - Alerts and ID help (in the Ratchet's Repair Bay & ID/transformation Help sub-forum).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by langzixinxin

The copy right issue does sound scary. Anyone who have both legal and transformer knowledge can elaborate on that? It sounds like I broke the law the day I order fansproject city commander from robotkingdom?

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TT have shown no inclination or initiative to shut down 3P or KO companies, so you'll be fine.

I'd suggeset that the biggest expenses relating to trying to sell transformers and similar locally is import expense. at the moment if you import more than AU$1000 worth of product in a single shipment you get charged, GST, Customs processing and an import duty on top of the value of your shipment. The GST scales with the value of your shipment, and I think the other two will scale away if you import enough stuff but this is well worth your looking into and fully understanding.

If you are going to hold stock here in Australia, how much warehouse space will you need. can you just use your garage or will you have to rent/buy warehouse space somewhere. This could be a large ongoing expense.

Like others have said, timely delivery, reasonable pricing and Excellent communication are key factors and can cost your business if not handled properly. Stay the hell away from facebook, it's a festering shithole when it comes to customer feedback and comments.

For a lesson in how bad it can go, look up TFIdownunder.
the other large Australian based import site have been struggling with customer service for well over a year or two now. (Premium Collectables).

Both started with the best intentions I'm sure but I don't think they were prepared for the intensity that is transformers fans.

Both of those stores have been openly selling unofficial transformers related product for years now with no repercussion so I wouldn't worry too much about being pulled up for that.

If you are keen and dedicated I imagine it can be done but it's a small market and a big world, especially when competing against All other Australian and Asian specialty retail. If you decide to go ahead I wish you luck but it's not something I'd like to get into.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by UltraMarginal

I'd suggeset that the biggest expenses relating to trying to sell transformers and similar locally is import expense. at the moment if you import more than AU$1000 worth of product in a single shipment you get charged, GST, Customs processing and an import duty on top of the value of your shipment. The GST scales with the value of your shipment, and I think the other two will scale away if you import enough stuff but this is well worth your looking into and fully understanding.

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This is an excellent point and this is precisely why brick and mortar specialty collectable stores are now practically extinct in Australia. We all remember once upon a time when there were stores that you could walk into and buy things like Japanese exclusive Transformer toys. In Sydney we had stores like Sherriff's Mini Cars, Modeller's World, Cartoon Gallery, AV Superstore etc. -- Brisbane had Pippin's, Melbourne had that record store in Camberwell and Animezone (is it still around?) & that comic store in the CBD, and Perth has (had?) a comic store in the CBD which had direct imports too.

But these stores typically charged double RRP for Japanese figures because of all the import taxes, duties, levies etc. imposed on them by the government. To the consumer it just felt like rip-off prices through no fault of their own, unlike Toys R Us who charge double prices just cos they can. When Hasbro had those "Commemorative Series" G1 book box reissues which were mostly TRU exclusives here - TRU's prices were so expensive that they were almost the same price as purchasing a Takara Transformers Collection G1 book box reissue from a brick and mortar specialty import store! :eek: So you could buy say Commemorative Series Inferno with black missiles and no working launchers from TRU, or for about $5 more, you could go to a specialty import store and buy the Takara reissue with chromed missiles, working launchers, tech specs card and those collectable file cards. Little wonder that the TRU Hasbro reissues shelfwarmed badly! :eek: Or heck, when Kmart and TRU released Alternators here for almost the same price as what HLJ were charging for Binaltech! For roughly an extra $15 you could get the same toy with die-cast metal parts and nicer colours (and in Overdrive's case, a full barreled gun!).

But this all changed as online shopping became more popular. Independently owned small business importers ended up closing down and even TRU are feeling the brunt of online competition as we've seen them close down several stores, including their iconic Times Square store in NYC. And it's a shame that this has happened, because most of you know that I hate online shopping. I would much prefer buying toys from real stores than off the internet.

Hi guys,

thank you again for the input. I got some update.

The guy who owns UT and dx9 said he's exporting to two US company, one UK company and one HK company. I guess we all know who they are.

Shipping by sea is not possible, due to tax reasons (China side). Shipping has to be air-parcel.

Many released toys are out of stocks from factory, future toys can only be available via preorder. I never preordered anything before and I always bought what I want. But finally I understand why preorder is there.

So i guess my next step would be calculate the possible sales price for some of the ut/dx9 toy lines. if it's not worth it, then forget about it. The actual process sounds easier than I thought tough. I really thought I have to do some toy engineering test for custom approvals.

hey guys,

I am still kinda considering/hesitating about this selling TF in AUS thing. I would like to do a quick market demand survey.

Let's take KFC ultra magnus, a 3rd party toy for example. I know it is not hot toy anymore, MP one is probably better in everyone's opinion. However, they are selling 60 AUD on taobao at the moment, I swear to the creator they are not KO. If I import at that price, cover some cost, put some margin, say I am gonna import 5 boxes.

Do you think there are still demand for that here? 5 toys for whe whole Australia TF funs?

While this one was out in the first place, I just couldn't wait to go back to China and bought in AUS for 150 AUD + 30 AUD shipping.

thx.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by langzixinxin

However, they are selling 60 AUD on taobao at the moment, I swear to the creator they are not KO.

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By legal definition all unauthorised toys are knock offs. They're not necessarily counterfeits, but they are knock offs. These toys are using the distinctive character likeness of a Transformer character without permission from Hasbro or TakaraTOMY. The term "knock off" is a broad umbrella term that covers a wide variety of intellectual property infringement, including counterfeits (copies designed to look just like the real thing), or original products that use the distinctive visual likenesses of someone else's intellectual property without their permission.

Note: I'm not looking to ignite a debate over this issue. I'm deliberately avoiding stating my opinion over this matter. I have not made any statement here showing that I am either for or against this. I am merely attempting to present or clarify facts. May I also respectfully remind folks to consult board rules 17 & 18. Thank you.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

By legal definition all unauthorised toys are knock offs. They're not necessarily counterfeits, but they are knock offs. These toys are using the distinctive character likeness of a Transformer character without permission from Hasbro or TakaraTOMY. The term "knock off" is a broad umbrella term that covers a wide variety of intellectual property infringement, including counterfeits (copies designed to look just like the real thing), or original products that use the distinctive visual likenesses of someone else's intellectual property without their permission.

Note: I'm not looking to ignite a debate over this issue. I'm deliberately avoiding stating my opinion over this matter. I have not made any statement here showing that I am either for or against this. I am merely attempting to present or clarify facts. May I also respectfully remind folks to consult board rules 17 & 18. Thank you.

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oops, I meant, they are not KO of KO. or 4th party toys = KO of 3rd.

Without wanting to get into a linguistic debate about Goktimus-ese VS common use, this thread probably should be moved to the Unauthorised section.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by GoktimusPrime

By legal definition all unauthorised toys are knock offs. They're not necessarily counterfeits, but they are knock offs. These toys are using the distinctive character likeness of a Transformer character without permission from Hasbro or TakaraTOMY. The term "knock off" is a broad umbrella term that covers a wide variety of intellectual property infringement, including counterfeits (copies designed to look just like the real thing), or original products that use the distinctive visual likenesses of someone else's intellectual property without their permission.

Note: I'm not looking to ignite a debate over this issue. I'm deliberately avoiding stating my opinion over this matter. I have not made any statement here showing that I am either for or against this. I am merely attempting to present or clarify facts. May I also respectfully remind folks to consult board rules 17 & 18. Thank you.

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Debating semantics or technical definitions without answering the questions in the first post is off-topic. That sort of discussion needs to be conducted in other topics, so that the person asking the question can get the answers they are after without off-topic padding.

Discussion of "3rd party" items are permitted on this site in the designated section.

Nah skip KFC Magnus lol.

Bring on fan toys jetfire

If you are more focused on 3p I suggest bringing your topic there.
Avoid direct Ko product meaning complete duplication copy.

Now that we're here, yeah...what drifand said is right. KFC not-Magnus isn't a piece that's in high demand, or even one that was considered especially fantastic back in the day, and there are multiple other recent options for the character.

If you do end up trying to start an import/TF sales business, you're going to need to focus on things that people want.



If you don't mind my asking @langzixinxin, roughly how old are you? You come across as a bit on the young side is all - I've read similar threads to this before and usually they're started by young-adult/late-teenager TF fans who sometimes haven't really thought about all the details involved. Not meaning any offence - I think it's a great idea to get higher-end TFs to the Aussie market at better prices, it's just that other people have had the same idea previously and so far none of them seem to have really succeeded.
So, a few things to think about...

Do you have any previous experience starting up/running a small business? Any training in that area?

TFs alone are a bit of a niche product, especially high-end TFs. Would you be looking to cover other collectibles as well, or only Transformers/3rd-Party equivalents? How much do you know about other collectible lines, eg. Hot Toys? Play Arts? Figma?

Do you have storage space for stock, and/or enough start-up capital to see you through the initial period while you're (hopefully) getting established?
How long could you store stock that wasn't moving for? How much could you discount old stock for to sell it?

How much of your own time and/or money are you willing to invest into your venture? How much can you risk losing if it all goes bust?

Customs laws - let's say for example you find a great deal on some MP Megatrons. Are you aware of the regulations about importing/sending him to the various states and territories?

How about import costs - you know the government is trying to impose GST on all overseas sales to Australia, from a previous threshold of up to AU$1000, right?
Currency rates have an affect as well - 6 weeks ago the Australian dollar was worth ~77 yen, now it's down to ~73.3. Can you factor in stuff like that to your budget?

You say you've been assured that the KFC not-Magnus you're talking about aren't counterfeits/KOs. What would you do if you did buy stock and it was counterfeit? What would you do if you didn't realise you had counterfeit stock, and unintentionally sold it as genuine?

You'd be up against already established players, both international and (to a lesser extent) local. They have established customer bases and suppliers. How would you plan to compete with them?

It's been alleged that at least one local supplier undercut a competitor and effectively sunk their business when they started getting too successful for comfort. Whether that's true or not (I don't know anything about it personally and this isn't the place to continue that discussion), it's a known business tactic for bigger players to take a temporary loss/reduction in profit to remove competition - McDonalds/Woolworths/Coles/Starbucks etc. all do it. How would you deal with/prevent something like that?

There's a lot of things to think about is what I'm saying. If you're going to do something like this and make it work you'll have to consider all this and more.

On the plus side, there is a sizeable portion of the fandom on this forum & elsewhere who really enjoy purchasing & discussing the many elements (engineering, aesthetics, articulation, etc) of 3P items. There is no better time to be a 'Collector' with so many 3P releases from the various companies. Do your homework & ...

GOOD LUCK!!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by griffin

Discussion of "3rd party" items are permitted on this site in the designated section.

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That ought to be the 11th Commandment:

Thou shalt discuss, and permitted to discuss, 3rd Party items on Ozformers forum in the Unauthorised Transfomers Products section.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Ode to a Grasshopper

Now that we're here, yeah...what drifand said is right. KFC not-Magnus isn't a piece that's in high demand, or even one that was considered especially fantastic back in the day, and there are multiple other recent options for the character.

If you do end up trying to start an import/TF sales business, you're going to need to focus on things that people want.


If you don't mind my asking @langzixinxin, roughly how old are you? You come across as a bit on the young side is all - I've read similar threads to this before and usually they're started by young-adult/late-teenager TF fans who sometimes haven't really thought about all the details involved. Not meaning any offence - I think it's a great idea to get higher-end TFs to the Aussie market at better prices, it's just that other people have had the same idea previously and so far none of them seem to have really succeeded.
So, a few things to think about...

Do you have any previous experience starting up/running a small business? Any training in that area?

TFs alone are a bit of a niche product, especially high-end TFs. Would you be looking to cover other collectibles as well, or only Transformers/3rd-Party equivalents? How much do you know about other collectible lines, eg. Hot Toys? Play Arts? Figma?

Do you have storage space for stock, and/or enough start-up capital to see you through the initial period while you're (hopefully) getting established?
How long could you store stock that wasn't moving for? How much could you discount old stock for to sell it?

How much of your own time and/or money are you willing to invest into your venture? How much can you risk losing if it all goes bust?

Customs laws - let's say for example you find a great deal on some MP Megatrons. Are you aware of the regulations about importing/sending him to the various states and territories?

How about import costs - you know the government is trying to impose GST on all overseas sales to Australia, from a previous threshold of up to AU$1000, right?
Currency rates have an affect as well - 6 weeks ago the Australian dollar was worth ~77 yen, now it's down to ~73.3. Can you factor in stuff like that to your budget?

You say you've been assured that the KFC not-Magnus you're talking about aren't counterfeits/KOs. What would you do if you did buy stock and it was counterfeit? What would you do if you didn't realise you had counterfeit stock, and unintentionally sold it as genuine?

You'd be up against already established players, both international and (to a lesser extent) local. They have established customer bases and suppliers. How would you plan to compete with them?

It's been alleged that at least one local supplier undercut a competitor and effectively sunk their business when they started getting too successful for comfort. Whether that's true or not (I don't know anything about it personally and this isn't the place to continue that discussion), it's a known business tactic for bigger players to take a temporary loss/reduction in profit to remove competition - McDonalds/Woolworths/Coles/Starbucks etc. all do it. How would you deal with/prevent something like that?

There's a lot of things to think about is what I'm saying. If you're going to do something like this and make it work you'll have to consider all this and more.

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thx mate, for all your questions, really helpful to go through them. My answers,
1. i m 40 years old. my own business, as starting up one as well, Investment Consultant for Chinese investors. I used to be a fund manager, but i guess i really want just work for myself.

2. My motivation to do this: 1) support my hobby; if better it is a good training for my son if he knows how to run a business to support his hobby; 2) i export some small volume aussie-made stuff to China, therefore want a easy way to convert those RMB back to AUD.

3. I don't have a high expectation to think this business can let me earn big money, my time and energy is also limited on this too. But at least, breaking even will be gain for me. the currency conversion benefit.

4. I don't really know anything other than TF.

5. I have a not-too-small garage, can put two landcruisers in. stocking should be fine, how 3rd toys can hold in value is my concern though.

6. I believe I won't be able to add too much margin on the sale. so discount sale will always be cut-loss sale, instead of break-even sale.

7. I won't be starving if I go bust, but I won't commit too much money either. Maybe I will add some my own collections too to sale.

8. GST will be added in though. if this thing can get rolling, I will have something from China to here and something from here to China at the same tie frame, so currency rate should cancel out.

9. the rule in Chinese TF community is, official, non-official, 3rd, 4rd, KO stay in harmony and go on their own way. If I walk into TF shop in China and say I want one real MP ironhide, 1 KO rachet, the seller will grab them and calculate the price accordingly. If I pick a KO ironhide, they will tell me, mate you got wrong one, the real one is on that shelf. much less concern than buying from ebay. Also, those KO factory owners, they are not some kind of mysterious persons, they have phone number if I really want i can track down. their intention is not really wanting to make something cheap to cheat for higher margin. There are lots of TF fans in China today but on something lower than 500 AUD monthly salary. KOs are for their demand.

10. I don't want aggressively to compete with anyone. I don't want, for example, sell to Singapore as that's more or less Robotkingdom's territory. I just think paying USD and high transportation cost for Aussie collectors is too inefficient. If someone constantly cut the TF price down in Aus, isn't this we should be celebrating? I will go and buy stuff from them too. The problem is, Target and Kmart they are not competing on TF. sad. lol

Sweet, it sounds like you've got a better starting point than a lot of the people who have come and gone before you. :) Australian TF fans get a bit of a bad deal on both prices and distribution, so I hope you can make it work!

It might be worth finding out about a few of the other high-end toy lines as well - Australia's a very small market numbers-wise so just TFs might not be enough to make it worthwhile.

Other than that, good luck!

It is always good to keep in mind that the value of both official and 3rd party toys over time is always unpredictable. You can make educated guesses on what will become rarer in the future and yet continue to have demand but that is all what it will be, a guess.

hi guys,

thx for help. Finally, I just put one on ebay, x-Transbots "cyclonous". Don't know if I am allowed to post the link on the forum though.

The only thing I cannot do perfectly is that, I can help with part replacement, for example, if you found a hand or a leg missing after opening the box, this is easy to communicate with the manufacturer, but you may have to pay the postage for that tiny parts being sent from China to here.

I also would try not to resend any items coz sending one more time will break me even, twice will put me to broke.

I set 20 AUD flat rate for transport for now coz I don't have much experience calculating the postage yet. But for local pickup i guess I can refund that part.

anyway, lets see if it works.

Xin

Quote:

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Originally Posted by langzixinxin

hi guys,

thx for help. Finally, I just put one on ebay, x-Transbots "cyclonous". Don't know if I am allowed to post the link on the forum though.

The only thing I cannot do perfectly is that, I can help with part replacement, for example, if you found a hand or a leg missing after opening the box, this is easy to communicate with the manufacturer, but you may have to pay the postage for that tiny parts being sent from China to here.

I also would try not to resend any items coz sending one more time will break me even, twice will put me to broke.

I set 20 AUD flat rate for transport for now coz I don't have much experience calculating the postage yet. But for local pickup i guess I can refund that part.

anyway, lets see if it works.

Xin

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Just saw this thread. As a fellow melbournian, its really exciting to see more options in obtaining 3p figures. I may have to PM you in the near future :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Gen Jay

Just saw this thread. As a fellow melbournian, its really exciting to see more options in obtaining 3p figures. I may have to PM you in the near future :)

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thx mate!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by langzixinxin

thx mate!

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Check your PM! :)