The Waiting Game Thread

[GoktimusPrime]

Hey! Being cheap on postage saves me money to buy more toys! Although in this case HLJ's EMS worked out being cheaper than Amazon with SAL so umm... yeah... (but as mentioned before, HLJ's page for MP32 showed up as being Out of Stock when I initially checked).

And SAL isn't normally this slow. My MP Soundwave was sent via SAL and arrived in only 3 days. On average my SAL shipments arrive in 9.9 days. Initially Amazon's preorder prices used to be significantly cheaper than almost anyone else's. But if HLJ's price with EMS is going to work out cheaper than Amazon's pre-postage price, then obviously it makes more sense to go w/ HLJ and trackable EMS.

The moral of the story for me is if there is a cheaper superior option, then go with that option!

[aching878]

Hey! Being cheap on postage saves me money to buy more toys! Although in this case HLJ's EMS worked out being cheaper than Amazon with SAL so umm... yeah... (but as mentioned before, HLJ's page for MP32 showed up as being Out of Stock when I initially checked).

And SAL isn't normally this slow. My MP Soundwave was sent via SAL and arrived in only 3 days. On average my SAL shipments arrive in 9.9 days. Initially Amazon's preorder prices used to be significantly cheaper than almost anyone else's. But if HLJ's price with EMS is going to work out cheaper than Amazon's pre-postage price, then obviously it makes more sense to go w/ HLJ and trackable EMS.

The moral of the story for me is if there is a cheaper superior option, then go with that option!

Yeeeeeee and when day 100 of Sal & friend ticks over we are def having a party to celebrate the century

[GoktimusPrime]

At this rate I'm expecting my SAL MP32's arrival to coincide with the Second Coming.

[kurdt_the_goat]

Gok, was the price you saw on Amazon actually from Amazon themselves? I think they've been sold out for a while and so you probably saw a marketplace seller's price.

Now that it's become scarce, they're basically charging whatever they want for it. Also, not all of the marketplace sellers will ship internationally anyway.

For reference:



The first green highlight shows the marketplace seller and note that it's fulfilled by Amazon, not sold by Amazon. It'll say "Ships from and sold by Amazon.co.jp" if it's from Amazon.

Despite being fulfilled by Amazon, if you add this seller's MP-32 to cart, then select an AU shipping address when going through checkout, it'll tell you it can't be shipped there.

The second green highlight takes you to a page showing all the marketplace sellers. On this next screenshot i've highlighted a seller that explicitly mentions international shipping is available, but most do not.



Not that anyone in their right mind would pay these kinds of prices anyway (i hope )
So just be wary of who you're actually buying from when using Amazon and comparing prices.

[GoktimusPrime]

Yeah, I ordered the toy quite late (1 week before release), so not too surprising that Amazon would be sold out. Anyway, my cheaper HLJ one will likely arrive first and I'll sell off my Amazon ordered one and recoup my cost for that later (just as well I used cheap (but slow) SAL for it). Nice translation job btw.

HLJ EMS Day 6: still stuck at Sydney International exchange office. Typical. Whenever I've had trackable shipping from Japan to AU the package always moves quickly in Japan but then stalls once it hits here.
Amazon SAL Day 22: In commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the civil war between District 13 and Panem, the first Hunger Games are held.

[aching878]

so which bot will you submit for the next eternal waiting game?

first sentinel now primal, who is on the next episode of 'what duplicate bot will goktimus buy while he wait' show?

I'm gonna guess inferno

[GoktimusPrime]

I never played the Waiting Game with Sentinel Prime, what are you talking about? The only other time I bought a duplicate toy because the shipment was taking too long was MP Wheeljack, which was two years ago!

I did get two Road Rages but that was because I'd accidentally ordered two. I preordered one from Amazon first, then forgot that I did it and preordered another one from HLJ. Then both toys were sent just a day apart from each other and both actually arrived on the same day (the Amazon one was actually a day faster than HLJ). But that wasn't because I got impatient, I'd just accidentally ordered two and forgot that I had. Road Rage was difficult to sell because the toy shelfwarmed and many online stores slashed prices, whereas I was just trying to sell it at the original pre-order price that I paid just to recoup my costs (cheaper than RRP but still dearer than discount prices from sellers desperate to move dead stock). I did eventually sell her, but it took a while.

The same will happen with my Amazon Primal, it'll go on my sales thread for the same cost that I paid for it. Yeah, it'll be dearer than PC or HLJ's pre-order price, but it will eventually sell. While I am an impatient buyer I'm a pretty patient seller.

[aching878]

I never played the Waiting Game with Sentinel Prime, what are you talking about? The only other time I bought a duplicate toy because the shipment was taking too long was MP Wheeljack, which was two years ago!

I did get two Road Rages but that was because I'd accidentally ordered two. I preordered one from Amazon first, then forgot that I did it and preordered another one from HLJ. Then both toys were sent just a day apart from each other and both actually arrived on the same day (the Amazon one was actually a day faster than HLJ). But that wasn't because I got impatient, I'd just accidentally ordered two and forgot that I had. Road Rage was difficult to sell because the toy shelfwarmed and many online stores slashed prices, whereas I was just trying to sell it at the original pre-order price that I paid just to recoup my costs (cheaper than RRP but still dearer than discount prices from sellers desperate to move dead stock). I did eventually sell her, but it took a while.

The same will happen with my Amazon Primal, it'll go on my sales thread for the same cost that I paid for it. Yeah, it'll be dearer than PC or HLJ's pre-order price, but it will eventually sell. While I am an impatient buyer I'm a pretty patient seller.

you sure you didn't wait 9 months for TR Sentinel Prime and end up buying a dupe :-D

[Darkness]

I thought I'd read a comment from gok somewhere here saying he was waiting for sentinel from pc and ended up buying it from Kmart.

[GoktimusPrime]

you sure you didn't wait 9 months for TR Sentinel Prime and end up buying a dupe :-D

Find me the post about it on this thread and quote it. If not, then I didn't play the "Waiting Game" for that toy.

I mentioned that toy on a separate thread that had nothing to do with this. And it was only mentioned because I was wondering if I should contact PC in inquire about the toy. It was NOT a discussion about how long it was taking. If you're going to bring up issues brought up in a different thread and then cite it here out of context then it just feels provocative (which as we all know is against board rules).

Other members have made constructive contributions to this discussion. I've since learnt that:
* HLJ showing that something is out of stock doesn't necessarily mean that it is and that it might be worthwhile checking back on them later
* Amazon JP ships internationally
* Buying a toy off Amazon doesn't necessarily mean that you're buying a toy from Amazon
etc.
And I'm appreciative of these contributions that others have made. I've made it no secret that I'm extremely inexperienced when it comes to online shopping. If you have some constructive advice to give me, then I'm more than happy to receive it, but I'm none too pleased about derisive comments made at my expense. I've never spoken to you in such a tone, and I would expect the same level of courtesy shown in kind (re: mutual respect). Thank you.