Online TF shopping - where is the best place to spend your bucks?

[BigTransformerTrev]

Anyone know why BBTS always seems to get the latest waves after everyone else?

I ended up canceling my Springer/Blitzwing order at BBTS and going with Amazon. Sandstorm has been on shelves for a long time and they haven't gotten him yet. Now the IDW wave is showing up at US retailers and BBTS hasn't got them yet.

EDIT: Well just found Sandstorm on Amazon, cheaper to buy from them than to have it added to my POL at BBTS. Another canceled order BBTS.

You could email them and ask them?

I did that earlier this year in regards to why their Generations Grimlock was taking so long. When I get home from work I will try and find the email and put it up. However if memory serves it was much like the response I got from TRU, they listed a multitude of reasons without giving me the specific one. I think the main point of it was that the way they keep prices down is that they get all the stock in cargo containers by sea from China, which means that they often do not know the specific date that items will show up and/or they may be behind other companies in getting products.

I'm wondering how long they are going to be as well. I've got the 3 triple changers and the IDW wave on order with them, they all say 'arriving July' but they are fast running out of time - could well be pushed back to August.

[Iriorne]

[...] the way they keep prices down is that they get all the stock in cargo containers by sea from China [...]

I'd imagine this is the case for most retailers in the US. I suspect the real issue may be order volume. BBTS is a relatively small supplier compared with the likes of TRU, Walmart, etc. so they're probably last in line to get their stock allocations from Hasbro.

[GoktimusPrime]

I've been buying stuff of Amazon (USA and Japan) lately -- all for things that aren't available here and the total price incl. shipping matches AU RRP.

[drifand]

I thought some item from Amazon US don't ship things to AU. has this been changed or applies to certain products?

I couldn't order Gundam decals from Amazon a year ago or so.

[DELTAprime]

I thought some item from Amazon US don't ship things to AU. has this been changed or applies to certain products?

I couldn't order Gundam decals from Amazon a year ago or so.

Some items will ship others wont. I last year I bought some Hasbro Star Wars figures from Amazon. I could only order about half the ones I wanted, the others wouldn't ship to Australia. It made no sense that I could have figure A but not figure B when they came out of the case.

So you can order from them but they might still tell you no you can't have that item.

[GoktimusPrime]

I thought some item from Amazon US don't ship things to AU. has this been changed or applies to certain products?

Those might be from some independent sellers on Amazon rather than Amazon themselves. I rarely shop online anyway... really prefer just to buy from local stores.