theres a particular store near me thats quite good for the japanese tfs i seek. the only problem is the mark-up. i get in little debates with xamot (he knows where to find good deals) so he doesnt put up with collector store mark-ups. then he always breaks my balls becuase i shop there. now to me theres something great about being able to see an imported toy in your hands before buying it. and i dont see a difference between a store mark-up and the shipping cost from buying them online. also i love being able to buy something and leave the store with it. not wait for 2 weeks for it to get to me.

 

anyone else have a similar scenario? what do you think?

It all depends on how steep the markup is. I know if I was faced with the option of importing a figure and paying the prices that Silver Snail charges, I'll take my chances importing...

theres a particular store near me thats quite good for the japanese tfs i seek. the only problem is the mark-up. i get in little debates with xamot (he knows where to find good deals) so he doesnt put up with collector store mark-ups. then he always breaks my balls becuase i shop there. now to me theres something great about being able to see an imported toy in your hands before buying it. and i dont see a difference between a store mark-up and the shipping cost from buying them online. also i love being able to buy something and leave the store with it. not wait for 2 weeks for it to get to me.

 

anyone else have a similar scenario? what do you think?

 

 

i think i went into a comic shop once... that was it, never went there again. comic shop/collector/specialty shops tend to over charge WAY too much for their stuff. i see it alot online too. all you gotta do is check out action hq... i'm suprised they sell anything. it boils down to a couple of things though. how bad do ya want it? how much more are ya paying? how trustworthy is the online source? most importanly, how much is it worth to you?

 

i most generaly try to get the best deal possible, although if it's something i want bad enough, i don't mind paying a small mark-up. for example, i paid 9.99 + shipping for cyb scrapmetal and 24.99 + shipping for cyb soundwave because i wanted them realy bad and didn't wanna waste time looking around for them. however, i got nem prime from hts just because he was decently priced for an alt i wanted anyway in my fav color, but i wouldn't have paid over what i did.

 

thats what it boils down to though, at least to me. i don't think that not buying from comic/collector shops will ever change their pricing set up. so if you want it bad enough and the item is worth the mark-up in your opinion, go right on ahead ^_^ the one thing i do like about dealing with people in person (aside from the chance of possibly getting a deal) is that if you end up having a problem you can deal with them directly and personaly.

i hear ya. theres another store in town that has a mp magnus ive wanted for a while. but its going for 190 canadian. and thats just sickening. i mean i will buy marked up toys if its still within reason. but not at something as offensive as that.

thats what keeps me from buying alot of stuff i want. i don't care what the "value" is, if it sounds rediculous to me, than Powerglide it. thats why i'll never have a fort max, at least not a complete one, the going rate is absurd. same goes for megs, i relay want him, but i'll never find him within my price range or what i think it's worth.