top secret elmo tmx launched !!!!

lil_me

Maybe, might get one tomorrow then My sons been going on about them for ages and if they might sell out quick might be worth getting now.

mick10101

rebl43 wrote:

What would be the point of swapping them? Is it not just the boxes that are different?

I know about the boxes being different, but what other differences are there ?

Clasics

lil_me wrote:

Maybe, might get one tomorrow then My sons been going on about them for ages and if they might sell out quick might be worth getting now.

Any idea if they were in the Top Secret or Warning box? Still all total speculation at the moment but I can see the theory regarding the Top Secret box having some credence...

Dealmad

lil_me wrote:

Loads in our local argos stores

Were they the ones with Top Secret on?

Thanks never thought about trying Argos , seems though you have to buy 6 battries with this when woolworths provide them ...how comes?

lil_me

One with the Warning sign on, do not lift or something, 10th anniversary etc etc same as everywhere else is selling. Advertised as TMX Elmo. Ebay price gone down aswell. Can see this being a publicity thing as people I've spoke to have said they just can't see what the fuss is about as Elmo isn't very popular.

FloFlo

The Argos picture shows the warning box.

lil_me

Same toy, maybe different box, don't see the problem myself.

Clasics

Just been reading a reply on Amazon.com to a poster who used the review section to have a whinge at people who buy these things with a view to sell at a profit. Really well thought out reply imho...even though maybe a little long for a Friday night.


I think supply and demand is in play all the time. And I think you're right, by hoarding the items, it drove prices up. But that isn't to say that they did that with the intent of driving the prices up. They hoarded the items knowing that the toys were undervalued. There are thousands of toys out there. If hoarding drove prices up, why doesn't this happen with all toys? It happens only with select toys. XBoxs, PSs, Elmos. The fact is, these toys are undervalued at MSRP because they are already in low supply and high demand. It is because they already start at a low supply and high demand that enterprising people inflate the demand and dwindle the supply further to make profits.

Price gouging is when people conspire to artificially price goods. There is no conspiracy when people go on eBay and auction an item. In fact, most eBay auctions without reserves and without starting bids are a case study in pure microeconomics. Even with a reserve price and a starting bid price, the auction is still a case study in microeconomics (with a little bit more greed built in).

But nobody forces you to buy anything on eBay. People are simply placing values on goods. If the collective public bids an Elmo up to $500, should we blame the seller? And who benefits? The seller values the $40-$500 more than he values the Elmo. The buyer values the Elmo more than the $40-$500.

In fact, blame consumers for the stupid demands we make on producers, not the other way around. If there is a market for $500 Elmos, then someone will fill that niche.

And what is the problem with making profit? If nobody profited and the Elmo was sold at cost, then PBS would make $0 and the toy company would make $0 and there would be no Elmo.

The world works the way it does for rational reasons. If we can all benefit from one thing, it is that we can all be amazed by a simple little toy and that Efficient Market Theory works within 2 days. Within 2 days, I saw the price of Elmo go from $40 to $305 to $70. It's somewhere around $80 as of today. Furthermore, look at the different values we place on the same item: some people are willing to wait and buy it for $40. Some people drive across town to buy at $40. Some people buy it instantly at $200 because they see the alternative (waiting in line, missing work) as being more costly. Some people aren't buying.

If anything, eBay allows for a separate market to emerge. And when another market emerges, more choices and options emerge. More choices is always better in the economic sense. In this case, eBay allows for people who aren't willing to wait in line buy one instantly. Some people can't afford to miss work, use gas, etc, etc. They're converting time to money and money to Elmos.

And back to the original thought by the reviewer that by hoarding items, the items value went up: I think more importantly, the item's value went up the moment the item was released at $40. The people buying Elmos to sell later for Christmas are participating in a poor man's futures market. Instead of locking in pork backs, barrels of oil, corn, ethanol, they're buying Elmos at $40 in hopes they'll go up in the future. However, there is no way (absolutely NO WAY) that these people know that Fisher Price won't produce millions of these Elmos and drop the bottom from underneath these people. What happens if days before Christmas, Fisher Price releases hundreds of thousands of Elmos and then slashes prices to $30? The people who locked in Elmos at $40 will have to sell at a loss. If people complain about the futures market of Elmos, are we in essence complaining about the futures market of oil, ethanol, corn, etc, etc?

In the hopes of full disclosure, let me say that I have about 65 TMX Elmos among myself and my two brothers. We have to pay for college somehow. It won't pay for itself.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/discussionboard/discussion.html/ref=cm_rdp_st_rd/102-6102886-1071336?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B000ETRE0Q&store=yourstore&cdThread=Tx1SB08DGDGRH95&reviewID=R3FTUNK7DO683W&iid=B000ETRE0Q&displayType=ReviewDetail

FloFlo

But at the end they say they have bought some to sell! Why would you do that if you believe they are going to drop in value.

Clasics

FloFlo wrote:

But at the end they say they have bought some to sell! Why would you do that if you believe they are going to drop in value.

He/she doesn't believe they are going to drop in value - but the fact is they could. In effect, like i've said all along, it's a gamble and not guaranteed.