There’s been a some talk amongst the toy community about a greedy aftermarket of speculators (a.k.a. scalpers) snatching up MOTUC figures from Mattycollector.com and re-selling them on eBay for high prices. Often the existence of this aftermarket is simply assumed in forum conversations, without the presentation of any sort of evidence. It is often used to justify asking Mattel to lower the 10-per-household limit on MOTUC orders to five figures or less.
Mattel has repeatedly stated their research shows “the vast majority (close to 90%) of orders are for 3 or less units.” Of course, it would be naive to take them at their word, but it’s just as close-minded to dismiss it out of hand as corporate bullshit. The real question is: what is the aftermarket for these figures really like, and is there evidence that collectors are paying scalpers huge prices for them?
Given the recent hooplah surrounding Mer-Man, I decided to do a quick, unscientific study of exactly how much MOTUC figures are going for on eBay. The following numbers are the average final sale cost of each character, based on fifteen auctions per figure from completed auctions within the last two weeks. (In general, I tried to go with the fifteen most recent auctions and excluded auctions with more than one figure or free shipping. I also didn’t include shipping, although it’s probably safe to assume an average of $8-$10, the same as if you ordered from Mattycollector.)
[table “” not found /]Final average prices for 5/4/09:
- He-Man: $78.08
- Beast-Man: $49.59
- Skeletor: $40.42
- Stratos: $25.24
- Faker: $35.28
- Mer-Man: $29.42
Now, let’s examine exactly how profitable reselling these figures could be, using Beast Man as our example (assuming the scalpers would want to maximize their profit by waiting a few months to sell, but not waiting too long and risking the fervor dying down). Let’s say you, a scalper (just in this example!) bought 10 Beast Mans at $20 each, plus approximately $20 for shipping. That’s $220 spent.
In late April, you sell all ten Beast Mans for an average of $50, making a total of $500 (you cover shipping costs and eBay fees in the shipping price of the auction). That’s a profit of $280. Not bad.
Now let’s try it again with Mer-Man. Obviously, right now we’re a lot closer to his sell date and more were produced, but also keep in mind a lot more people probably made sure to order Mer-Man at Mattycollector.com this time around. This analysis should be more indicative of what those people who miss out on the Mattycollector.com window are being forced to pay a week or two later.
So you, the scalper (again, only in the example!) spend the same $220 on 10 Mer-Mans, then sell them for an average of $30 for a total of $300. Your profit? $80. If you take into account the time spent putting up the auctions, packing the boxes and actually shipping them, you’re probably making maybe $40 an hour over two hours of work. It’s a profit, yes, but worth the effort? I’m not so sure. You’d probably have better luck using the figures as trading material.
More importantly, however, the evidence suggests that anyone who misses out on the Mattycollector.com sales window and is forced to hit up eBay a week or two later is paying an average of $10 more more during the “stabilization period” (when initial “gotta have it now!” demand dies down and before the increasing rarity drives prices up).
No one would call that fair, and it’s certainly Mattel’s responsibility (and in their own interest) to increase production until they’re at least getting through a day or two before selling out. However, I have a hard time viewing these eBay resales as successful scalper price-gouging either. Unless someone thought to buy 10 He-Man figures, no one’s getting remotely rich off this line (and of course, He-Man will be re-released eventually, possibly by the end of the year).