ANOVOS Darth Vader
- Thread starter KrangPrime
- Start date
cboath
Master Member
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
Problem is i work somewhere where I can't check my personal mail. I"m on the newsletter now, but i'm still going to be behind the 8-ball a bit. Shouldn't be a huge deal though (i hope). There's not anything else you can do on your end - you do more than enough from what i'm seeing. Just a tiny bit of personal venting. Maybe the newsletter does something like, be on the lookout this week for something new...that'd be cool.
Problem is i work somewhere where I can't check my personal mail. I"m on the newsletter now, but i'm still going to be behind the 8-ball a bit. Shouldn't be a huge deal though (i hope). There's not anything else you can do on your end - you do more than enough from what i'm seeing. Just a tiny bit of personal venting. Maybe the newsletter does something like, be on the lookout this week for something new...that'd be cool.
Got Maul
Official Licensee
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
What I can do is potentially put a post up here on the RPF with a heads-up. Being a member does have it's benefits, right ?
Problem is i work somewhere where I can't check my personal mail. I"m on the newsletter now, but i'm still going to be behind the 8-ball a bit. Shouldn't be a huge deal though (i hope). There's not anything else you can do on your end - you do more than enough from what i'm seeing. Just a tiny bit of personal venting. Maybe the newsletter does something like, be on the lookout this week for something new...that'd be cool.
What I can do is potentially put a post up here on the RPF with a heads-up. Being a member does have it's benefits, right ?
banthapoodoo
Active Member
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
Airline ticket pricing is somewhat (I stress somewhat) analogous to the Tier system. Lower prices for earlier commitment; higher prices later as departure or delivery date nears.
I can see the pros and cons to the Tier system for merchant and for the buyer.
The merchant can be assured of at least a certain minimum number of orders as the initial Tiers are filled. At least pay for production start up costs and hope for a profit later on. But too high demand early in the product timeline could result in initial fulfillment issues if staffing is insufficient to meet that demand. Early product demand ramps down somewhat as the number of new orders fall with the higher tier pricing.
What's the advantage for the customer? You pay a premium for waiting. But you also see more of the product as it's being developed and can make a better informed decision to buy or not to buy.
Merchants and customers benefit by skirting the eFx Vader limited / legend scenario where a compete sellout is seen in minutes, and customers who miss out only have the aftermarket inflated pricing from those seeking to flip for profit. With the Tier at the higher price a customer who missed out initially will still have the opportunity to buy from the producer, albeit at a moderately higher price. Profiteering in aftermarket reselling would be curtailed since the merchant is still selling the product (and setting the price). An aftermarket resale results in zero revenue for the original producer. The merchant would benefit from realizing those sales and the better margin of those later sales.
Airline ticket pricing is somewhat (I stress somewhat) analogous to the Tier system. Lower prices for earlier commitment; higher prices later as departure or delivery date nears.
I can see the pros and cons to the Tier system for merchant and for the buyer.
The merchant can be assured of at least a certain minimum number of orders as the initial Tiers are filled. At least pay for production start up costs and hope for a profit later on. But too high demand early in the product timeline could result in initial fulfillment issues if staffing is insufficient to meet that demand. Early product demand ramps down somewhat as the number of new orders fall with the higher tier pricing.
What's the advantage for the customer? You pay a premium for waiting. But you also see more of the product as it's being developed and can make a better informed decision to buy or not to buy.
Merchants and customers benefit by skirting the eFx Vader limited / legend scenario where a compete sellout is seen in minutes, and customers who miss out only have the aftermarket inflated pricing from those seeking to flip for profit. With the Tier at the higher price a customer who missed out initially will still have the opportunity to buy from the producer, albeit at a moderately higher price. Profiteering in aftermarket reselling would be curtailed since the merchant is still selling the product (and setting the price). An aftermarket resale results in zero revenue for the original producer. The merchant would benefit from realizing those sales and the better margin of those later sales.
Got Maul
Official Licensee
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
All good points and am not really arguing any of it. As insurance to the consumer, we do offer our "no questions asked" refund policy. That way, value is never really lost with exception to opportunity dollar over the timeline of production...but I feel like in our industry, waiting is par.
All good points and am not really arguing any of it. As insurance to the consumer, we do offer our "no questions asked" refund policy. That way, value is never really lost with exception to opportunity dollar over the timeline of production...but I feel like in our industry, waiting is par.
Westies14
Master Member
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
Jose, I love hearing all the improvements coming to the Vader helmet and I don't remember ever seeing a retail company trying to listen to their customers in this way when shaping their product. A lot of credit goes to the RPF for facilitating that communication and instilling that dynamic in you guys from your years on the forums - to see it carried on into your licensed business practices is awesome.
Jose, I love hearing all the improvements coming to the Vader helmet and I don't remember ever seeing a retail company trying to listen to their customers in this way when shaping their product. A lot of credit goes to the RPF for facilitating that communication and instilling that dynamic in you guys from your years on the forums - to see it carried on into your licensed business practices is awesome.
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
If Anovos was smart they would offer the helmet in kit form, a raw unpainted cast with all the extra bits unattached, for EXACTLY the same price as a finished helmet. The reason being why would you spend the same for unfinished when you could go ahead and get a finished one, but at least they would be the first licensed company to offer what costumer fans want. I bet they would sell exactly zero at that price, although I also bet LFL wouldn't let them even if they wanted to.
If Anovos was smart they would offer the helmet in kit form, a raw unpainted cast with all the extra bits unattached, for EXACTLY the same price as a finished helmet. The reason being why would you spend the same for unfinished when you could go ahead and get a finished one, but at least they would be the first licensed company to offer what costumer fans want. I bet they would sell exactly zero at that price, although I also bet LFL wouldn't let them even if they wanted to.
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
There would be no benefit and I don't think they would sell any. But at least they could say they offer a DIY kit helmet.
There would be no benefit and I don't think they would sell any. But at least they could say they offer a DIY kit helmet.
Got Maul
Official Licensee
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
All good points. At the end of the day, I can't argue with the fact that a nice DIY and the feeling of accomplishment beats anything out in the market.
Doug, thanks for the support brother.
- - - Updated - - -
All good points. At the end of the day, I can't argue with the fact that a nice DIY and the feeling of accomplishment beats anything out in the market.
Doug, thanks for the support brother.
All good points. At the end of the day, I can't argue with the fact that a nice DIY and the feeling of accomplishment beats anything out in the market.
Doug, thanks for the support brother.
- - - Updated - - -
All good points. At the end of the day, I can't argue with the fact that a nice DIY and the feeling of accomplishment beats anything out in the market.
Doug, thanks for the support brother.
R.P. McMurphy
Well-Known Member
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
I again want to say how impressive I think it is that you are here and are so responsive. As someone who very much would like to become a customer of yours, I have some reaction to your answers.
-If it's a time thing with regards to rewarding people for getting in earlier, why not base the tiers on time factors rather than the number of products moved? For example, TODAY ONLY- Tier One pricing, or, better yet, THIS WEEK ONLY- Tier One pricing. I would have absolutely bought your Tie Fighter Wingman but when I went to your site within hours of its release, it was already out of Tier One. I wanted to buy it on its first full day of release but wasn't comfortable paying more. And if the reason is "wait time," I don't think my having to wait just a few hours more than someone who paid significantly less justifies the price difference at that time.
-I'm all for innovative ideas but perhaps there's a reason very few if any companies use this system as their primary model. There have been several of your items that I would have liked to purchase but ultimately did not simply because I felt cheated having to pay more. These are all items that I saw on your site the day of their release. I may not be the majority here but I'm sure my experience is not unique in having a negative reaction to seeing the price go up so quickly. That negative reaction has influenced me to not buy the product at the higher price.
-The reason I could see these all on the first full day of their release is because I DO subscribe to the newsletter. The problem is that my job requires me to be up by 6:00 a.m. on most days. When the email comes out at 11:51 p.m. EST, I will not see it until the next morning. When I open it immediately at 5:30 a.m. to see the cost has already gone up, I am frustrated and again influenced not to buy. Being a subscriber did not help me. As you've already mentioned here, if an email or post was sent/posted at least 24 hours in advance to say that the release was approaching, then I could have made arrangements to take advantage of this system.
Ultimately, as I hope you can see, my main problem is with the timing of the system. If there was better notice of an upcoming release, I believe a lot of my frustration would go away. If I know it's coming and I don't get it, that's my problem. If I don't feel I've had a fair chance to get the best price, frustration sets in. As I said in my opening, I want to buy some of your products. I want to be a customer of yours. However fair or unfair, I've felt cheated by the Tier System and it is the sole reason that I did not buy the TIE helmet at its higher price and it has factored in my potentially buying other items of yours. I want to stress again that these would have been First Day Release sales.
Thank you again for being here and thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I wish you and your company the best and I still hope to become a customer of yours soon (but only at the best price possible).
I again want to say how impressive I think it is that you are here and are so responsive. As someone who very much would like to become a customer of yours, I have some reaction to your answers.
-If it's a time thing with regards to rewarding people for getting in earlier, why not base the tiers on time factors rather than the number of products moved? For example, TODAY ONLY- Tier One pricing, or, better yet, THIS WEEK ONLY- Tier One pricing. I would have absolutely bought your Tie Fighter Wingman but when I went to your site within hours of its release, it was already out of Tier One. I wanted to buy it on its first full day of release but wasn't comfortable paying more. And if the reason is "wait time," I don't think my having to wait just a few hours more than someone who paid significantly less justifies the price difference at that time.
-I'm all for innovative ideas but perhaps there's a reason very few if any companies use this system as their primary model. There have been several of your items that I would have liked to purchase but ultimately did not simply because I felt cheated having to pay more. These are all items that I saw on your site the day of their release. I may not be the majority here but I'm sure my experience is not unique in having a negative reaction to seeing the price go up so quickly. That negative reaction has influenced me to not buy the product at the higher price.
-The reason I could see these all on the first full day of their release is because I DO subscribe to the newsletter. The problem is that my job requires me to be up by 6:00 a.m. on most days. When the email comes out at 11:51 p.m. EST, I will not see it until the next morning. When I open it immediately at 5:30 a.m. to see the cost has already gone up, I am frustrated and again influenced not to buy. Being a subscriber did not help me. As you've already mentioned here, if an email or post was sent/posted at least 24 hours in advance to say that the release was approaching, then I could have made arrangements to take advantage of this system.
Ultimately, as I hope you can see, my main problem is with the timing of the system. If there was better notice of an upcoming release, I believe a lot of my frustration would go away. If I know it's coming and I don't get it, that's my problem. If I don't feel I've had a fair chance to get the best price, frustration sets in. As I said in my opening, I want to buy some of your products. I want to be a customer of yours. However fair or unfair, I've felt cheated by the Tier System and it is the sole reason that I did not buy the TIE helmet at its higher price and it has factored in my potentially buying other items of yours. I want to stress again that these would have been First Day Release sales.
Thank you again for being here and thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I wish you and your company the best and I still hope to become a customer of yours soon (but only at the best price possible
).
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Got Maul
Official Licensee
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
These are all great points and really well thought out. Thank you for seriously taking the time to write this along with your analysis about time instead qty being the exclusive. I am going to copy and paste this and talk about it with my team.
I again want to say how impressive I think it is that you are here and are so responsive. As someone who very much would like to become a customer of yours, I have some reaction to your answers.
-If it's a time thing with regards to rewarding people for getting in earlier, why not base the tiers on time factors rather than the number of products moved? For example, TODAY ONLY- Tier One pricing, or, better yet, THIS WEEK ONLY- Tier One pricing. I would have absolutely bought your Tie Fighter Wingman but when I went to your site within hours of its release, it was already out of Tier One. I wanted to buy it on its first full day of release but wasn't comfortable paying more. And if the reason is "wait time," I don't think my having to wait just a few hours more than someone who paid significantly less justifies the price difference at that time.
-I'm all for innovative ideas but perhaps there's a reason very few if any companies use this system as their primary model. There have been several of your items that I would have liked to purchase but ultimately did not simply because I felt cheated having to pay more. These are all items that I saw on your site the day of their release. I may not be the majority here but I'm sure my experience is not unique in having a negative reaction to seeing the price go up so quickly. That negative reaction has influenced me to not buy the product at the higher price.
-The reason I could see these all on the first full day of their release is because I DO subscribe to the newsletter. The problem is that my job requires me to be up by 6:00 a.m. on most days. When the email comes out at 11:51 a.m. EST, I will not see it until the next morning. When I open it immediately at 5:30 a.m. to see the cost has already gone up, I am frustrated and again influenced not to buy. Being a subscriber did not help me. As you've already mentioned here, if an email or post was sent/posted at least 24 hours in advance to say that the release was approaching, then I could have made arrangements to take advantage of this system.
Ultimately, as I hope you can see, my main problem is with the timing of the system. If there was better notice of an upcoming release, I believe a lot of my frustration would go away. If I know it's coming and I don't get it, that's my problem. If I don't feel I've had a fair chance to get the best price, frustration sets in. As I said in my opening, I want to buy some of your products. I want to be a customer of yours. However fair or unfair, I've felt cheated by the Tier System and it is the sole reason that I did not buy the TIE helmet at its higher price and it has factored in my potentially buying other items of yours. I want to stress again that these would have been First Day Release sales.
Thank you again for being here and thank you for allowing me to share my thoughts. I wish you and your company the best and I still hope to become a customer of yours soon (but only at the best price possible
These are all great points and really well thought out. Thank you for seriously taking the time to write this along with your analysis about time instead qty being the exclusive. I am going to copy and paste this and talk about it with my team.
Got Maul
Official Licensee
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
Well, it has started quite the discussion on our side. I think it is safe to say that you will see "something" different the next go around. A good argument will do that for you, RP, PM me ... I am sure we can offer you something a Tier 1 in something for your help.
Well, it has started quite the discussion on our side. I think it is safe to say that you will see "something" different the next go around. A good argument will do that for you, RP, PM me ... I am sure we can offer you something a Tier 1 in something for your help.
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
Wanted to chime in here, I too missed out on the Tier 1 pricing not due to missed e-mails or time frame but to my own procrastination. I was hesitant to buy the Vader basically because I was busy doing something and figured I'd get to it later and by the time I rechecked it was already at Tier 2 my thought is this, is there anyway possible to do an inventory line like EFX does? You know the solid line at full inventory and as inventory is gone the line becomes less and less? Or a countdown of some sort? Again not mad at you guys for my mistake but I can't justify paying more for the helmet now unless you do a Deluxe version???
Wanted to chime in here, I too missed out on the Tier 1 pricing not due to missed e-mails or time frame but to my own procrastination. I was hesitant to buy the Vader basically because I was busy doing something and figured I'd get to it later and by the time I rechecked it was already at Tier 2 my thought is this, is there anyway possible to do an inventory line like EFX does? You know the solid line at full inventory and as inventory is gone the line becomes less and less? Or a countdown of some sort? Again not mad at you guys for my mistake but I can't justify paying more for the helmet now unless you do a Deluxe version???
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Westies14
Master Member
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
Awesome! Again, the best customer service I've ever seen.
José, in the machined Kobold thread you asked someone not to count Anovos out when they said they were in on the run because they wanted a metal droid caller for their Anovos Solo rig. I remember early on reading in an Anovos newsletter or on the site or facebook page that the belt was being marketed with plastic accessories but that metal options were still being explored. I can't find that message on the pre-order page, and didn't dig much elsewhere. Is your team still looking into upgrading the boxes or Kobold? Or are plastic ones in production or a confirmed direction at this point?
Thanks as always,
D
Awesome! Again, the best customer service I've ever seen.
José, in the machined Kobold thread you asked someone not to count Anovos out when they said they were in on the run because they wanted a metal droid caller for their Anovos Solo rig. I remember early on reading in an Anovos newsletter or on the site or facebook page that the belt was being marketed with plastic accessories but that metal options were still being explored. I can't find that message on the pre-order page, and didn't dig much elsewhere. Is your team still looking into upgrading the boxes or Kobold? Or are plastic ones in production or a confirmed direction at this point?
Thanks as always,
D
tubachris85x
Master Member
Re: ANVOS Darth Vader
I'm not an expert in marketing or business, but echoing the sentiments above can be helpful for the processes. I understand why Anovos went the Tiered pricing route; gives incentive for you to make a considerable number of sales in a shorter period of time, hence " 'X' number of helmets are going to be this significantly cheap price and they will only go up once they're gone"
The other aspect that some may not take into consideration is in all too common theme, is that there are private businesses (comic/collector shops come to mind) and people who just flip items on ebay. Limited release item -----> sale becomes available ----> Guy buys up multiples -----> straight to ebay at a substantially marked up price.
My particular pet peeve is this. While it's in someone's right to do so, It REALLY takes away from a collector/commoner. One instance comes to mind, the NECA portal guns. They were doing pre-orders, limited numbers. They didn't announce ahead of time when they would open the pre-orders, but since there were 3 variants being done, after the first standard white one pre-order had happened, everyone interested was on their toes. So what happened? Pre-orders opened, within minutes, all gone. That very same day, I saw at least 30+ ebay postings, for these replicas, on average between $500 and I even saw one listing asking close to $1000. The retail price was about $150.
So what I'm getting at here, is that you have a tiered pricing system, which is designed as a first come, first serve for the lowest price at the time. 25 units is not much, considering the collector base you're attracting. Ebay flippers watch these kinds of things like a hawk, and I can definitely see it happening here. Once these ship, I can see them popping up on ebay, marked up substantially....so in the long run, a smaller number of people will be able to get the lower tier prices, but because of flippers, you're either paying their prices or paying the higher tier prices at the end of the day.
Right now it's merely speculation but it happens in a lot of areas of collecting. Join a disney vinylmation facebook page and I think that's absolutely the worst of the worst. "Here's this exclusive vinylmation I paid $12 for! I want $450 for it!!"
/buyer's rant
As an FYI, I do love that tie helmet. If I wasn't so strapped for cash this would be on my list. I do appreciate that you're involved and listening to our gripes. Other businesses would have brushed these things aside and walked away!
I'm not an expert in marketing or business, but echoing the sentiments above can be helpful for the processes. I understand why Anovos went the Tiered pricing route; gives incentive for you to make a considerable number of sales in a shorter period of time, hence " 'X' number of helmets are going to be this significantly cheap price and they will only go up once they're gone"
The other aspect that some may not take into consideration is in all too common theme, is that there are private businesses (comic/collector shops come to mind) and people who just flip items on ebay. Limited release item -----> sale becomes available ----> Guy buys up multiples -----> straight to ebay at a substantially marked up price.
My particular pet peeve is this. While it's in someone's right to do so, It REALLY takes away from a collector/commoner. One instance comes to mind, the NECA portal guns. They were doing pre-orders, limited numbers. They didn't announce ahead of time when they would open the pre-orders, but since there were 3 variants being done, after the first standard white one pre-order had happened, everyone interested was on their toes. So what happened? Pre-orders opened, within minutes, all gone. That very same day, I saw at least 30+ ebay postings, for these replicas, on average between $500 and I even saw one listing asking close to $1000. The retail price was about $150.
So what I'm getting at here, is that you have a tiered pricing system, which is designed as a first come, first serve for the lowest price at the time. 25 units is not much, considering the collector base you're attracting. Ebay flippers watch these kinds of things like a hawk, and I can definitely see it happening here. Once these ship, I can see them popping up on ebay, marked up substantially....so in the long run, a smaller number of people will be able to get the lower tier prices, but because of flippers, you're either paying their prices or paying the higher tier prices at the end of the day.
Right now it's merely speculation but it happens in a lot of areas of collecting. Join a disney vinylmation facebook page and I think that's absolutely the worst of the worst. "Here's this exclusive vinylmation I paid $12 for! I want $450 for it!!"
/buyer's rant
As an FYI, I do love that tie helmet. If I wasn't so strapped for cash this would be on my list. I do appreciate that you're involved and listening to our gripes. Other businesses would have brushed these things aside and walked away!
