Pre-Owned Items
We do get offered on a regular basis , pre-owned items to buy. We've seen a huge increase in contact over the past few months offering to sell entire collections or part collections. We suspect this is just a sign of the times :(
The general problem with pre-owned items for a store when they are offered is basically sellers tend want or expect too much for them (Normally collector prices minus a tiny discount). While the item may be valued correctly, it's a large cost burden for a store to have the item(s) sat on a shelf for an extended period of time.
While we are not in the market to purchase pre-owned items we do appreciate that there is a large market for them. Beyond seller groups on Social media platforms or direct selling platforms such as E-Bay (who will take 10% of your sale !!) there's no focused location where all eyes are looking for Statues, Act6ion Figures & Collectibles.
We are currently working on a simple solution where you can add your Pre-Owned item to the store for a small fee per item. The buyer will deal with the seller directly to organise the purchase. Beyond putting the item on the store we will have no direct involvement with the sale so the proceeds are all yours.
We are currently working on the plan of £15 an item. Your item will be displayed on the store for 3 months. It will be viewable in the pre-owned section as well as the associated item type, Manufacturer, license groups etc.
We would like to try and have this option up and running over the next few days. We'll post again once it starts to run. It's a work in progress.
Dates.
When chatting about dates, we know some of you have already linked the Houthi attacks on the cargo ships as well as an increase in Pirating activity in the area to likely delays.
Manufacturers and Distribution are tending to take one of a couple of options.
They are taking a detour to avoid the conflict/troubled area. This is adding 1-2 months to arrival times. The detour takes the ship around Africa we were told. Apart from the actual shipping route taking longer and causing delays, the secondary issue is that there are reduced Cargo Containers available as the ones in use are not getting returned as fast as they should be. With a cargo container shortage, this adds delays to distribution.
A reduction in the frequency of the imports meaning less arriving at any given time and less frequently to limit the likelihood of pirates or losses through attacks etc.
One manufacturer/distributor recently said to us "The Pirating is killing us"
Some time ago, another Distributor lost an entire container to pirates.
Distributors and manufacturers will for obvious reasons not give too many details (If Any) about their shipments. When we get asked about dates, we genuinely have no detailed dates beyond the one listed on the store. Typically the first time a distributor will know where an item is, is when it physically arrives at their location which is when we get updated and are able to let buyers know that something s close.
If you see date changes, please keep the above in mind. We have absolutely no direct control over dates sadly.
Hi Steve. Dates have always been out of your control and it is what it is really. When you're waiting a while for a statue what's a couple more months.
Regarding reselling it'll have to involve a lot of trust. Be interested to see if it works though. I have older stuff in the loft I went off of and I guess it's just dead money but I've never bothered to do anything about it. It's a problem for my family when I kick the bucket lol.
As I will probably want to reduce my collection in a few years time I would heartily endorse both options. They are fair and practical for all parties. Well done for planning ahead.
typical you add this after I've just sold a load (ouch) but just as an update the ebay fee is now 12.8% and its almost impossible to sell via them now so any help you can give in future is amazing!