|
|
Post by Philo Beddoe on Oct 24, 2015 1:30:44 GMT -5
Did anyone happen to catch the post on the Bluefin fb page that mentioned something about BF no longer doing business on Amazon?
|
|
|
|
Post by superelectro on Oct 24, 2015 2:44:00 GMT -5
Did you mean this post-
"We have been informed that Amazon will not be reinstating any cancelled pre-orders"?
|
|
|
|
Post by Philo Beddoe on Oct 24, 2015 14:31:14 GMT -5
Saw a post about discontinuing relationship with Amazon but it's gone now. Just a spoof I guess.
|
|
|
|
Post by superelectro on Oct 24, 2015 22:16:46 GMT -5
We'll see if Amazon picks up the subsequent Blue Fin releases. I had the Mazinger Kurogane edition on pre order but Amazon cancelled it because the release date was "uncertain". If you look at the comments on the FB page, there was talk of discontinuing the relationship you mentioned. Hope it is not true though.
|
|
|
|
Post by coldiron on Oct 25, 2015 15:43:11 GMT -5
Truforce was informed they could not sell though Amazon anymore. I know at nycc bluefin handled their Megaman figures. Maybe it's connected.
|
|
|
|
Post by faelon on Oct 28, 2015 20:27:35 GMT -5
It doesn't make a lot of sense unless Amazon is suddenly able to buy from Bandai Japan direct for the North American market? Bluefin should be structured so they don't run afoul of any regional licensing. That would be the only other reason I could imagine for Amazon to stop doing business with Bluefin. I could see Bluefin getting into a disagreement with Amazon regarding the number of third party sellers bypassing Bluefin into the North American market. But that would seem idiotic as Amazon is probably their largest North American marketspace. I mean without Amazon what is their channel for import product to the end customers? E-bay only goes so far.
I would not otherwise read to much into Amazon randomly cancelling pre-orders if schedules slip. Their systems are kind of notorious for that sort of thing. I've had it happen to me a number of times over books.
|
|
|
|
Post by Mr. Ginrai on Oct 28, 2015 20:53:43 GMT -5
I bet they have increased volume buying to their advantage. Remember Amazon is global.
I'd bet any money that Amazon have figured out that they can buy their stock through their Amazon Japan wholesale division in higher quantities (to satisfy amount needed for both Amazon JP and U.S., and maybe even other divisions like Amazon UK) at an even lower price direct from Bandai Japan, then ship the non-Japan product direct to their warehouses and distribution centers (in the other countries) themselves and still sell it at whatever high or low price that they want.
Bandai Japan wouldn't care because they'd be moving more units and getting more dollars upfront (amazon is to bandai what wal-mart is to Hasbro, for example) and they cut out bluefin and any of their similar foreign distribution companies (which bandai owns) on these bulk deals for Amazon only.
They don't scrap bluefin and those similar companies they own though because all the other in between wholesalers (Barnes and noble, independent shops and other specialty stores etc. still need to buy through bluefin for ease of doing business for foreign product because they aren't setup to deal on amazon's scale.
Remember the product pretty much amounts to different outer boxes and maybe some instruction sheet differences. That's all. So this is really plausible.
|
|
|
|
Post by faelon on Oct 28, 2015 21:06:21 GMT -5
I bet they have increased volume buying to their advantage. Remember Amazon is global. I'd bet any money that Amazon have figured out that they can buy their stock through their Amazon Japan wholesale division in higher quantities (to satisfy amount needed for both Amazon JP and U.S., and maybe even other divisions like Amazon UK) at an even lower price direct from Bandai Japan, then ship the non-Japan product direct to their warehouses and distribution centers (in the other countries) themselves and still sell it at whatever high or low price that they want. Bandai Japan wouldn't care because they'd be moving more units and getting more dollars upfront (amazon is to bandai what wal-mart is to Hasbro, for example) and they cut out bluefin and any of their similar foreign distribution companies (which bandai owns) on these bulk deals for Amazon only. They don't scrap bluefin and those similar companies they own though because all the other in between wholesalers (Barnes and noble, independent shops and other specialty stores etc. still need to buy through bluefin for ease of doing business for foreign product because they aren't setup to deal on amazon's scale. Remember the product pretty much amounts to different outer boxes and maybe some instruction sheet differences. That's all. So this is really plausible. technically Amazon can't do that. At least not without running into all kinds of legal hurdles. What you describe is what is known as "Grey Market" purchasing and selling. Buy the product cheap at Region A's pricing and then self export it to Region B where you can offer it cheap and still pull a higher margin. It dances in, as the name implies, legally grey areas. But for the most part manufacturers go ballistic over it. Amazon might want to do it but Bandai North America would have a complete meltdown if they caught Bandai Asia undercutting their market in that manner. Now technically Amazon may be able to function as it's own Importer given it's scale. That would require regional agreements with Bandai etc. IE Amazon can purchase direct from Bandai Japan at Bandai NA arranged pricing so long as they do not undercut MSRP (and the sales get recorded as bandai NA). That would cut out the middle man of Bluefin and probably pop on a few points of margin to Amazon and Bandai. If that's the case then it's a good sign for we Adult Collector geeks as it means the volume of this type product has increased to the point where it is advantageous for Amazon to cut direct overseas deals. There could also be oneor more new import distributors in the game. Wasn't there some talk of Diamond starting to carry some of this type stuff? If that's the case Amazon may simply be shifting who they get it through for internal Amazon sales. Either way this would likely have minimal effect on us as most product seems to go through third party sellers anyway. |
|
|
|
Post by jaylive on Mar 16, 2016 4:27:44 GMT -5
is this still happening?
|
|
