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Post by renibatz on Jul 31, 2004 4:24:11 GMT -5
I know many of you are talking about not worrying about prices... I do worry. I like to get what I want for the cheapest price. I like to know that I did all I could, within reason, to shop around and get the best deal. There is a little enjoyment in that for me. So as a SoC newb I started hunting around a bunch of different toy shop web sites these last couple of weeks. I made a folder in my bookmarks called Toy Stores, I think I have 10 now in there. IE.. BBTS, HLJ, ImageAnime, TwinMoons, Zoids. Shopping for SoCs can be a daunting task. I decided to get organized and created an Excel doc to try and compare inventories, prices, Paypal friendly, and shipping rates between some of these online stores. I can also use this as a current inventory for myself, a checklist type of deal (when I finally get one). I am by no means an expert with Excel, but its good to see the worksheet and all the data on one unified doc. This helps a lot. For example, GX-13 price ranges from $154-299. Other figures only differ a bit but the tool is very useful in comparing inventories, prices and shipping rates. This is a worksheet that I really need. I could see myself paying a bit more for a particular item if I could get another item for a good price and maybe combine on shipping. So now whenever I hit a new web site I just add a column for a new shop and plug in prices. Do I have too much time on my hands? Sure, I'm a teacher and I have the whole summer off  Has anyone else tried something like this? Let me know how you have approached it. If anyone is interested in the worksheet I can send it to ya email. I am by no means an expert with Excel, but its good to see the worksheet and all the data on one unified doc. |
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Post by rx79msg on Jul 31, 2004 4:49:26 GMT -5
Yes I'd like a copy sent to me. ;D rx79msg@yahoo.com
Thank you for taking the time to create this list! ;D
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Post by jwm on Jul 31, 2004 10:13:50 GMT -5
I'll go a step further: send admin1 a copy to post. This sounds like something we could all benefit from. Very cool.
JWM
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Post by Gransazer on Jul 31, 2004 10:22:56 GMT -5
My approach to buying SOCs is along the same lines as yours without the Excel (I try to remember all the info, believe it or not). I have it and use it to track my eBay sales (I sell a fair amount of vintage comics), but had never thought about using it to compare SOC prices. Wonderful idea! Now, my head won't be cluttered with scattered URLs, prices, and GX numbers! ;D
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Post by REX-203 on Jul 31, 2004 10:28:24 GMT -5
Wow, that does sound great! I need to learn how to use Excel.  |
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Post by yoMammabot on Jul 31, 2004 11:58:13 GMT -5
Very Good and Fun idea. It's something a lot of us may may have thought qickly about creating but never followed through with the thought.
Well Done!
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Post by Jryu on Jul 31, 2004 20:28:22 GMT -5
The Zoidfans group had created a extensive .xls spreadsheet covering every single Zoids release since it was introduced in the early 80's. I used it as the basis for keeping track of my personal Zoids collection with some modifications. I also made one for all my chogokin/robots collection as well.
At the risk of sounding like an uber-dork, yes, I track everything I purchase in an .xls speadsheet.
<comicbook guy voice>Best...toys...evah.
However, it really helps out with my budget as well as keep track of toys I have preordered, en route, wanted but missing, etc. I also set up certain formulas to total purchase costs, shipping costs, etc so that I can always figure out how much I'm spending and better yet, how much more I'm allowed to spend.
What renibatz is proposing I think would be easiest to do in different workbooks so that the popular lines can be represented. One for SOC, one for Godaikin, one for Sentai related, etc. All we would have to do is get concise lists of what has been released and then put them in the workbook with some associated columns.
These are my current columns using 'Soul of Chogokin' as the example:
Soul of Chogokin
ID#
Name
Quantity
En Route
Missing
Date Ordered
Date Acquired
Vendor/email
Unit Cost
Shipping/Tax
Total
Then at the bottom, I have a row that totals everything that is applicable which are Quantity, En Route, Missing, Unit Cost, Shipping/Tax, and then a Total Cost.
Back to what Renibatz was proposing, perhaps a column could be added called "Best Price" because as much as I would like a matrix where I can compare prices, the prices could fluctuate so much that it's be hard to keep up with. Maybe Froogle would be best for that. I can see that some places I would never use, like Toys N Joys who are notoriously expensive. The place with the best price would be where I would go of course.
Anyways, I can help Renibatz out and do it rather quickly if need be if others can compile complete lists of the inventory.
j (who's been working on damned spreadsheets all week) * ryu
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Post by Cedar on Aug 1, 2004 13:24:49 GMT -5
I'm the worst at this! I usually buy the toy FIRST, then go home and check to see how much I saved... or how much I could've saved! So far so good though, I think I only overpaid on my Microman figures...
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Post by renibatz on Aug 1, 2004 23:26:07 GMT -5
It sounds like JYRU is an EXCELMASTA! My document so far is just kinda like a cheat sheet. Left side is SoC model IDs and top row are vendors. Fields are prices for items and shipping. Whay JYRU is proposing is a bunch more complex than what I had in mind. I made mine in about an hour. It has pretty colors and stuff :)Mine is 2 screenfuls and includes all models that are listed in the Timeline thread. JYRU if you have the time it would be cool to have something that detailed, but the SoC line is still relatively small and managable. Like you said there are some vendors that you would just not buy from, agreed. Those wouldn't even be worth listing. I would like to have an application for inventory though for my current collection. How do we send a file to Admin so we can post these apps?
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Post by ronin777 on Aug 2, 2004 6:40:11 GMT -5
hi reni,
can you email that list to me at lindo_777@yahoo.com ?
Thanks.
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Post by Jryu on Aug 2, 2004 10:40:56 GMT -5
Lol, I don't know if I'm the masta. I have to use it for work occasionally but I really got into the features because of the toy collecting, heh. Send me your email renibatz over PM and I'll send you a sample copy of a SOC-specific table. The SOC's listed isn't the complete list, just the ones that I personally have and you can see what i have done. We can then figure out what are the best fields to included/take out. j*ryu It sounds like JYRU is an EXCELMASTA! My document so far is just kinda like a cheat sheet. Left side is SoC model IDs and top row are vendors. Fields are prices for items and shipping. Whay JYRU is proposing is a bunch more complex than what I had in mind. I made mine in about an hour. It has pretty colors and stuff :)Mine is 2 screenfuls and includes all models that are listed in the Timeline thread. JYRU if you have the time it would be cool to have something that detailed, but the SoC line is still relatively small and managable. Like you said there are some vendors that you would just not buy from, agreed. Those wouldn't even be worth listing. I would like to have an application for inventory though for my current collection. How do we send a file to Admin so we can post these apps? |
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Post by ronin777 on Aug 5, 2004 9:11:25 GMT -5
how bout sharing the list guys? lol
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Post by renibatz on Aug 6, 2004 1:14:48 GMT -5
I emailed a file to admin to post on this board. admin1 please chech your email |
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Post by ronin777 on Aug 6, 2004 3:55:36 GMT -5
great, thanks renibatz!
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