There's been a lot of contention recently in the Facebook world about how selling models should be done. There are pros and cons of each type, and I have no real preference one way or the other, except lately I've personally decided to back out of auction-style sales for several reasons, the largest one being the ridiculous prices that some of these horses are going for. I've likened it to a sharkfest, and tho I've never been in the pit during Breyerfest, I can imagine it's similar to the online version of it, at least as much as can be made over the otherwise infamous GCs, haha. Models are selling for way over their worth, merely because newcomers to the hobby are trying to play catch up and get all the "rares" they're missing. The thing is-- Grand Champions didn't really make any rare models. They made some that were only released in Europe and not the US, sure, but they're fairly abundant on that side of the world. So much so that they show up regularly on their eBay. I can only imagine how their flea markets look. Besides the trick of finding a seller who will do the international shipping, tracking down the European horses is only a matter of patience and shelling out a little extra dough to cover it. When my last engineering job was well underway and I had extra funds, I was importing models by the week from over there-- and I wasn't paying out the wazoo for them, either.
I have an idea about how and why the Grand Champions prices started getting so out of control, but I'm not at liberty to discuss, and the person it involves is still largely active on the groups. I made a comment about the selling-styles several weeks ago on my group page, and it was a bit of foreshadowing of what was to come. Now, the groups are trying to figure out a way to keep the peace, as many buyers are unhappy with the results.
The two main ways to sell are this-- list a model with a set price you want for it and sell to the first person who claims it and pays that amount, and put a model up for offers for a set period of time and sell to the highest bidder. Both options are available on eBay, although the BIN option is not used as often. Why?
Because people want to get the most out of what they have. Money drives the world, whether people want to admit it or not. Just because someone is willing to put up an amount of money for something, doesn't necessarily mean it's worth that much. The problem with collectors of any sort of object is that they get so wrapped up in the hobby and the grails and the money and the excitement, that they sometimes forget there's a world outside of it. Just like Grand Champions, where the model horse world expands into Breyer and Peter Stone and Artist Resins and so on. When broadened to compare to that, the prices being paid for these 'toys' are laughable. A Breyer person wouldn't pay squat for the hard to find Grand Champions because they're not worth it to them. Try selling a resin model horse for $500 to a random somebody on the street. Probably not going to happen. My point is this-- avid collectors that are doing the *grabby hands* for all the pretty horses they want do NOT set the value for models. The economy of the world still does. Who was buying a bunch during the recession? Not me, not really. People were selling at rock bottom prices just to move the models. And we're still coming out of it. Customizers are still suffering.
I've been thinking lately about alternative ways to list horses. The first that came to mind was a yard sale-style. How does that work? Well, you tell everyone the time and place you're going to list your products, and they come and see what you have all at the same time. That way, they are aware of when they'll be listed, and the first come-first serve basis is more fair. Many complaints are due to the fact some hobbyists are across the world from each other and can't get on certain times to catch the sales. Honestly, I've set alarms for 3:00 am just to be awake the time an eBay sale ended to make sure I won it. If you really want something that bad, you'll make it work.
The other idea I had was this-- list the model and see who all is interested in it, same as an auction. But instead of having them post prices and let the money do the talking (and as much as people hate the word, but when money is what is talking, it's called greed), get names of everyone who wants the horse, and then do a lottery to choose who gets to buy it. Picked at random- totally fair by way of chance and luck. And it doesn't completely knock out the people who have children or going to school or can't afford to pay $100 for a horse that's not worth it anyway. The horse can still be sold for what the seller wanted it for, but not by what the masses battled over it for.
Just some thoughts I've wanted to spill out since this whole debacle started. I haven't been buying much lately anyway so mostly I'm in the stands being entertained, but I'm interested to see how it all pans out. Either way, some people will find cause to complain :P
