Who Framed Roger Rabbit (4K+2D Blu-ray SteelBook) (Cine-Museum Art #?) [Italy]

[paulboland]

Release date: TBA
Purchase link: TBA
Price: TBA
Note: Print run: Box Set 300 - Lenti 200 - Full Slip 200

 

[duckandrun]

I've only bought direct a couple of times, a Pet Sematary preorder (preorder end of May '19, shipped out 1st of November, same year, just in case, you know ) and in-stock items, digibooks of Johnny Mnemonic and The Mask.
I'd wanted to buy Casino as well, but since they didn't post art of what's inside, I chose EverythingBlu release. So there's one constructive suggestion - please show as much as possible, what's on the art cards, photo cards, booklet cover, a few pages inside that booklet, character cards, etc. You can reveal them one by one, make a free ad campaign out of it. Look at those hacks at Titans of Cult - churning out talentless, ass-ugly stuff, empty plastic boxes, yet squeeze out of their cheap pins or a poster everything on social media.

Second suggestion would be to inform of every step and/or delay. Like 'submitted such and such art for approval; this and that got delayed because of...; this wasn't approved by big bad studio; got these printed, look how pretty... - ALL of that would be:
1) interesting to fans;
2) informative and calming;
3) again free advertisement, because each new post will get attention and be discussed.


On the particular subject of this release - I don't think it's a waste of time or their efforts, it's one of my childhood favorites, along with Aliens, Robocop, I Come in Peace, and Critters 1-2 (yeah, I had no parental guidance or restrictions of any kind ), I don't yet have it in UHD, and the official steelbook is ugly, so some 'dressing up' is very much needed.
I like the Full Slip art, as am tired of the 'classic' one on the Lenticular, so would buy that, if got the chance! The box is very nice too.

This is an answer that I have read with pleasure and that summarizes many lacking aspects of Cine-Museum on which we need to work and invest.

Thanks for the considerations and suggestions

 

[Chemartin_1]

Im on record many times stating if you can go direct then go direct and have said it many times even with CM releases.

Can not go direct any more, neither with any other releases or retailers, because instant sold-outs, and the "availability" buying from GB's.
Enough difficult to get a copy is when there are many GB's, which can request to the retailer previously tons of one edition, and even more than they have been requested from people who joint them.
GB's are taken away as many qty as they can (because they can, and they manage the Group Buy). They are the responsables of many instant sold-out.
And, under my point of view, we can not call this "market".
Market plays with supply and demand. But not manipulate both, to make business with a limited supply, taking all of the majority, to offer right after for a higher price.
A market is composed by multiple agents, not only the 12 people from the shadows who runs the GB.
Why or how can we explain the fact certain sellers in eBay put their copies sealed, over and over, just after the sold-out?
Obviously, they have privileges to access to all editions.
Privileges to buy before anyone and, right after the sold out, sell the edition.
Yes, people can do whatever they want to do with their money, but has to be said that this privileges, leaves others out of the game.
Out to buy direct, and out to avoid the fees of a GB, who "always" guarantee a copy for whoever joins to them.
I mean, it's a guarantee for whoever pay the overprice. Overprice that has to be paid, if you want the edition. Because if you wait till DIRECT preorder, you will have no chances to buy.

Hdn gbs have not taken away from CM qty as they haven’t happened here in a very long time.

Right, not from CM. But probably yes from other retailers, as here, in Hi def Ninja (as explained above). And as other sites, you run GB's.
Leaving the edition already sold-out, even right before the time the preorders were live.
Sold-out editions ready to be listed in eBay not long after. Who are behind?
My guess: people who is in charge to run GB, and their people close to them (as here, but that's an opinion).

Lastly we allow voices to share their opinions here way more then other places without fear of being banned so I call malarkey on that part from your post.
If you have examples of people being banned for wrong reasons you can tag me and alert me at any time for an impartial review. However we don’t ban many accounts at HDN as it is. Besides spammers it’s far and few between

When the active voices are the ones who silence others (as they did to me, in the past, and a mod reacted with a laught), acting with a despective behaviour against others opinion, of course.
Admins never wants to hear how business are made behind the scenes, neither their nears and close people. Specially when these actions push collectors to go through GB if you want to secure a copy (paying the extra fee).
I'm glad you do accept critics. Meanwhile they are legit, not a malarkey for those who can express their opinion, or a reason for a laugh or an easy meme, as it was in the past. That would be disrespectful.

I do get the gist of what you are saying tho how tons of memes etc can derail or change the course of what one is trying to otherwise convey in regards to criticism.

I understood the purpose of a tool to help other collectors, as GB used to be. Not anymore, for what I explained above.
But when the thread is back on, I remembered last time 4-6 people started to argue against me, using meme's to poke fun at me and my reasons to expose an opinion. Without hesitation, without limitation.
I did not say a bad word, only a point of view. And I've been derided like you were bullied in the school. Pity, coming from a community with a lot of collectors, and can't say a word without being punished by "usuals".
Had they more rights than me to talk? Apparently yes, they had. They are the usuals in the pub, as @Loony_Tic said. And they are willing to defeat anybody.
The problem is HidefNinja is not a pub, is a community.
And if the community only wants friends of well-coming friends, the pub depends only from their memberships, when only friends and usuals are well-coming.
With benefits for paying the join, the access, and having privileges to buy/sell over others' chances to get the edition for themselves.
Business over collecting, in a community of collectors. Not a market anymore, unless market is formed by 12 people, and their close friends.

 

[Loony_Tic]

Can not go direct any more, neither with any other releases or retailers, because instant sold-outs, and the "availability" buying from GB's.
Enough difficult to get a copy is when there are many GB's, which can request to the retailer previously tons of one edition, and even more than they have been requested from people who joint them.
GB's are taken away as many qty as they can (because they can, and they manage the Group Buy). They are the responsables of many instant sold-out.
And, under my point of view, we can not call this "market".
Market plays with supply and demand. But not manipulate both, to make business with a limited supply, taking all of the majority, to offer right after for a higher price.
A market is composed by multiple agents, not only the 12 people from the shadows who runs the GB.
Why or how can we explain the fact certain sellers in eBay put their copies sealed, over and over, just after the sold-out?
Obviously, they have privileges to access to all editions.
Privileges to buy before anyone and, right after the sold out, sell the edition.
Yes, people can do whatever they want to do with their money, but has to be said that this privileges, leaves others out of the game.
Out to buy direct, and out to avoid the fees of a GB, who "always" guarantee a copy for whoever joins to them.
I mean, it's a guarantee for whoever pay the overprice. Overprice that has to be paid, if you want the edition. Because if you wait till DIRECT preorder, you will have no chances to buy.


Right, not from CM. But probably yes from other retailers, as here, in Hi def Ninja (as explained above). And as other sites, you run GB's.
Leaving the edition already sold-out, even right before the time the preorders were live.
Sold-out editions ready to be listed in eBay not long after. Who are behind?
My guess: people who is in charge to run GB, and their people close to them (as here, but that's an opinion).

When the active voices are the ones who silence others (as they did to me, in the past, and a mod reacted with a laught), acting with a despective behaviour against others opinion, of course.
Admins never wants to hear how business are made behind the scenes, neither their nears and close people. Specially when these actions push collectors to go through GB if you want to secure a copy (paying the extra fee).
I'm glad you do accept critics. Meanwhile they are legit, not a malarkey for those who can express their opinion, or a reason for a laugh or an easy meme, as it was in the past. That would be disrespectful.

I understood the purpose of a tool to help other collectors, as GB used to be. Not anymore, for what I explained above.
But when the thread is back on, I remembered last time 4-6 people started to argue against me, using meme's to poke fun at me and my reasons to expose an opinion. Without hesitation, without limitation.
I did not say a bad word, only a point of view. And I've been derided like you were bullied in the school. Pity, coming from a community with a lot of collectors, and can't say a word without being punished by "usuals".
Had they more rights than me to talk? Apparently yes, they had. They are the usuals in the pub, as @Loony_Tic said. And they are willing to defeat anybody.
The problem is HidefNinja is not a pub, is a community.
And if the community only wants friends of well-coming friends, the pub depends only from their memberships, when only friends and usuals are well-coming.
With benefits for paying the join, the access, and having privileges to buy/sell over others' chances to get the edition for themselves.
Business over collecting, in a community of collectors. Not a market anymore, unless market is formed by 12 people, and their close friends.

I wasn't going to bother adding anything else to this discussion but since you've tagged me I feel I ought:

I think you may have missed the point I was trying to make in my previous post. I said that in an environment such as here (or a pub) can be intimidating to new comers because they're joining an established group but it's easy enough to become part of said group by regularly showing your face, joining in and not behaving like an idiot. The other thing I also said was to not carry on trying to push your point. In this instance you've already stated your opinion, @Wreck has responded, you may not agree with it but you've had a reply and that should be the end of it. Constantly trying to ram an opinion down someone's throat is only ever going to p*ss them off, and once you stop being reasonable you're bound to be met with derision and mockery.

In relation to GBs:

1) The retailers are only interested in selling their editions and GBs are an agreement between the GB host and the retailer. The retailer gets their money no matter how the sale occurs (via GB or direct) so it makes no odds to them, they don't care if you manage to get one from them direct or not.
2) There are plenty of other GB hosts and If HDN didn't hold one their allocation would likely go to them instead. Retailers always hold back a certain number of each edition for direct orders (with the possible exception of Filmarena as people with collectors numbers have first shout). For example many people here were able to order the recent Blade Runner Manta release direct and that was insanely popular and highly sort after.
3) GBs (here and elsewhere) do enable/help collectors to obtain various releases whilst avoiding the stress of trying to order direct (because it's a mad scramble) and removing the need to be awake in the middle of the night due to timezone differences. I've got almost all of my premium editions from GBs, I've got too many other commitments to muck about getting up in the middle of the night on the off chance I get an order in direct so I'm very glad for the GBs here and elsewhere.
4) People who buy from GBs with the intention of scalping would just buy direct and scalp if there were no GBs.

So to sum up...what's the problem? If you want to get a certain release just join a GB and pay the extra few pounds/euros/dollars, it works out far cheaper than buying from a scalper after the event. Or if you've got some moral objection to GBs take your chances going direct and hope for the best but be ready to accept that you may not be quick or lucky enough to get what you want.

 

[tommyh84]

Can not go direct any more, neither with any other releases or retailers, because instant sold-outs, and the "availability" buying from GB's.
Enough difficult to get a copy is when there are many GB's, which can request to the retailer previously tons of one edition, and even more than they have been requested from people who joint them.
GB's are taken away as many qty as they can (because they can, and they manage the Group Buy). They are the responsables of many instant sold-out.
And, under my point of view, we can not call this "market".
Market plays with supply and demand. But not manipulate both, to make business with a limited supply, taking all of the majority, to offer right after for a higher price.
A market is composed by multiple agents, not only the 12 people from the shadows who runs the GB.
Why or how can we explain the fact certain sellers in eBay put their copies sealed, over and over, just after the sold-out?
Obviously, they have privileges to access to all editions.
Privileges to buy before anyone and, right after the sold out, sell the edition.
Yes, people can do whatever they want to do with their money, but has to be said that this privileges, leaves others out of the game.
Out to buy direct, and out to avoid the fees of a GB, who "always" guarantee a copy for whoever joins to them.
I mean, it's a guarantee for whoever pay the overprice. Overprice that has to be paid, if you want the edition. Because if you wait till DIRECT preorder, you will have no chances to buy.


Right, not from CM. But probably yes from other retailers, as here, in Hi def Ninja (as explained above). And as other sites, you run GB's.
Leaving the edition already sold-out, even right before the time the preorders were live.
Sold-out editions ready to be listed in eBay not long after. Who are behind?
My guess: people who is in charge to run GB, and their people close to them (as here, but that's an opinion).

When the active voices are the ones who silence others (as they did to me, in the past, and a mod reacted with a laught), acting with a despective behaviour against others opinion, of course.
Admins never wants to hear how business are made behind the scenes, neither their nears and close people. Specially when these actions push collectors to go through GB if you want to secure a copy (paying the extra fee).
I'm glad you do accept critics. Meanwhile they are legit, not a malarkey for those who can express their opinion, or a reason for a laugh or an easy meme, as it was in the past. That would be disrespectful.

I understood the purpose of a tool to help other collectors, as GB used to be. Not anymore, for what I explained above.
But when the thread is back on, I remembered last time 4-6 people started to argue against me, using meme's to poke fun at me and my reasons to expose an opinion. Without hesitation, without limitation.
I did not say a bad word, only a point of view. And I've been derided like you were bullied in the school. Pity, coming from a community with a lot of collectors, and can't say a word without being punished by "usuals".
Had they more rights than me to talk? Apparently yes, they had. They are the usuals in the pub, as @Loony_Tic said. And they are willing to defeat anybody.
The problem is HidefNinja is not a pub, is a community.
And if the community only wants friends of well-coming friends, the pub depends only from their memberships, when only friends and usuals are well-coming.
With benefits for paying the join, the access, and having privileges to buy/sell over others' chances to get the edition for themselves.
Business over collecting, in a community of collectors. Not a market anymore, unless market is formed by 12 people, and their close friends.

 

[hatredhorror]

 

[jonnybobbytimmy]

The other thing I also said was to not carry on trying to push your point. [...] Constantly trying to ram an opinion down someone's throat is only ever going to p*ss them off, and once you stop being reasonable you're bound to be met with derision and mockery.

point proven, i guess?

 

[Loony_Tic]

point proven, i guess?

Exactly what I was thinking!

 

[tommyh84]

point proven, i guess?

I dunno his post was genuinely TL;DR

 

[Chemartin_1]

point proven, i guess?

I dunno his post was genuinely TL;DR

4 people already confirm what I was explaining. Trying to leave my message back to "not to read" to others.

Can not go direct any more, neither with any other releases or retailers, because instant sold-outs, and the "availability" buying from GB's.
Enough difficult to get a copy is when there are many GB's, which can request to the retailer previously tons of one edition, and even more than they have been requested from people who joint them.
GB's are taken away as many qty as they can (because they can, and they manage the Group Buy). They are the responsables of many instant sold-out.
And, under my point of view, we can not call this "market".
Market plays with supply and demand. But not manipulate both, to make business with a limited supply, taking all of the majority, to offer right after for a higher price.
A market is composed by multiple agents, not only the 12 people from the shadows who runs the GB.
Why or how can we explain the fact certain sellers in eBay put their copies sealed, over and over, just after the sold-out?
Obviously, they have privileges to access to all editions.
Privileges to buy before anyone and, right after the sold out, sell the edition.
Yes, people can do whatever they want to do with their money, but has to be said that this privileges, leaves others out of the game.
Out to buy direct, and out to avoid the fees of a GB, who "always" guarantee a copy for whoever joins to them.
I mean, it's a guarantee for whoever pay the overprice. Overprice that has to be paid, if you want the edition. Because if you wait till DIRECT preorder, you will have no chances to buy.


Right, not from CM. But probably yes from other retailers, as here, in Hi def Ninja (as explained above). And as other sites, you run GB's.
Leaving the edition already sold-out, even right before the time the preorders were live.
Sold-out editions ready to be listed in eBay not long after. Who are behind?
My guess: people who is in charge to run GB, and their people close to them (as here, but that's an opinion).

When the active voices are the ones who silence others (as they did to me, in the past, and a mod reacted with a laught), acting with a despective behaviour against others opinion, of course.
Admins never wants to hear how business are made behind the scenes, neither their nears and close people. Specially when these actions push collectors to go through GB if you want to secure a copy (paying the extra fee).
I'm glad you do accept critics. Meanwhile they are legit, not a malarkey for those who can express their opinion, or a reason for a laugh or an easy meme, as it was in the past. That would be disrespectful.

I understood the purpose of a tool to help other collectors, as GB used to be. Not anymore, for what I explained above.
But when the thread is back on, I remembered last time 4-6 people started to argue against me, using meme's to poke fun at me and my reasons to expose an opinion. Without hesitation, without limitation.
I did not say a bad word, only a point of view. And I've been derided like you were bullied in the school. Pity, coming from a community with a lot of collectors, and can't say a word without being punished by "usuals".
Had they more rights than me to talk? Apparently yes, they had. They are the usuals in the pub, as @Loony_Tic said. And they are willing to defeat anybody.
The problem is HidefNinja is not a pub, is a community.
And if the community only wants friends of well-coming friends, the pub depends only from their memberships, when only friends and usuals are well-coming.
With benefits for paying the join, the access, and having privileges to buy/sell over others' chances to get the edition for themselves.
Business over collecting, in a community of collectors. Not a market anymore, unless market is formed by 12 people, and their close friends.

 

[Flloydo]

He’s bumped his own essay lol

 

[Chemartin_1]

I wasn't going to bother adding anything else to this discussion but since you've tagged me I feel I ought:

I think you may have missed the point I was trying to make in my previous post. I said that in an environment such as here (or a pub) can be intimidating to new comers because they're joining an established group but it's easy enough to become part of said group by regularly showing your face, joining in and not behaving like an idiot. The other thing I also said was to not carry on trying to push your point. In this instance you've already stated your opinion, @Wreck has responded, you may not agree with it but you've had a reply and that should be the end of it. Constantly trying to ram an opinion down someone's throat is only ever going to p*ss them off, and once you stop being reasonable you're bound to be met with derision and mockery.

Is stating a different opinion being "like an idiot"?
Respect, please.

In relation to GBs:

1) The retailers are only interested in selling their editions and GBs are an agreement between the GB host and the retailer. The retailer gets their money no matter how the sale occurs (via GB or direct) so it makes no odds to them, they don't care if you manage to get one from them direct or not.

Agreed

2) There are plenty of other GB hosts and If HDN didn't hold one their allocation would likely go to them instead. Retailers always hold back a certain number of each edition for direct orders (with the possible exception of Filmarena as people with collectors numbers have first shout). For example many people here were able to order the recent Blade Runner Manta release direct and that was insanely popular and highly sort after.

Indeed. And we can all see how many people are trying to scalp with these already:

blade runner manta lab en venta - | eBay

Encuentra blade runner manta lab en venta entre una amplia seleccion de en eBay.

www.ebay.es

3) GBs (here and elsewhere) do enable/help collectors to obtain various releases whilst avoiding the stress of trying to order direct (because it's a mad scramble) and removing the need to be awake in the middle of the night due to timezone differences. I've got almost all of my premium editions from GBs, I've got too many other commitments to muck about getting up in the middle of the night on the off chance I get an order in direct so I'm very glad for the GBs here and elsewhere.

Agreed, that's the original purpose for what GB had been created.
But, under my point of view, is the only way to reserve and accurate as much editions as one person can get, to resell later for a scalper prices.
So that leads to the only ones who are selling their editions are:
- the people who only buy to sell it for a higher prices
- Admins from GB's, who are in charge managing that many copies.

4) People who buy from GBs with the intention of scalping would just buy direct and scalp if there were no GBs.

Roughly they could. It's more safe to secure a copy using a GB.
GB's are really the tool to sold-out instantly editions (specially if an edition is a sough after).
And, later on, whoever runs the GB can say: "avoid to pay eBay prices, better sign up to our GB, and pay the extra price" (otherwise, we will ask for more editions to sell right after, if you don't pay the extra)

So to sum up...what's the problem? If you want to get a certain release just join a GB and pay the extra few pounds/euros/dollars, it works out far cheaper than buying from a scalper after the event. Or if you've got some moral objection to GBs take your chances going direct and hope for the best but be ready to accept that you may not be quick or lucky enough to get what you want.

The problem is the extra cost, which is imposed.
Imposed for those who run the GB. "Pay and secure the edition".
Who else have the access to buy that tons of edition to sell right after the sold-out?
The ones who are doing the business here, saying that the only way to avoid eBay, is to going through GB.

 

[Loony_Tic]

Is stating a different opinion being "like an idiot"?
Respect, please.

Agreed

Indeed. And we can all see how many people are trying to scalp with these already:

blade runner manta lab en venta - | eBay

Encuentra blade runner manta lab en venta entre una amplia seleccion de en eBay.

www.ebay.es

Agreed, that's the original purpose for what GB had been created.
But, under my point of view, is the only way to reserve and accurate as much editions as one person can get, to resell later for a scalper prices.
So that leads to the only ones who are selling their editions are:
- the people who only buy to sell it for a higher prices
- Admins from GB's, who are in charge managing that many copies.

Roughly they could. It's more safe to secure a copy using a GB.
GB's are really the tool to sold-out instantly editions (specially if an edition is a sough after).
And, later on, whoever runs the GB can say: "avoid to pay eBay prices, better sign up to our GB, and pay the extra price" (otherwise, we will ask for more editions to sell right after, if you don't pay the extra)

The problem is the extra cost, which is imposed.
Imposed for those who run the GB. "Pay and secure the edition".
Who else have the access to buy that tons of edition to sell right after the sold-out?
The ones who are doing the business here, saying that the only way to avoid eBay, is to going through GB.

FFS I didn't say you were being an idiot, I just reiterated what I said in my initial post - that being an idiot is a sure fire way to alienate yourself. Although there is a certain amount of irony in your response since saying things like "respect please" when you've not read a post properly is hardly going to endear yourself to anyone is is?

In response to everything else...

...and no...it doesn't need to make sense.

 

[SteelCollz]

The problem is the extra cost, which is imposed.
Imposed for those who run the GB. "Pay and secure the edition".
Who else have the access to buy that tons of edition to sell right after the sold-out?
The ones who are doing the business here, saying that the only way to avoid eBay, is to going through GB.

"The problem is the extra cost, which"... results of many things.
Just to not let this get completely out of focus here, one has to stress that this a public forum run by people like @Wreck and @apsmith21 who have to pay regular dues for servers and also invest a lot of time for forum maintenance, post supervision and offering/running GBs among other stuff (e.g. giveaways).
Now, if you take the MantaLab GBs run by @Aniv here as an example: the item price is the same as when ordering direct. No problem here. Shipping is the same rate as when ordering direct. However, the overall cost is actually more as HDN and PayPal fees are added, true.
PayPal fees are -while most definitely uncool- sadly the way it works. And since you are ordering via a GB, there are more PayPal transactions than just that one single transaction between you and the seller. The GB host gets paid by you and he then has to pay the seller (MantaLab). This applies to shipping and the item order as two seperate processes in most cases.
So, yes PayPal fees do raise the price a bit but otherwise the GB host or seller would loose their own money from the transaction (the fees have to be paid) and now why would they do this? Let's be honest, nobody would (and should, as it's PayPal asking for this).
As for the HDN fees: yes, these are not mandated by a 'PayPal rule' and are not mandated by the seller either. So, they might feel "imposed" to some. However, as previously mentioned, this is still a public forum that relies on server and maintenance costs most users often seem to underestimate (internet is not that cheap after all).
With this, HDN is thereby trying to cover a bit of these costs by adding a (small) fee for a. running the very forum you heard about the release or came to for information on that release, b. for offering a GB (a.k.a. your chance to secure an edition before a public pre-order start) and c. (in most cases) helping you out with troubles communicating with the seller if something were to go wrong. For a seller, yes, this is their responsibility and they absolutely should not charge for this kind of service, but once again, HDN is not the seller but a forum. So, things are different here.
And just from a business point of view: you operate a forum at a cost, offer special services (GBs which the forum would not have to offer, they choose to do this!) - I think it's only logical that a small fee is asked to make sure this can continue in the future.

While I fully understand you or anyone else contemplating that extra fees are raising the price (and yes, they do, that's basic math after all), it's not that you don't (at least partially) profit from it in return. And if you chose to not want to pay these extra costs, then you can do exactly that by not joining a GB and trying to order with other places or direct.
Of course, the more GB copies there are being allocated for any release, the amount of direct-to-order available copies declines (math again, d*mn you! ) , but in all fairness, the more products and retailers there are, the more chances there are as well to not being able to make it on pre-order time with a GB solving this problem for some people.
(And the more the customers want to buy a certain release/the higher the demand is, the more difficult it gets to secure a copy, both via GB and direct.)
Also, just to add this as well, there are also many GBs which don't even sell out for days/weeks (also happened with MantaLab releases before, if I recall correctly), so in that case your case would fail to apply. Just to state that there can be both instances, not to criticize a valid argument!

But, under my point of view, is the only way to reserve and accurate as much editions as one person can get, to resell later for a scalper prices.
So that leads to the only ones who are selling their editions are:
- the people who only buy to sell it for a higher prices
- Admins from GB's, who are in charge managing that many copies.

For the argument of special treatment for GB hosts: yes, this certainly happens. But that would also happen with no GBs around. There will always be some people with better connections than others towards some retailer/seller/contact. In the end, it's the retailer's "fault" for selling what they can sell. A copy sold is money earned. And in their defense, it's a company. Why wouldn't they want to sell what they can? Life isn't 100% fair but guess how fair the economy is? Could it go differently? Sure. Will it go differently? Unlikely. And it's just few copies, not multiple dozens like it kind of sounds from the last few posts here. After all, anyone can buy anything he/she/it wants as long as they have the cash (this being a free economy).
That brings me to the point of scalpers: the same argument here. They will always exist, regardless of what product one is talking about. Nothing new here: money talks. But it does so everywhere. Do I find that a good practice? No. But will it ever stop to exist? Also (probably) no, sadly.

Tl;dr: I think the fees are -while certainly uncool at first glance- justified or (in PayPal's case sadly) natural. In return, a GB can help you secure a copy of a sought-after release for a bit of extra amount without extra stress. And I for once am very much okay with this deal. Bring on more GBs!
Also, every opinion is worth being stated and discussed, this is just mine. It could be wrong, it could be right, that's up to everyone to decide for themselves. Just my two cents.

 

[tha_lunatic]

damn, some posts are longer than my biopic script

 

[Aniv]

And, later on, whoever runs the GB can say: "avoid to pay eBay prices, better sign up to our GB, and pay the extra price" (otherwise, we will ask for more editions to sell right after, if you don't pay the extra)

The problem is the extra cost, which is imposed.
Imposed for those who run the GB. "Pay and secure the edition".
Who else have the access to buy that tons of edition to sell right after the sold-out?
The ones who are doing the business here, saying that the only way to avoid eBay, is to going through GB.

Why don't you host GB's then? You seem to have it all figured out.

 

[apsmith21]

Not to plead poverty or get into this - this subject has been spoken about over and over again on this forum. We have always been open about how things are done (no hidden fees, or shipping "gotchas", and costs are clearly spelled out in the threads / listings)...

But sadly advertising has fallen flat with the pandemic and without GB fees that are requested, this forum would no longer be around.

In regards to any of my group buys, people realize how close to cost I try to keep the prices.

We're not going to keep running this server if it can't pay for itself, lol

And if you think that recent DDOS attack didn't add extra monthly costs, then maybe do a quick google search or two...(and thank my wife while you are at it, who dealt with everything during Christmas Even and Christmas Day while I was trying to fix the site).

Finally...thank you to those members who keep visiting, posting, and purchasing via the group buys here, because you believe in the community we created and without your continued visits, we wouldn't be here.

 

[leelee17]

At the end of the day, members providing group buys have helped a hell of a lot of people get their hands on a hell of a lot of stuff over the years. I, personally haven't sourced any editions since the early Filmarena editions and never had an issue with paying a small amount of PayPal and HDN fees ( and let's face it, how much do they actually add to the final Price?)
Group buy hosts put a lot of work into what they do and, in my opinion, SHOULD get something back for their hard work!!!
On a different note, would Cinemuseum releases be so sought after if they didn't have such ridiculously low print runs? Editions are always going to be as easy to find as a pork pie at a vegan do when they have print runs as low as 200...

 

[Chemartin_1]

Why don't you host GB's then? You seem to have it all figured out.

Because I don't consider anybody needs a GB whenever they can go DIRECT.
GB, on the other side, is helpful when a shop doesn't ship overseas.

If someone can get their copy via GB, can order in the same way DIRECT, without paying any extra PayPal or HDN fees
(which I understand that they are necessary to run the site, but they are OPTIONAL for those who decides to join or not to the GB)

My critic is not about HDN specifically. Is about what many GB can harm the market.
The more GB, more potential demand (in advance), for the same limited supply = more money asked for the same edition.

Even when the retail ask for THE SAME price, buyers, GB runners, and scalpers, will end up paying more and more, over the time.
And that turns out into some admins are asking for more copies than asked in the GB, to resell them in eBay for x2 or x3 prices to "cover" their activities as administrators of GB.
And THIS is what it is not fair. Because MANY people asked or pretended to buy a LIMITED EDITION, when others have privileges.
Do you have to run a GB to have privileges in the collecting world to get more edition than others to put them on sale? To ask for x2 or x3 prices?
I'd better step off than feed that business, but criticizing this fact because I consider it abusive practices.

In addition, just because somebody wants to get money back to cover their "giveaways" or "their services", I don't have to participate to raise their funds.
That's why I don't run a GB (when can go direct), and I don't join to any GB (when can go DIRECT, again), neither I join ANY past giveaways (since I expose my opinion).

The main problem is the GB itself, which can ask the retailer for as many editions as the ADMIN can ask. The business is the business, and I respect and understand this matter.
But when that business leaves others without any option to go DIRECT (because they sold-out already the edition), impose the "join to our GB, and secure your copy, otherwise you will trouble or have to pay eBay prices" is not a fair game.
Manipulation of the market, taking all the available supply to resell later (whoever do it) and scalping with their editions.

THAT makes the market CORRUPT.
If you offer a giveaway, you don't have the right to take the chances to buy an edition of the other.
That would be stealing the spot of others, indirectly.
And that's what I critic.

But, again, it's my opinion.
And the only person I consider he has spoken respectfully, fully understandable, and clear, is @SteelCollz
Thanks.

 

[Mokum]

 

[Mokum]

I'm joking! I repeat: I AM JOKING!