Sideshow, cancellations and the wait list.

[Studio49]

Seems like every thread you visit on the freaks board these days has some talk of cancellations and wait list reservations. I have had some very interesting experiences with SS's wait list lately, and I wanted to see if others were experiencing the same thing. If I worked for Sideshow, I think I would be pretty nervous, as it appears that cancellations have sharply increased.

A few days after it got listed as "sold out," I put in a wait list request for the Dinosauria T.rex vs Triceratops diorama. The reservation converted in a couple of days. After reading around the forum and seeing the less than spectacular paint job on the Jurassic Park dio, I freaked out and cancelled. I started feeling stupid about it after the new Dinosauria releases were previewed, so I put my name down again. My wait list converted again within a couple of days.

And it isn't just the Dinosauria pieces that are fast conversions. The Back in Black Spiderman and Han Solo in Carbonite scene both converted for me within a day of reservation.

I guess I may not be familiar with how fast wait list conversions happened in the past, but it seems to me that everything from the Leonidas PF to the GI Joe figs are still pretty much available if you just put your name down. Maybe I am wrong, but I have seen an awful lot of "waitlist converted" celebration around here lately. I am predicting that we will see a large number of second chance offerings within the next few months, though I am very new to Sideshow and this could just be the way things have always been. What are your thoughts?

 

[Darth Waller]

Typically, higher-priced items have cancellations close to shipping either due to people not having the funds or holding onto their order as long as possible and then deciding to cancel. With the recent quick waitlist conversions, it's probably just a sign of the economy.

 

[preeny101]

Plus there are always people waiting to pick up those Waitlist conversions.

 

[JacktheRipper]

I know this doesn't help, but with the exception of PF Grey Hulk all my waitlist items have converted.
I'm sure though that there has been an increase in cancellations due to the state of the economy.

 

[Studio49]

Typically, higher-priced items have cancellations close to shipping either due to people not having the funds or holding onto their order as long as possible and then deciding to cancel. With the recent quick waitlist conversions, it's probably just a sign of the economy.

I can understand that, but are Back in Black Spiderman and Solo in Carbonite shipping soon? I haven't looked. I just felt having four waitlist conversions happen within 48 hours seemed kind of odd. Especially when the T.rex dio converted twice within a very short time. I had to be the only one on the waitlist.

 

[Darth Waller]

Both of those are scheduled for 2nd quarter 2009, so I'm not sure why the waitlists would be converting so fast. I just got on the waitlist for the Back in Black yesterday, so it's good to hear it may convert.

One thing I wish Sideshow would do is put more on second chance. I'm always afraid to preorder something using my reward points because then I wouldn't be able to cancel if something came up.

 

[JediFirefly]

It seems to me that they have been trying to get people to use wait lists instead of putting stuff up for second chance. Maybe this is so that you cant use reward points then. There have been a couple of items in the past couple of newsletters that they said they had so many pieces available and that if you got on the wait list you would probably get one. Well if the items would have been on second chance instead I might have ordered something but I would have used reward points so it would have practically been free.

 

[bumblebee]

The economy suxs,so everyone has to be more selective about what they buy. Well atleast I have to be more selective.

 

[darthviper107]

Also, I'd like to point out that Sideshow has a really good system for ordering--people like me can order stuff without knowing if we can pay for it when it ships but Sideshow makes it so easy to order and cancel that if we're interested in something we can reserve one for ourselves if we end up having the money when it ships.

 

[The Ween]

I still have things on waitlist that haven't converted and it's been months. I won't take them off though because i have had things convert after being on them for a long time.

So far I've only canceled something that I had on waitlist that I found somewhere else. I'm hoping I don't have to cancel anything, but if things keep coming in like they have been, I'm gonna have to or I'll have to hit my savings account and I don't want to do that!

 

[Agent0028]

I imagine there's a certain number that determines whether they put it up for second chance or not. Like if 25% is available they'll second chance it, but if there's only 10% they advertise the waitlist. Although it could be to prevent people from using rewards points, certainly wouldn't blame Sideshow given the economy is causing alot of people to scale back. I think this Toy Fair is evidence of that, at least it seems to me that there isn't as much being released as in Toy Fairs in the past.

I also imagine its the economy that is causing wait lists to convert so quickly. People are ordering and later realizing they can't afford it, or they ordered but have since been laid off, or the classic case where something better came along so the lesser item got axed. I myself have recently ordered items that I really want, but I recognize I may not be able to manage to get it when the time comes. If that's the case there's a couple wait list conversions right there.

 

[The Ween]

What's bad is when alot of things come in all at once. This month is hitting me hard and I don't have my 300 PF yet!

 

[ProgMatinee]

I don't think things go to second chance until they actually arrive, and SSC doesn't "reverse" a sell out they just keep converting the waitlist. So if something had enough hype to sell it out, but then it gets a lot of buyer's remorse or something, then you can get quick waitlist conversions.

 

[NASEDO]

It seems there's more cancellations then usual. It makes sense with a very bad economy, which will probably last the entire year. I wonder how bad the current economy has effected SS. I wonder if they will lower edition sizes or cancel some lines. Maybe they haven't been effected but thats hard to believe because I canceled alot of stuff I wouldn't of a year ago. Stuff I could of flipped to make a extra dollar. But who knows.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Economy+High Prices=Cancellations. Even in this economy, I'd feel ok spending $50-$60 on figures, but $80-$120 I have to be supremely picky.

I still enjoy participating in the hype of a figure announcement, so I preorder the stuff like I used to, but I don't keep the orders like I used to.

 

[Mad Old Lu]

I've had a lot of things on waitlist that never converted and I ended up getting through other vendors. I think I've only had 1 waitlist converted (Belloq). I still have 1 figure on waitlist (Sandtrooper) that I got on the same day as the PPO that hasn't converted a month later. Maybe it's because they have all been 1/6 figures, but I've had lousy luck with waitlists. People may be less prone to canceling them because they're more "reasonably" priced.