SSC and possible fake WL? Why I have doubts now.

[VS1976]

I don't think its fake WL. I think Nam is right in that once it the # allotted gets below a certain number the WL option goes up. This allows SS to make sure that they haven't oversold an item (which has happened) and as people jump on it converts. Now, it will also convert over time as people actually cancel and eat the NRD. Also remember that the NRD isn't charged until 24-48 hours so people have that time to cancel even if its flipped to the WL.

Long story short order the item if you want it and it converts be happy for yourself. Otherwise who gives a crap.

We are talking months here after the WL are sold-out. There are no additional allotment after the fact the ES were announced and WL soldout out months prior. I am 8 for 8 on getting WL converted. Those are unbelievable coincidence. Your telling me there is nothing fishy?

 

[devilof76]

Why don't you have the California State's Attorney General investigate them and get back to us with what you find out?

 

[Shadowscythe85]

I would agree about it being odd months after the ES has been announced and still easily getting multiple WLs converted. If SSC can't accurately keep track of when they sell out of an item's ES and put the WL up just when it reaches a random, unknown choke point, then I think they might have other problems.

 

[Leonidas]

I am praying and hoping they don't. I am really looking forward to the day when I got both the PF and my comiquette on the same shelf in my besta.

Why do you like Lara Croft so much, homie? She looks awesome in the new game btw, doesn't she?

 

[tomandshell]

If I'm Sideshow and I have 25 pieces left for preorder after counting it all up after cancellations, then I would not return the 25 to online stock and change the status from sold out back to available. I would keep the item listed as sold out and convert the wait list requests one at a time as they came in. That way you avoid the sense that the piece isn't in demand and instead congratulate the lucky wait lister on their opportunity to score a sold out piece. The perceived value and sense of limited supply in the face of great demand is retained. That's just good marketing.

 

[The Josh]

We are talking months here after the WL are sold-out. There are no additional allotment after the fact the ES were announced and WL soldout out months prior. I am 8 for 8 on getting WL converted. Those are unbelievable coincidence. Your telling me there is nothing fishy?

Nope not a damn thing fishy about it at all. Like I said be glad an order for something you wanted converted and move on. Honestly, only people who want to look for something crappy to say about SS here are going to agree with you.

 

[tomandshell]

I think the original post assumes that wait list conversions for NRD items are fishy because hardly anybody who pays a deposit will cancel their order, and the number of preordered pieces that will become available is very low.

That simply isn't the case. There are plenty of people who cancel orders after paying the deposit. Probably not as many as there are with no NRD, but it's not fishy at all to see cancelled orders offered up to wait listers. That's the entire point of the wait list--offering pieces to collectors when they are cancelled by other customers for a variety of reasons. An NRD doesn't keep people from canceling as much as you may think.

 

[devilof76]

There are also people who cancel before the deposit is charged. Who knows how long those sit in the system before they get cleared out.

 

[Shadowscythe85]

Why do you like Lara Croft so much, homie? She looks awesome in the new game btw, doesn't she?

She’s definitely attractive enough that I would do the double-take-right-into-a-telephone pole while also being more anatomically correct so maybe all the feminists can quit
As for why I like her, she goes on dangerous quests, braving nature, traps and jackasses with guns, only to always come out with the treasure. She’s like the Canadian Mountie of treasure hunters. What’s not to like?

Nope not a damn thing fishy about it at all. Like I said be glad an order for something you wanted converted and move on. Honestly, only people who want to look for something crappy to say about SS here are going to agree with you.

Hey, I am agreeing with him

 

[Spicymustard]

Putting up fake wait-lists would also deter a good number of users, in fact it might deter more then it would help lure in. If I weren't a frequent lurker to this board, I probably never would have bothered getting on a wait-list. I know I don't make a habit of ordering other things online, which are either wait-listed or to be in stock soon. On other sites, that usually just means they'll never have it.

On top of that, the NRD is really confusing. I thought you might get charged the NRD just for going on the wait-list, even if your order never gets fulfilled. At the end of the day, are you really that sure that putting up a fake wait-list pulls in more orders than leaving an EX open to pre-order?

 

[The Josh]

If I'm Sideshow and I have 25 pieces left for preorder after counting it all up after cancellations, then I would not return the 25 to online stock and change the status from sold out back to available. I would keep the item listed as sold out and convert the wait list requests one at a time as they came in. That way you avoid the sense that the piece isn't in demand and instead congratulate the lucky wait lister on their opportunity to score a sold out piece. The perceived value and sense of limited supply in the face of great demand is retained. That's just good marketing.

 

[Shadowscythe85]

If I'm Sideshow and I have 25 pieces left for preorder after counting it all up after cancellations, then I would not return the 25 to online stock and change the status from sold out back to available. I would keep the item listed as sold out and convert the wait list requests one at a time as they came in. That way you avoid the sense that the piece isn't in demand and instead congratulate the lucky wait lister on their opportunity to score a sold out piece. The perceived value and sense of limited supply in the face of great demand is retained. That's just good marketing.

That's what we were trying to say, wasn't it?

 

[The Josh]

That's what we were trying to say, wasn't it?

Well, it is if you're not calling it fishy or trying to say something underhanded is going on. Also as I said earlier in the end its good for everyone as items sell and collectors get to collect items they want. Win/Win if you ask me.

 

[Shadowscythe85]

Well, it is if you're not calling it fishy or trying to say something underhanded is going on. Also as I said earlier in the end its good for everyone as items sell and collectors get to collect items they want. Win/Win if you ask me.

Marketing in general is underhanded so its kinda is just normal practice. A lot of companies do this but I think that it is the period of time that it happens over that is what is being questioned. It happening for a month would be normal but since SSC's products have such a long time between PO and actually shipping, it still happening 6 months or more just stands out. I do imagine SSC getting more NRDs than the actual ES is probably a plus in their books.

 

[VS1976]

The fact that I find things are getting converted so easily after months of it being on WL is hard to believe, but it's happening. I get that SSC puts an allotted numbers on hold and puts items on WL but it's just too much of a coincidence. All these items that got converted had ES announced already. IMO NRDs should make items harder to convert but it's not?

 

[dino76m]

if that is so, sideshow must be making a small neat amount of moeny from nrds..

 

[VS1976]

if that is so, sideshow must be making a small neat amount of moeny from nrds..

Think about the interest they are collecting. It's practically stealing money when people cancel and the NRDs aren't return back to the customer.

 

[Jedah Kalm]

I like grape Now And Laters.

I haven't had a Now and Later in ages. Maybe I'll go get some.

 

[karamazov80]

Think about the interest they are collecting. It's practically stealing money when people cancel and the NRDs aren't return back to the customer.

This is an argument that has been rehashed many times, but. . .if you agree to pre-order something with the NRD, then you are agreeing to the terms that you will pay that percentage up-front. Sideshow does not put a gun to your head. You have the option not to order. When you agree, and Sideshow takes that money, and you cancel and lose your NRD deposit, then that is you deciding to pay that penalty. Sideshow doesn't steal anything, any more than the electric company steals my money when I pay my bills, or the casino steals my money when I gamble it away. These are your choices, and there are consequences to them. Sideshow can't be held responsible for your inability or unwillingness to stick to your agreement.

 

[thenammagazine]

You are right about the impulse control. I went on the WL again to test my theory that SSC was doing fake WL soldouts. Look the reality is this. If they just leave it without putting items on WL, it gives people options. It's not that I am trying to not pay the NRD but wouldn't it be nice to have the option. Every NRD add up. When u have (example) $2k worth of statues ready to ship and you (example) put it over $500 in NRDs. Those NRds items (example) are WL conversion. Sometimes not always, NRDs put u in a bind on items ready to charge. Let's say if the $500 were fabricated WL soldout, you could have applied it to the ready to ship items.

Look SSC has some real sold outs because those usually preordered sells out within a day. I just want SSC to be more forth right on true Preorder sold out.

I really don’t think VS’s impulse control is the issue here. It’s the fact that SSC is trying to get people who are ordering an item to get on the WL for the exclusive of an item and that way they will be able to move more of them by converting the order on the fake WL instead of them going somewhere else to order the regular for less. If something is listed as WL then it makes people think it’ll be worth more and be harder to get down the line, which for a lot of collectors is a factor in deciding purchases. SSC doesn’t want the items just sitting around so listing it as WL is one way that they are fooling people into buying some of the slower selling items now instead of later, taking away money that the person might have been able to use on current orders.

I found a fundamental flaw in your "theory." If I'm going to buy a product and it's Wait Listed on Sideshow's website, as a collector with years of experience, that only tells me I have one option. I can jump on the Wait List with a wing and a prayer that it'll actually convert, or I can go pick up the regular version from an online retailer for a 10%+ discount before it's sold out and hits ebay at ridiculous prices. Now given that's actually detouring me from purchasing via Sideshow's website, how the hell is that an encouragement (or by your accusation: a shady marketing ploy) to order from them?

I think the "impulse control issue" bullseyed the reason for this rant.