What I am saying is that, Yes, the value of the figure should be the total cost to pay. If you are flying to Japan specifically for 1 figure that no one has; then YES - you are paying airfare, hotel, etc for 1 figure! In other words, if your total cost was $5000 for everything to get the figure, than that would mean you would have had no trouble just paying $5000 for the figure if it was offered on eBay with free shipping.
What I was saying at the end was that using the logic of Total value = Total cost, then different geographic areas around the world have generally different impacts on the total cost and *might* be worth looking into at some point. 'Imports' technically run higher than domestic released - both in Japan and the US. However, what we call domestic, they call imports etc. So when calculating total cost for a figure, you will see high variations between people who live in different regional areas of the world. Because of the large variations, it might be worth it to limit it by segregating value by region. I hope I am making myself clear. This thought isn't going around in circles, but merely the next logical step. If total value = total cost = product*(1+tax) + shipping + other, you want to minimize your variations to get a decent data set. Assuming most people don't look to get scammed, the price of the product + shipping should be pretty consistent with the going rate - in a specific region. People in the states would NOT pay for high priced Hasbro products in Italy; but Italians will.
If we purely look at the regional values (without considering shipping), the price for MP Sideswipe in Japan is approximately $60 if you look around for a good deal. The price in the states, if you look around for a good deal is approximately $80. For Americans, the more data from Japanese collectors will lower the value of the item and will give a negative weight to the data set.
Just my $.07
Well I wasn't really talking about that 1 special item. I was more referring to something like microns. Mass produced just not in the US.
So spending $5000 for a unique item (unicorn) is not really the same as buying a micron. And if you are willing to spend $4500 in travel and such to buy a $500 item, then that's the price YOU pay for YOU'RE need to be the elitist collector. You could have let someone in Japan buy it for $500 and spend your money on other items.
It's still only a $500 item. But if there is a stable full of them it's not a unicorn, it's a horse with a glued on horn and you probably wouldn't bother going through the trouble in the first place. You'd just get one on ebay.
And if I wanted the unicorn so bad that I'd be willing to get it on ebay for a total of $5000 I would and then I'd subtract the, let's say $50 for shipping and would put price paid at $4950. But I chose to pay $4950 for a $500 figure.
What you pay for something is not what it is worth. If that were the case no one would ever turn a profit. I can sell you a 1990 Geo Prism for $50,000 it doesn't make 1990 Geo Prizm's worth $50,000. They are still $7,000 (new in the 90's) cars. You just over paid and over paying is a buyers mistake not the markets.
People are not in theory paying extra for the items. They are paying extra for the privilege to own them.
Eventually if people get sick of holding onto that MP Sideswipe in the US they're gonna let it go for $60 or as little as they paid for it just to make their money back not have it taking up space that more popular items could occupy. Especially in a niche market like collectibles.
On the other side of the coin, if some one is hard up for money and sells a $500 item to you for say $100, do you say you bought a $100 item, or did you get a $500 for $100. Should everyone else who paid $500 feel they got ripped off or should they fell you got a deal?
Also tax and shipping costs are traditionally NEVER included in any appraisal data BECAUSE they vary from region to region.
All of this is just the basic principles of marketing and sales. I personally, sadly, have nothing better to do with my time now but, we are spending alot of time discussing a process that has been as standardized as possible a very long time ago.
Although Re-designing the wheel does seem like it may be a fun challenge. We just need people to be honest about price paid.
Also ebay is now taking a cut of peoples shipping costs because of shipping gouging. So that will be ironing itself out here soon enough. One could debate that most companies over charge for shipping so buying on ebay may soon become the only place to pay fair shipping charges.
It cost me about $1 more to have a 13.5 lbs. skimboard sent from portland oregon to north west ohio than the shipping charge from BBTS on my G2 FOC Bruticus. I don't know what Bruticus weighs off hand but I know it's alot less than a 48" x 22" x 3/8" piece of solid wood.
I do understand where you are coming from Wajo, and personally I agree with your logic but, I also feel there should be no homeless people, no starving children, no endangered species and lets throw world peace in there too but it simply just isn't the way things are.
If anything we should trim those extra high and extra low numbers from the overpayers and bargain getters to get more accurate number of what a figure is truly worth.
