Print

[zeroelement]

Ok most people dont know this but you can BARGIN with the dealers. The booths are not official stores you can bargain with them.
This is the topic were people can give the good details on how to get a deal. The deals on Monday on Friday are possible. The goal of the vender is to sale all their products to save money from shipping it back to wherever they are sent. I know very few ways to get deals and will share them hoping others will share them to.


The way to spot a deal is to notice what is selling and not. If one item is in abundance or if you are buying alot of items talk to them about a deal. If they shut up and walk away there's little to no luck.

The way i have done this in the past is i talked to one of the venders ask about price and showed interest in buying taking my time sometimes they say "Hey if you get ____ ill give you ___ and ___ with it ".

Another method is to show interest walk around (check for already listed cheaper) and come back and try and talk about getting a deal on the item if its one of the items not selling well. As in theres 5 of ____ 6 of ____ on the table and you see 10-20 of another then that item might be not selling that well. This dosn't work in most booths that sell even items of all items or hide the amount they have.

The best way to think of this is like the swap meet. Instead of fellow convention goers these guys have a badge that says vender and are more stiff but the listed prices are what they want for it and not what they MUST sell it for so the prices can drop.

BTW Monday is easier to bargain with the venders


If you know of other ways to get a deal please list them ^_^. Lets all save money! (no money from your shopping goes to fanime they buy the booth location and that's it all their profits go to the store.

Btw Stealing is not a way to get a deal

[Melly]

i had a bad experience on monday trying to get some "cheaper" stuff :x

earlier in the con i bought a Yui keychain for uhh or 8 dollars?

and iwas like "oh well i wanna get the mugi one too ill wait for monday when its cheaper "

so come monday and i go to get it and she raised the price to 10 bucks .A. i was pretty mad. :v and i didn't get it. lolol i noticed most people uped the prices on monday D:?

or maybe it was just that one seller. idk D:<

[Persona]

i had a bad experience on monday trying to get some "cheaper" stuff :x

earlier in the con i bought a Yui keychain for uhh or 8 dollars?

and iwas like "oh well i wanna get the mugi one too ill wait for monday when its cheaper "

so come monday and i go to get it and she raised the price to 10 bucks .A. i was pretty mad. :v and i didn't get it. lolol i noticed most people uped the prices on monday D:?

or maybe it was just that one seller. idk D:<

It's possible they knew people were going to be cheap on Monday and try to haggle it down, so they "raised" their prices in the hopes that someone would buy it at the regular price thinking it was a good deal. Of course they weren't counting on people, like you, to remember the original price and be put off by the newer price.

[Rhornez]

havent thought of this

[frumpy]

I covered this subject in another thread for bargain hunting:

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,13198.msg414311.html#msg414311

[frumpy]

Sometimes, dealers increase the price during con because the item in question is too popular. It pretty much comes down to supply vs demand. It's a common practice at conventions, especially at SDCC where various dealers are selling con exclusives. As supply dwindles, demand increases along w/ prices.

For example: True Blood 2010 SDCC comic book exclusive by IDW.
MSRP cover value states $5.95. This turns into a HOT item that everyone wants during con. By Saturday afternoon, various dealers have increased their prices from $9.95 to as high as $14.95.

i had a bad experience on monday trying to get some "cheaper" stuff :x

earlier in the con i bought a Yui keychain for uhh or 8 dollars?

and iwas like "oh well i wanna get the mugi one too ill wait for monday when its cheaper "

so come monday and i go to get it and she raised the price to 10 bucks .A. i was pretty mad. :v and i didn't get it. lolol i noticed most people uped the prices on monday D:?

or maybe it was just that one seller. idk D:<

[Melly]

@Frumpy - hmm well the way you pointed it out makes sense, but i still wasn't too happy about it xD

[TC_X0_Lt_0X]

i had a bad experience on monday trying to get some "cheaper" stuff :x

earlier in the con i bought a Yui keychain for uhh or 8 dollars?

and iwas like "oh well i wanna get the mugi one too ill wait for monday when its cheaper "

so come monday and i go to get it and she raised the price to 10 bucks .A. i was pretty mad. :v and i didn't get it. lolol i noticed most people uped the prices on monday D:?

or maybe it was just that one seller. idk D:<

It's expected, it's Efin K-On.
That anime is a all consuming plague.

[zeroelement]

The we pay the sales tax thing most of the time is a lie. They make the prices such that its a solid price and listed the prices with tax more of the time. If they are selling books they tend to not add the tax from what ive seen.

[Rhornez]

atleast it wasnt hatsune Miku

[frumpy]

How dealers price their items w/ or w/o sales tax is at their discretion. Everyone selling is required to have a CA seller's permit by state law and eventually, will need to report their gross sales for state taxes owed. Because cons are treated like a flea market atmosphere, it's easier for prices to be rounded to the nearest dollar. That way, no one needs to hassle w/ loose change (loose change = heavy rolls of coins + possibility of running out of appropriate change). It's more of a convenience thing for everyone when dealers include tax w/ the prices.

The we pay the sales tax thing most of the time is a lie. They make the prices such that its a solid price and listed the prices with tax more of the time. If they are selling books they tend to not add the tax from what ive seen.

[frumpy]

@Frumpy - hmm well the way you pointed it out makes sense, but i still wasn't too happy about it xD

No one is ever happy about increasing prices...lol. Supply/Demand is just a sad truth to increasing prices on items.

[zeroelement]

How dealers price their items w/ or w/o sales tax is at their discretion. Everyone selling is required to have a CA seller's permit by state law and eventually, will need to report their gross sales for state taxes owed. Because cons are treated like a flea market atmosphere, it's easier for prices to be rounded to the nearest dollar. That way, no one needs to hassle w/ loose change (loose change = heavy rolls of coins + possibility of running out of appropriate change). It's more of a convenience thing for everyone when dealers include tax w/ the prices.

The we pay the sales tax thing most of the time is a lie. They make the prices such that its a solid price and listed the prices with tax more of the time. If they are selling books they tend to not add the tax from what ive seen.

that to

[hikanteki]

The we pay the sales tax thing most of the time is a lie. They make the prices such that its a solid price and listed the prices with tax more of the time. If they are selling books they tend to not add the tax from what ive seen.

Ehh...that's not quite true.  ~60% of the booths I've bought stuff from have added sales tax.  Of course, that can be bargained too.  For instance, one booth said that if I bought a small amount they'd add sales tax but if I bought a lot they wouldn't add it.

[zeroelement]

yea alot this year wanted tax

[crystalsoul]

 i was able to work a few people down this last fanime, saved a few bucks too.

i saw a plushie of chibi-inukami that i knew my girlfriend would love. so i walked up and asked the price. the lady told me it was $50 and so i began talking to her more. i expressed how i know my girlfriend would love it and how its so cute...but then i talk like im talking to myself and say: " but man, $50 for a plushie is alot". i asked if there was anyway she would sell for less, please notice i did not say "would you sell for $xx.xx", but just asked if she could drop the price at all.

and she was nice enough to drop it to $40 :')

[jindo]

Yes, convention and dealer rooms.  With all the hype and impulse rush when you buy something... But remember a cardinal rules before entering that dealer's room...  (as a fan myself and from the past experience...)
1. Buy something that you can only find it at the convention.  Indeed you want to support the local merchants & industries... but as a majority fans you know you're on a budget and don't want to pay full/over retail + tax prices.
2. Shop around and keep everything on a budget, keep a list of the items that you want to buy. But beware... if something you see/want that's rare.. you might want to buy it right away.  Because while you shop for prices it might get bought by someone else.
3. Last day/ 3~2 hours of the dealer room.   You have more chances of haggle/deal prices on goods.
Those are just basics... have fun and enjoy.

[djmonolith]

I covered this subject in another thread for bargain hunting:

http://forums.fanime.com/index.php/topic,13198.msg414311.html#msg414311

Yes, very good advice.  As one who has sold before I can honestly say that a crazy lowball offer is offensive and is usually met with incredulity.  Booths, travel, time... it takes resources to sell.  As long as there is mutual respect between the buyers and sellers the con will be awesome.

This year I am BUYING!!

Oh, and one more thing Frumpy... your profile photo rules!!  I love her...

[GokuMew2]

Reminds me of that one year I went to AX (the only time I ever went) and I saw a figure I had really wanted with like a $40 price tag but I could see underneath it that it previously had a $20 tag. >__>;; Yeah....

If you're going to be haggling, please don't low-ball the seller. If you want to ask them to shave off a couple bucks or so on a $20 item then that's fine but if you're going to offer them half of their asking price then yeah, you'll find yourself quickly ignored.