Rare/Limited Editions- A Question/Suggestion

[Guest miss.elli]

I know that another doll company has stopped using retailers and is only producing what is ordered each year from a line. This keeps some retailers from marking items down way too much and affecting overall product values.

 

I would not suggest that for Mattel overall, since they have playline which needs retailers.

 

However, for limited editions (like redhead Joyeux), would it not be possible for Mattel to hold offers that were limited by time as well as by number. For example, if Mattel (not FAO) had handled Redhead Joyeux, they could have announced a one day online sale months in advance and said basically, we have 3 variables.

 

We have X already produced.

The MAX on this doll is Y because she is limited.

Z is the number of orders placed on the sale day.

 

Z would be the total numer of the edition. Z-X would have to be back ordered.

 

The benefits of this would be:

Hardcore Collectors KNOW they can get a doll they want.

Limit Production to only what serious collectors want, keeping values up.

 

This would satiate the market enough to keep the ebay scalper prices down, while almost guaranteeing sales on the whole production line with no over production. Mattel would make more of the profit and keep that money instead of leaving a feeding frenzy with limited supply for the ebay market.

 

Some caveats are:

 

Perhaps run 2 sale days for scheduling issues.

Perhaps have a different tag on the first X amount.

Perhaps Survey based on previews to decide what the upper limit would be.

 

These are just ideas. Obviously, a collector can't know all the issues that affect the costs of production runs, etc.

 

Thanks for listening.

 

[Guest MISS.ELLI1572400470]

this sounds like a great idea!!!

Elli

 

**** In Memoriam for Aura ****

[Guest BC LisaS]

Thanks for the suggestion. It's an interesting idea.