[Closed] FM's pricing drives me crazy

Franklin Mints Pricing on the L.E. Black Porsche .......

is more than a KICK IN THE BUTT to their "preferred partners" in retail. It is a KICK IN THE BUTT to all their loyal customers who paided the issue price of $155.00 (plus sales tax, plus shipping) for this model.

I myself. have been loyal FM customer for some 15 years now. I only buy their 1/24 scale diecast cars, and with only a few exceptions, I have every model that FM has produced during this time.

I purchased TWO of these L.E. Black Porsche models a few months ago. I paid the issue price of $155.00. I did get free shipping on one, so I did save $8.95 (a good deal, I thought. Silly-me.)

I must say that I feel like a "SUCKER". A few months ago I paid a total of $342.09 for two FM models that I could now buy for just $175.85. I could have saved $166.24 if I had waited. But, as we are talking about a Limited Edition of only 2500, I thought I had better place my order fast, before they sold-out.

I called FM today, to see what could be done for me. I talked to a customer service rep who said "not a thing could be done". When I asked to speek to a supervisor, this rep. got "smart" with me and said "they will just tell you the same thing"...

The second person I spoke to did just that. Not one thing could be done for me. I asked to speek to the supervisors, supervisor. This 3rd person, after hearing my issue`s with the pricing of "sale" items, offered me a $25.00 Gift Cert. for my "inconvience".

$166.24-$25.00= $141.24

Well, maybe it not such a "KICK IN THE BUTT" after-all ????

Comments anyone?

You guys have read the way I feel about giving FM a break, but something like what I have just read makes my blood boil. How dare they screw there customers like that. It's poor business and needless to say pure shitty employees on their payrole. Nothing pi--es me off more than getting ripped off. And then the company says tough sh--. Gentlemen I have an idea. Why don't we ALL BOYCOT The Franklin Mint. Cancel whatever orders we have with them and tell them why. For the handful of U.S. employees they have, it won't hurt the economy one bit if they go under. And the orientals in China will go to work for another diecast company and life will go on. Maybe without a rip-off company.

Desperation.....

....Sounds like the lights are almost out at TFM. Too bad they don't have anyone there with any business sense to help them out. Oh, well, can we all say 'Chapter 11' together?

Pricing - retail vs clearance

I know this is no consulation, but it is no difference than going down to your local Circuit City and plunking down $400 for a new top of the line stereo receiver, only to find 6 months later that it is on clearance for $150. When you buy sometning (anything), there is no guarantee you won't find it cheaper down the road. The fact is, they didn't sell and FM wants to move them. Same thing has happened to most of us at one time or another. Now, that said, this doesn't mean that I don't think FM needs some major changes to their company policies.

Not sure I understand the problem...

Most retail businesses run "sales" on a regular basis. If I bought something at full price and then it goes "on sale" a month later, does that mean I got "ripped off" ? I don't see it that way. If I was willing to buy it at the original price, I must have thought it was worth it. The guy who bought it a month later on sale got a better deal than I did, but that doesn't translate into me feeling ripped off. His good deal doesn't automatically make mine bad.

I'm not sure that analogy works here

There's a difference between a limited edition collectible sold at a premium and an electronic component that may be obsolete in a season. I'm not griping that a computer that I purchased a few years ago for $2K can now be had for under $500. This is the nature of evolving technology.
If TFM is going to demand a premium based solely on its exclusivity then they owe it to the collectors as well as their preferred partners to hurl any unsold inventory into the dumpster if they cannot warehouse their unsold product. Lord knows they made quite a per unit profit at what they did sell. Unlike the electronics industry, they are not in direct competition with cutthroat competitors here. I see this as a crass betrayal of their core collectors and their retailers.
TFM seems to have taken a page out of Tony Keusseyan's marketing manual at Exoto. On one hand they demand strict pricing guidelines from their dealers and simultaneously will offer steep discounts to customers thru email "discount coupons" which pretty much undermines dealer-customer relations as well as the perceived value of their product on the secondary market.

If this was a regular issue.....

that was open-ended in production and at the end of its useful sales life, I could understand dumping the remaining stock, even though this would not have happened in the "old" FM days. Unsold product would be consigned to a warehouse or a compactor/dumpster.
This was to be an exclusive LE with a $35 premium tacked on giving FM a whopping per unit profit. The run was not even held for a year before it was dumped. In the collectible market, I find this to be a betrayal of their core collector base.
If your point was "caveat emptor", I can live with that. As I said initially, TFM has lost both credibility and respect in my eyes and I would be a fool to view subsequent overpriced LE repaint offers in the future with the same naivet?.

Clearance Vs. Desperation, Part II.....

'Sale' is a tricky concept in business, you want the freedom of moving inventory, but without offending existing customers/those that bought at full retail. This is particularly sensitive in a business that relies heavily on repeat customers, like TFM. What most do (or here's a free consult, what others pay me the big bucks for) is that the company offer to reimburse the difference to those customers who paid full boat. In some instances of veeery good CS, the company saw the (long term) value in AUTOMATICALLY crediting the accounts of those who paid full retail. In all instances, the company made out better, their profits improved, even after the 'pay outs'. In business, in order to make $$$, you have to first spend it. Successful businesses know this.
Alas, TFM misses this opportunity, not only to build good will with existing customers, but also to demonstrate what good CS is...even before the customer needs it. And the only explainations for their behavior is stupidity, greed...or desperation.

you make some interesting points, Robert.

There's definitely a need for some token damage control here. It's really a choice between short term desperation/greed vs long term credibility and respectibility. The question is, "Is TFM in this for the long term?"

Richard, methinks the answer to that lies in their inability to see what they do today effects....

what happens tomorrow. Successful businesses always understand the needs of their core customers. We're not that hard to figure out, when you think of it. It amazes me (and keeps me rolling in dough, LOL!) when I see how myopic many companies are. "Know thy customer". Put their needs first. TFM got themselves into this mess because they lost sight of 1) the product (with a few notable exceptions), and 2) The customer. They let ego (and greed) get in the way, and now that reality smacked them in the face, they're trimming back and doing 'whatever it takes' (aka "The Bunker Mentality")to get every penny today they can.

I think I'd just send the full price cars back and order two more at 1/2 price.!

Look at it this way.....

How many FM models do you own that have actually increased in value? (Based on the secondary market). I've been collecting FM/DM models since 1992 and have for the most part paid standard issue price for the majority of my collection. (100+ models). I have seen some of my models increase 2 to 3 times what I paid, with the rest holding close to about 3/4 of the original price... but who cares? To be collecting this long means you believe in the hobby so I view the discounting as a buying opportunity. Pick up a few and stick them in the closet. Pull them out in a few years and see what's happening on the secondary market... you may be surprised.

I can't think of anything that I own...

...that I could have bought for less if I had waited long enough...sometimes 90% less when it comes to clothes and thousands and thousands less when it comes to real 1:1 cars or houses/land/stock.

I'm in a uniques position as some of you may know seeing both sides of this and while I know it bothers some people in this "field"...I can't say it bugs me a heck of a whole lot. And if it bugs my fellow collectors...I always try my very best to make it up to them.

Now..."Collectibles manufacturers" can choose whether to worry about the "secondary market" or not...I know of a few that literally instruct their retail dealers to MARK UP items as much as 300-400% (Cairn Studio is one that comes to mind) when the item retires at the manufacturing level. And if you don't mark it up they will send a rep out to do it for you. Of course they rarely sell/sold for that much but Cairn thought it created a mystique ... somehow. (?)Miss Martha Originals publishes their own secondary market guide as does Giuseppe Armani. I find that TFM does not acknowledge a secondary market value so maybe there is a bit of daylight there in that at least they are not hyping a fictitous vale and then cutting that price by 75% or whatever.

TFM is very unique as being one of the very few companies to sell both direct and wholesale...and that puts them in a quandry or at least in a position where they could be criticized for pricing. But almost all wholesalers have specials including TFM who now have them at both levels often. The way I see it they either have to do it this way or pick one of either wholesale or retail...not both. But that's just my theory...not theirs.

That really wasn't my point.....

At this point in my collecting, I'm embarrassed to say I don't even have a clue how many of these little guys I own. Last time I made an attempt to count them, it was well over 400 in 1/24 alone. I am now well past the point where I don't even want to know.
I didn't buy this diecast as an investment. The vagaries of this market are such that what might wind up being a valuable piece down the road will have as much to do with serendipity as anything else. I bought it not for it to appreciate but rather so I could appreciate it on my shelf. Any appreciation in value, I felt, was paid to TFM up front with their premium pricing. I just feel that for them to dump the remainder of a single (2500) run within such a short time of its release after demanding a premium that I didn't feel a simple repaint should command, it was a slap in the face to the core collector.
If this is a golden opportunity for you or anyone to pick this nice little diecast up at a bargain price, then good for you. Me? I feel like filing rape charges. LOL