The impact of the Walmart sales on Ebay selling and more

momof2boys99

I am hoping that this thread does not get merged, but if it does that is o.k. I just wanted to get comments about the crazy price drops at Walmart. My boys who collect have changed their Christmas list. They want sets that they already own to get cheap parts. So, as a consumer and customer this sale is wonderful. It is such a great opportunity for so many people to get sets at a terrific price.
However, as a seller......are we doomed(yes, that sounds a little dramatic :)? This is the time of year where my sales soar. I have so many older sets that I was expecting to make great money on. I know that my kids switched their lists when all of the sets went on sale, and I am sure lots of other people will make similar decisions. Money is tight for so many people and I would be naive to assume that this will not impact my sales in some sort of manner.
I also am wondering why in the heck are the dropping the prices so low? Does anyone have any insight into this? I would love to hear your opinions.

LegoFanTexas

I have no idea, it does seem odd.

1. Walmart is no longer going to carry these sets.

2. These expensive sets are not selling on Walmart and they need room for the next container load of Lego about to arrive.

3. Walmart is upset with TLG and is sending a message.

4. Walmart wants to improve their "we are the online low price leader image" compared to Amazon.

y2josh

For me, I'm not concerned. But if you've seen anything I've posted in various reseller conversations, I have little concern for making 'maximum profit' on retired sets.

That said, I suppose ti depends on what old sets you were hoping to sell. Maybe these sales will impact your Harry Potter sales or your recently retired Star Wars sales... but I doubt it significantly impacts sets like Cafe Corner, Emerald Night or the Imperial Flagship.

I reserve the right to be wrong about all that, of course, but even in spite of these sales, I don't anticipate losing any money on the sets I'm holding.

y2josh

EDIT - Double post. Ever since these flags got added, the forum's been behaving extremely inconsistently for me.

Crazyaddict

i think it's simply that walmart is estimating that the economy is in terrible shape and is trying to get a leg's up on the competitors.

if it can gain a large market share of the christmas shopping before the competitors even begin to promote sales like black friday, then it would have captured a large majority of the sales.

think of it this way: if walmart cuts msrp by 25% and got consumers to spend 50% of their shopping budget, by the time competitors begin their BF or christmas sales, they need to undercut by more than 25% and most likely need to go above 30-35% to get consumers to buy more. this is the biggest reason why walmart is setting up christmas shopping earlier and earlier.

don't forget we have the feds printing money for the third time since 2009 and still the economy is feeling like crap. money is hard to come by these days and many consumers are poorer. and don't forget the fiscal cliff looming after Dec 31st. we are all going to pay more taxes and receive fewer benefits.

we're buying lots now on the notion that the future will bail us out - (buy cheap now and sell for profit in the future). if the future is poorer than us today, then we are so screwed (buy cheap now and sell even cheaper in the future). oops... gulp!!!

1265

^^^
That's crazy talk....didn't you see the latest unemployment numbers. We are heading in the right direction. (Trying to keep a straight face.)

I think Walmart had way too much inventory and moving the older stuff for the newer stuff. Plus, the average, typical shoppers do not purchase high end lego sets from Walmart. Walmart is what it is......shop for cheap.

momof2boys99

^Yes, the economy is a worry. I really had to hold back on this sale. I did purchase quite a bit, but did not go as crazy as I would have a year ago. As one cannot predict the future.....who knows if this will be the new norm or if in 2015 we will all say "remember that Walmart sale of 2012?"

I hope that I do not offend anyone with talking about purchasing. I know it can be a hot button here. It is a business for me. I pay lots of taxes by selling. I like to give good deals for my customers. I am also happy that so many people could get these deals at Walmart.

I know you are all going to think this is crazy, but I do feel sorry for "ToysRUs" This is suppose to be their big month and "Walmart" and "Amazon" have stolen their thunder. I would be sad if "ToysRUs" ever went away. I know they don't have great prices, but they are the one store where I can sometimes find a discontinued Lego and they have a great selection. It is the only toy store left.

Renny

I have many fond memories of Toys R Us but they need to change their pricing habits. I don't understand the massive price markups or the inconsistent sales. Marking down prices to regular pricing and calling it a sale is a joke. I'm glad to see Walmart, Amazon and to a degree Target having massive sales on ALL sets. Maybe it's the wakeup call Toys R Us needs.

Back on topic, I don't see these sales having an impact on ebay sales as many kids and collectors are still looking for retired sets. I know my sales haven't slowed down at all.

pharmjod

Also consider that relative to the shopping public at large, I guarantee the number of people buying during this sale is pretty small. Very few people are gonna sit at their computer and refresh all day :) I would even guess that the majority of sets were sold to resellers. People will still be scrambling closer to Christmas to find sets and will pay RRP or more for the sets their kids want. Happens like clockwork, regardless of the economy.

momof2boys99

Yes, Ebay sales are fine. However, if sales like this continue to happen, I do feel like it would impact Ebay sales.

gmpirate

It could be a combination of what we have discussed, but the bigger issue (as discussed above) is the economy, pending increased taxes and the continued growth of government. The government does not produce anything but rather it only consumes and redistributes. Regardless of whether anyone is for or against increasing government, the result is still there is less money left to consumers to spend as they choose. We've already seen it with Europe and the United States is fast heading down the same path.

There's been much discussion here about the effects of more resellers entering the market, sales, and over supply, but the biggest thing that scares me is our possible financial collapse in this country. Sitting on a large stash of Lego is not very comforting the way things are going. Lego is not a necessity, but rather a luxury, and needs come before that when people make decisions on what to buy. At least I would hope so :P

bea

It doesn't seem to me that Walmart is just doing this to make sales. These deals have been posted all over the internet, including a few large non Lego specific forums. The sets were flying off the shelves (so to speak) and sold out multiple times, yet Walmart continued to drop the prices. If they are selling out at a higher price, what is the incentive to lower it more if their goal is to get as much of consumer's money as possible? There were plenty people on the various forums who were sorry they missed the sets a higher price.

My guess is they're either in a disagreement with Lego, they've decided not to stock these large sets any more or they're doing some sort of experiment.

How much money are they really making on, say, TH at $120? That's 40% off MSRP. How much more of a discount do they get from TLG? There's got to be more to this that just sales and profits.

cbaker1974

pharmjod said:

Also consider that relative to the shopping public at large, I guarantee the number of people buying during this sale is pretty small. Very few people are gonna sit at their computer and refresh all day :) I would even guess that the majority of sets were sold to resellers. People will still be scrambling closer to Christmas to find sets and will pay RRP or more for the sets their kids want. Happens like clockwork, regardless of the economy.

^^^This...remember we are really only talking about one product (Lego) and a relatively short (but intense and insane) sale. I think we tend to magnify the impacts of sales like this due to our hyper-focus on the product. Last year TRU had multiple BOGO1/2 and a couple of B2G1F sales that essentially replicated a lot of these prices, it just didn't get the same conversation since the forum here was still establishing roots. I look at this Amazon/Walmart sale as the "replacement" for the TRU sales that didn't happen this year due to their new policies on limiting exclusives during their sales...I was actually trying to figure out where I was going to get those discounts from since TRU changed their policy. This sale filled that gap for me this year.

cbaker1974

Btw nice interesting topic @momof2boys99!

It would be interesting to know if there are other areas where Wal-Mart has slashed prices insanely this season...if that's the case then that would signal a pretty big challenge to Amazon I would think, especially now that the sales tax impacts are about to hit Amazon as states line up...I am a little worried about Amazon as I've seen people on other forums in California now saying that they are avoiding Amazon now due to the new "Amazon tax against Californians" - yeah, I have seen it described that way :)

On the other hand, I could definately see Wal-Mart trying to move out some of these large sets which are probably not fast-movers to prep for the holiday season. I can't imagine the turns on the modulars and exclusives are that great, WM can probably do better by churning through several pallets of Furbies (or whatever) rather than 1 pallet of stagnant Death Stars. I work in IT for a large retailer and getting the right merchandise assortments in place for the holidays is a huge priority right now to be able to meet demand.

Bandit

cbaker1974 said:

^^^This...remember we are really only talking about one product (Lego) and a relatively short (but intense and insane) sale. I think we tend to magnify the impacts of sales like this due to our hyper-focus on the product. Last year TRU had multiple BOGO1/2 and a couple of B2G1F sales that essentially replicated a lot of these prices, it just didn't get the same conversation since the forum here was still establishing roots. I look at this Amazon/Walmart sale as the "replacement" for the TRU sales that didn't happen this year due to their new policies on limiting exclusives during their sales...I was actually trying to figure out where I was going to get those discounts from since TRU changed their policy. This sale filled that gap for me this year.

This is true, I think this is being blown a little out of proportion. While this is the first big sale in a while, and certainly strange for Walmart, this is really no better than the last TRU BOGO in April. I got copies of all these same sets and more back then (sans the DS, but that has been available for $300 at TRU in previous BOGOs). Nothing to see here folks, just keep on moving... :)

y2josh

momof2boys99 said:

Yes, Ebay sales are fine. However, if sales like this continue to happen, I do feel like it would impact Ebay sales.

If sales like this continue to happen (which I'd guess is unlikely), I would suspect that it will drive down the aftermarket prices, but not necessarily the aftermarket margins. I know many resellers won't agree, but if I'd picked up Death Stars at $290, I'd gladly sell them at RRP in a heartbeat.

jpcz

Man, love this site...where else would I have heard TH was dropped to 120? Made my wife buy me my Xmas present when it was 161...called WM and they had no problem adjusting it.

Yea, not much help to the thread but had to post how great this site is!

mathew

You guys crack me up. Walmart starts heavily discounting big sets and somehow everyone is connecting it to un-employment numbers. Here's a clue: A lot of you folks (at least the frequent posting members and you know who you are) flaunt your spending habits. You folks have money. You're not working two jobs to get by. Walmart has you by the gonads with this sale. Sure, if you only bought one set Walmart wouldn't be making any money. But no, you are buying multiples of these sets. In other words Walmart is milking you by getting you to buy more. Buy in bulk shall we say. Are they giving Lego the finger somehow with this sale? Not really. Lego probably doesn't care because they are moving product. In the grand scheme of things, the modulars are not a significant seller. Walmart isn't heavily discounting Ninjago or Friends sets. Outside of Jabba's Palace (which is so overpriced there has to be at least 50% markup) the Star Wars sets are not being heavily discounting. Walmart is just going after a niche. A niche that has big pockets that otherwise wouldn't be shopping at Walmart.

rocao

I couldn't help but chuckle the moment I saw this thread title. Excluding the very last round of price drops that were only available a short time (which logically means a small quantity), the sales were 20-25% off MSRP.

There's nothing earth-shattering about 25% off. Toys R Us had modulars and larger sets like Tower Bridge and Death star effectively 25% off several times last year with their BOGO 50% off sale. Amazon routinely has a large selection of LEGO for 20% off or more. LEGO's discount for LUG showcase, store volunteering, and larger AFOL conventions are 30% off.

The sale was noteworthy because it applied to many of the more desirable sets, was somewhat unexpected at this time of year, and there weren't pesky BOGO50 considerations needed to pair up items, but the discounts are not likely going to dramatically destabilize the market.

LegoFanTexas

mathew said:

Outside of Jabba's Palace (which is so overpriced there has to be at least 50% markup) the Star Wars sets are not being heavily discounting.

Death Star for $289 strikes me as a pretty heavy discount. :)

mathew

^ I forgot about the Death Star. However, even at $289 it's way out of the price range for your average consumer.

sidersdd

^^^ Concur. The TRU BOGO's last year also had a $15 off holiday discount you could stack. Plus the LEGO bucks on top of R'US rewards. The Walmart sales are excellent, but not 'sale of the century' class.

LegoFanTexas

mathew said:

^ I forgot about the Death Star. However, even at $289 it's way out of the price range for your average consumer.

Is it? Apple sold over 5 million iPhone 5s at an average price of $300 in just 48 hours, and they are estimated to sell 50 million of them by the end of the year.

$289 isn't what it used to be. But I'll grant that the average consumer didn't get access to this sale, it was at an odd time of night and ran out quickly.

But I don't think that is out the price range of the "average" consumer, whatever that might be.

y2josh

mathew said:

Sure, if you only bought one set Walmart wouldn't be making any money. But no, you are buying multiples of these sets.

This part of your argument strikes me as odd. So they made zero dollars of profit off the one Grand Emporium I bought... but somehow selling twelve of them at the exact same price to Joe Reseller made them a huge amount of money? Zero times twelve is still zero.

LegoFanTexas

^ We lose money on every sale, but make it up in volume! :)

Yea, I gotta agree, a loss is a loss...

momof2boys99

LegoFanTexas said:

mathew said:

Outside of Jabba's Palace (which is so overpriced there has to be at least 50% markup) the Star Wars sets are not being heavily discounting.

Death Star for $289 strikes me as a pretty heavy discount. :)

I agree with you LFT.

Yes..people can laugh and have an opinion. I have been doing this for years and grew up in retail. Trends change and business models change too. I don't claim to be an expert, however I have seen companies change and products become less valuable.

mathew

^ How do you know they are making "zero profit"? My guess is that they already had a sweet deal with Lego to stock the modulars and that even at 30-40% off, they are making a little profit on each sale.

y2josh

I was only going by your initial assertion that

mathew said:

Walmart wouldn't be making any money.

which is very different from

mathew said:

they are making a little profit on each sale.

monkeyhanger

How much profit is estimated to be in the sale of a toy such as Lego? As a rule you retail something for 2.5x what the shop paid for it (excluding electronics), so point of nil profit is about 60% discount. Maybe Lego doesn't quite fit that model, but even so it would seem that a [email protected] sale is worth a hell of a lot more to TLG than a retailers single sale.

LegoFanTexas

^ I do not believe Lego applies to that model.

The standard discount everyone gets is 30% off RRP, that is well known.

What is also well known is that there are ways to make it lower than that, product placement dollars, marking co-op dollars, rebates for volume, etc.

I fully expect that Walmart is paying about 50% of the RRP for most of these sets, after all that is said and done, but they have costs on top of that.

In this case, selling them for any less than about 30% off would be losing money, they have warehouses to pay for, credit card fees to pay for, shipping, employees, cost of capital...

All of that has a cost attached to it, buying something for $5 and selling it for $6 does not give you a $1 net profit. It might get you a $1 gross profit, but that means little until you subtract out all the costs of doing business.

I feel very comfortable saying that Walmart is not making money at these prices, but that also might not be their goal here. Amazon lost money for years and years to build up a customer base and establish their name.

y2josh

^^For me, the point of no profit on my standard wares (your typical hobby shop fare) would be a 40% discount. I'm not sure what kind of discount you get from buying directly from LEGO, but I know when I buy direct from NECA, for example, my margin is sitting right at 40%.

rocao

First, the iPhone isn't a good example of a comparable good to suggest the Death Star is affordable for a wide base of consumers ("average"). I would venture that if you polled iPhone owners if they viewed their iPhones as a necessity, and asked the same about Death Star owners and their Death Stars, the iPhones would score resoundingly higher.

Second, according to market research from August, iPhones have a 6.9% share of the overall cell phone market. Now there are reasons to not own an iPhone beyond it being unaffordable, but IMO that small of market penetration is enough to suggest its cost is prohibitive for a large percentage of the population.

Pitfall69

I really don't think the average person trolls the web for the best Lego prices. I also don't think the average consumer will buy an expensive Lego set. The list of the top ten revenue generating sets for Lego in 2011 aren't very expensive. I was at ToysRUs today and some one was in shock on how much a Lego set was. $60 for a Lego set? You have to be kidding!!!" That is what I heard today, although I think most of us get sticker shock when we walk through the Lego aisle at TRU...lol.

I don't think this rash of Walmart sales will hurt anyone's sales in the aftermarket. The horror stories that I have read about the condition of the boxes should squash that :)

gmpirate

^ True enough. We will see how good these deals were once we can see the condition they are in.

monkeyhanger

LFT: Perhaps a slightly different model applies in Europe where RRPs are generally significantly higher than the US, but also where RRP can be largely ignored. In the UK and some other places in Europe we've seen some discounts very early on after release or even at launch (Jabba's Palace/ Amazon.es). A 3 for 2 offer is on quite regularly in Argos too.

Bandit

^^ Correct, you can't compare a $400 mini-computer/phone to a $400 Lego set. We can argue about it all day, but I'm still in the camp that yes, no average and even above average consumer would even think about buying a $400 Lego set, or even a $300 or $200 Lego set.

momof2boys99

@Pitfall69......What??? They had bad boxes?? ;)

LegoFanTexas

Bandit said:

^^ Correct, you can't compare a $400 mini-computer/phone to a $400 Lego set. We can argue about it all day, but I'm still in the camp that yes, no average and even above average consumer would even think about buying a $400 Lego set, or even a $300 or $200 Lego set.

Perhaps not... But if 50 million people will buy an iPhone 5 between now and the end of the year, then clearly some sub-set of that base can easily afford a $400 toy.

I've said it before, it really is no different than the parents buying Power Wheels for their kids, which I also see quite often.

I have a client who has 6 kids, aged 11 to 16, two pairs of twins. All have smart phones, total of 8 in the house.

There may not be 50 million such people in the USA, but there are quite a few of them out there. I have a hard time believing that Death Star, in 4 years, hasn't sold half a million copies world wide, and would not be suprised if it has sold 1 million copies in 4 years.

mathew

y2josh said:

I was only going by your initial assertion that

mathew said:

Walmart wouldn't be making any money.

which is very different from

mathew said:

they are making a little profit on each sale.

Ok, imagine you walk into Walmart for a single tv that you see is on sale. You buy your tv and then walk out of the store without buying anything else. Walmart priced that tv as a loss leader, expecting you to hopefully buy some cables to go with it or possibly some software, a blu-ray player, hell maybe some cat food. Since you only bought the tv, Walmart makes very little or even loses some money on the sale. Same goes for the discounted Lego sets. Buy one and they make only a little. Buy ten, along with possibly a few other reasonably priced items and they make some money. Heck, you might even be happy enough with the sale that it persuades you to stop in next time to buy groceries instead of going to the grocery store.

rocao

^ to reiterate, being able to afford a $400 toy is not the same thing as wanting to buy a $400 toy.

LegoFanTexas

rocao said:

First, the iPhone isn't a good example of a comparable good to suggest the Death Star is affordable for a wide base of consumers ("average").

I would agree with you, that wasn't my point however, perhaps I stated it poorly.

My point is just this... If there are 50 million people worldwide who can afford an iPhone 5, with models ranging from $200 to $400 (and those are US subsidized prices, they are higher elsewhere), then there are a whole bunch of people who can, if they choose, spend $200 to $400 on a Lego set.

They might not choose to, but they could.

rocao said:

Second, according to market research from August, iPhones have a 6.9% share of the overall cell phone market. Now there are reasons to not own an iPhone beyond it being unaffordable, but IMO that small of market penetration is enough to suggest its cost is prohibitive for a large percentage of the population.

Is that in the US, or worldwide? I would think that is low for the US number.

Ahh, found some numbers...

In the USA, Apple holds a 34.3% share of the smartphone market and a 17.1% share of the total mobile device market.

In the USA, 116.5 million people own smartphones, that is 1 out of every 3 people in the country, men, women, and children combined.

Based on all that, there are 40 million iPhone owners in the United States currently.

http://www.wirelessweek.com/News/2012/10/devices-Apple-Gains-Market-Share-Despite-iPhone-5-Anticipation/

That is a lot of people in the US with iPhones! We have about 110 million households, so on average, 1 out of every 3 households has an iPhone in it.

Yikes! :)

mathew

LegoFanTexas said:

mathew said:

^ I forgot about the Death Star. However, even at $289 it's way out of the price range for your average consumer.

$289 isn't what it used to be. But I'll grant that the average consumer didn't get access to this sale, it was at an odd time of night and ran out quickly.

But I don't think that is out the price range of the "average" consumer, whatever that might be.

Well, you're also from Texas where a 3K sq. ft. house would seem "average".

The truth is that even at $300 I just can't see spending that much on a child's toy. That is today. Six months ago I was in a Lego spending spree that I am now ashamed of. Also the iPhone is a device that people actually rely on for their daily lives. We had this discussion before about the iPad. Neither the iPad or the Death Star are necessary items. But I use the iPad a lot more than I would build and play with the Death Star

LegoFanTexas

Fair enough, I can for sure see both sides of the coin.

I personally use my iPad far more than my phone, which is not yet an iPhone because the screen is still too small, and it needs a slide out keyboard. ;) My Droid 3 has a larger screen and a keyboard, but it clearly is inferior to the iPhone in almost every other way but those two points.

But I love the iPad. :)

Back to the Death Star, it is a child's toy perhaps, but my son didn't build it, I did. So in that case, it was an adult toy! :) But I think most of them are still going to kids.

And I know what you mean about the spending spree, I've started selling off part of the personal collection that was purchased to build, when it dawned on me that we would never have the space or time to build it all, and at some point we had "too much", I was harming my kids through excess, in this case, "less is more". :)

Amberyl

@LegoFanTexas, have you seen the Boxwave Keyboard Buddy Backlit Edition (sold at Brookstone as well as online)? It's a slide-out keyboard case for the iPhone. Adds a trivial amount of thickness, and is the first decent (if imperfect) iPhone keyboard case I've tried. It's what finally got me to switch to an iPhone.

Bandit

We've had the discussion about power wheels before. Just like the iPhone, it's not a valid comparison. It's about perceived value. Sure, they may cost $400 or whatever, but it's basically a car. The perceived value is huge. The perceived value of a Lego set at $400, though, is not. To parents it's just a crappy toy, like any other toy. You can't get in it and drive it around the neighborhood. It doesn't do anything. $400 for that?? That my kid is going to lose all the pieces to in 30 minutes? Are you insane???

I think you could take a poll of all the parents who bought power wheels and ask them if they'd buy their kid a $400 Lego set, and I think the vast majority would look at you like you're crazy. Just my opinion. :)

LegoFanTexas

You might be right. Depends on if they have seen it in person or not.

I will grant you, many people see the Death Star in my home and say "that cost HOW much?"

Yes, they say that... Then I take 60 seconds to show it to them, the detail, and they tend to go, "oh... yea I guess so..."

It takes their brains time to wrap around it.

Then they come back later and say, "what was that Star Wars set, I want to get it for my son".

:)

More than once... Lego has just not done enough to make people aware that a detailed playset for kids is in that price range.

The problem with the UCS Star Destroyer and UCS Falcon is that while impressive to us, these same parents are generally not buying them for the kids, because there is nothing to do with them once built. Death Star is an amazing playset, the UCS sets are not.

LegoFanTexas

Amberyl said:

@LegoFanTexas, have you seen the Boxwave Keyboard Buddy Backlit Edition (sold at Brookstone as well as online)? It's a slide-out keyboard case for the iPhone. Adds a trivial amount of thickness, and is the first decent (if imperfect) iPhone keyboard case I've tried. It's what finally got me to switch to an iPhone.

No, thank you for the heads up, I'll have to take a look...

Bandit

^ btw, I agree the DS is completely awesome, and it's my kids' favorite toy of all time.

y2josh

Bandit said:

We've had the discussion about power wheels before. Just like the iPhone, it's not a valid comparison. It's about perceived value. Sure, they may cost $400 or whatever, but it's basically a car. The perceived value is huge. The perceived value of a Lego set at $400, though, is not. To parents it's just a crappy toy, like any other toy. You can't get in it and drive it around the neighborhood. It doesn't do anything. $400 for that?? That my kid is going to lose all the pieces to in 30 minutes? Are you insane???

I think you could take a poll of all the parents who bought power wheels and ask them if they'd buy their kid a $400 Lego set, and I think the vast majority would look at you like you're crazy. Just my opinion. :)

I think it depends on the parent, as well. And I say this without having any kids of my own... but I'd rather my kids have a $400 LEGO set than a $400 Power Wheel or iPhone (though I'd have preferred Bill Gates just let Apple go belly up the first time Jobs pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy, so my opinion on that last one may be a bit biased).

Bandit

^ yes indeed. I'm talking just your average parent, not your lego obsessed AFOL parents like us. :)

jdylak

LegoFanTexas said:

mathew said:

^ I forgot about the Death Star. However, even at $289 it's way out of the price range for your average consumer.

Is it? Apple sold over 5 million iPhone 5s at an average price of $300 in just 48 hours, and they are estimated to sell 50 million of them by the end of the year.

$289 isn't what it used to be. But I'll grant that the average consumer didn't get access to this sale, it was at an odd time of night and ran out quickly.

But I don't think that is out the price range of the "average" consumer, whatever that might be.

$289 is out of the price range for me, the "average consumer". Yes, I bought 3 modulars during the sale, BUT I sell things on the side which in turn lets me buy things like this. Without that, I am an "average consumer". We just bought a house 2 years ago, am having a child in March, have bills and payments and blah blah to pay. So to go out and spend $289 on a toy, would not even think of. That $289 needs to go to other things. If I didn't have my selling on the side, I would be done. But I would be very happy with what I have now. I don't understand peoples spending sometimes. I read how people BRAGGING about buying 10 of this set or clearing out a clearance row of sets. Good for you. Glad you can afford it. I have nothing against what you spend your money on. Want to wait in line to buy some $300 phone, have at it. I'm the first person flipping all you off as you cut me off at an intersection while holding that thing to your ear. Cell phones are a huge pet peeve to me. They come in a store and call the store WHILE THERE and ask where something is instead of moving those two things called legs and looking.

Rant over. Again, I'm glad people can hoard sets and still live a nice life. That's what this country, or any is about. Freedom. But why does everything come across as a brag when it comes to buying?