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| 1,575 (around $16) per pair in Japan...sold for $38-$90 in US |
It was a great anime way back when, but the fans that collect the toys? Some of them have no common sense. It isn't just Sailor Moon. It's also Card Captor Saukra, Tokyo Mew Mew, and Mermaid Melody Pichi Pitch.
Old toys that sold for a few dollars in Japan and even some US versions that clearanced out at a few dollars in the US after they stopped airing the poorly dubbed episodes are now sold by flippers for as much as 20 times retail. People will pay $300 dollars for a locket or a wand. And the items are so old that you can't get them anymore, so price depends on demand. 8 years ago, you could find old anime toys and merchandise online at some very fair prices on Yahoo Japan Auctions. However, they did and do not register overseas bidders (you would think that they would because even if they charged a small yearly or monthly fee, they could make serious money off all the teenagers with mom and dad's allowance money waving around, and adult collector's willing to push their bills and life necessities aside) and therefore you have to sign up with a deputy service that will bid for you or give you a password to bid, and to hold your items and ship them to you. There are fees involved in this. Fees to bid that average around $5 per item. Paypal fees. Shipping fees. The seller ships the item to them, they hold it in their warehouse, then ship to you via a registered shipping service that isn't cheap. For a $20 item, you can end up spending $60 in fees and shipping. With more and more people using deputy services, the auctions first stopped ending at reasonable prices because of all of the people bidding. Then the Japanese sellers started listing the items higher because they knew they could. Then it slowly spread to Ebay where Japanese sellers ask 3-5 times what an item is worth. With items that are over 10 years old and sold out, they are collectable and price changes to fit the demand. And there is demand.
Tokyo Mew Mew...But take a look at Tokyo Mew Mew for example. UFO plushes. Back when this series came out, UFO plushes were pretty low quality. Felt faces, flat felt hair, peeling painted on eyes. Now the plush and figures sell on ebay for as much as $150 per plush, $50 per $5 figure set, $100 per large figure. Keep in mind that on Yahoo Japan these figures average at a few dollars each unless Americans with lots of extra cash are bidding. You can find them in recycle shops for a few dollars if you live in Japan. But on Ebay, they sell for so much over that, and it is all due to a small group of maybe 5 or 6 overzealous collectors who are willing to shell out hundreds. They stalk the internet looking for people that bought these years ago and harass them to please please please sell them to them. A few years ago, I bought a UFO plush for $15 shipped. I could now flip it for $15--$200 if I wanted and if I found one of the desperate fans that didn't already harass someone else into selling theirs. Then when they get repeats, they flip them for 5-8 times that much.
Back to Sailor Moon. Paying $300 for a 15 year old collectable wand or locket is not something I would ever do, but if you have extra money and you would rather spend it on an old wand than on a vacation or...okay then.
But this is where the reason that I say Sailor Moon fans- many, not all- have no common sense. Starting in 2013, new merchandise started coming out. Some of it was and is sold on sites like Ami Ami and Hobby Link Japan as pre-orders. American flippers are buying as many as they can and then flipping them for twice the price. For example, a cup for $4, a tissue cover for $13/$15, a cell plug for $5. Those same items are being listed on ebay by both Japanese flippers and American flippers. $20 for the cup, $30 for the tissue cover, and $15 for the cell plug. And people are buying!! I suppose some of those buyers are people who were slow to pre-order and when the flippers ordered all of the stock...Then there are the Japanese exclusives sold only on Japanese websites or in Japanese game centers. Chopsticks for example were picked up by 2 or 3 web stores and sold for more than 3 TIMES as much. And people are buying. Game prizes not even RELEASED yet and that will be won for a few dollars each are being sold for as much as $100 on Ebay. And people are buying.
One person on a collectible site that plainly lists retail price as around $27.48 US for a set of pens, excitedly proclaims that they bought that set from a Japanese seller on ebay for $60 instead of the $90 some other sellers were asking. Insane. I can't imagine how insane the Japanese think Americans are to pay 3-4 times as much for something. Those 1,575 Yen ($15.41) chopsticks? CdJapan will sell you a pair for $60.75. Those mugs that are 2230 Yen ($21.82)? Jbox will sell them to you for $34. And ebay flippers will sell each for $90.
Here are some examples ...
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| Ami Ami gets in on flipping and charges 3 times retail after it's sold out... |
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| Retail price |
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| $6 each becomes $20 each |
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| Approx $6 each retail |
In conclusion, some Sailor Moon (and other magical girl fans) have zero common sense, and that lack of common sense jacks up the prices so that other people can't afford to buy a mug set or some chopsticks. Because there are people with no common sense happily paying $60 for a $28 item.
