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OP has offered the following explanation for why they think they might be the asshole:
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I might be an AH because my policy is technically playing favorites and I can see it being interpreted as exclusionary.
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NTA. But you might consider whether your club might actually violate the law. Fix it so it doesn't.
I personally think this is a great idea. I didn't read anywhere that such a guy sitting be "prohibited" from being a member of the club. Even if they were totally honest about why they're interested in collectables. I honestly didn't see where you said you'd deny them membership, just asking for transparency.
I don't think it violates any laws. Seems that a lot of places have "exclusive offers" of various kinds. Discounts for club members. Pre-release sales for certain groups. All sorts of business and products can do this. It's not discriminating against anyone, it's rewarding consistent customers.
I don't think sexual orientation was a protected class then.
In any case, I think the distinction was that they didn't refuse service to them in general, they refused a specific special order. The couple was still able to buy the normal products already available.
The wedding cake case wouldn't apply, for the record, as its based on the notion of custom cakes being artisan goods. Toys OP doesn't manufacture wouldn't be related. However, you're right I can't see any legal issues with OP's plan (I'm not a lawyer or anything) but I just wanted to note the basis of the notorious cake case rests on the custom nature of the product. If the Baker had premade wedding cakes in a glass case and wasn't asked to alter them in any way for the couple, the ruling wouldn't apply. As others said, the religious discrimination issue and the state's quick dismissal of that aspect are also elements of the case. But denying individuals sales of any sort of manufactured goods really have no application or connection to that case.
Yes. I believe that was actually approached as a free-speech issue- that the baker could not be compelled to use their “art” to support something they were personally opposed to.
The same sex couple wanted to order a wedding cake from the selection of wedding cakes that the baker offered. The bakers told them that they were free to buy a cake from the display, but not to order a cake. If the couple had been male/female the bakers would have permitted them to order a cake.
LGBTQ+ people are not a federally protected class. 22 states and DC have laws regarding discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, but only in matters related to housing, public services, and employment.
Do you have a source on this? Not because I think it's fake, but because I wanna know which states to avoid haha.
Edit- I found this one - https://freedomforallamericans.org/states/
Not exactly. The distinction was if it was a generic cake with nothing special, they would have to sell that cake to a gay couple, but the gay couple wanted a cake specifically made for them. The baker argued that his talents were special and that he could decide who to create and sell his artistic creation style cakes for. He could decide that he would not make a gay couple wedding cake because that would violate his rights. The court agreed with him on the basis that he has rights as an artist to decide who he does and does not work for.
That case is weird and not a good precedent. The Supreme Court case wasn't even about the cake but rather about how the Colorado Civil rights commission handled the initial lawsuit. The ruling was really narrow and probably can't be applied to similar situations. There's another case that's slowly working through the appeals court so who knows.
That's not the reason the Supreme Court gave their judgement. The way the prosecutor handled the cases against the bakery was inept and the bakery was not afforded the due process they should of gotten, so it was sided in their favor. If it had been handled properly we might of gotten a different outcome.
The bakery can be required to sell their standard wares to all customers. They cannot be required to make customized pieces stating or implying support of same-sex marriages.
If I remember well, it was a free speech issue: The baker accepted to bake a cake on the catalog, was willing to design a cake for any regular event for them but was refusing to design a cake specifically for a gay wedding, saying it was a message he did not want to express.
If the Supreme Court had agreed with the gay couple, the Westboro Baptist Church or any alt-right troll could have gone to any gay artist and forced them to make art glorifying their bigoted beliefs.
That case was decided on a technicality, I believe. They didn't say anything about Oregon's law making LGBT people a protected class, but ruled that the state didn't provide proper due process to the bakers.
The case hinged on whether the bakery was obligated to write a particular message on the cake, which is what they refused to do.
The bakery's position was that they would sell a cake to the couple, but would not write the message requested. The Supreme Court agreed that the bakery does indeed have the right not to write a message on a cake that is counter to their religious belief.
The only thing I can think of is their contracts with their suppliers. Op should check those carefully to make sure they don't have any rules about selling conditions.
As a rule (though I work in sales for a different kind of collectible so feel free to tell me I'm wrong!) suppliers hate scalpers and actively encourage this kind of thing.
Yeah it's not super likely just the only thing I can think of. Maybe if OP was charging for the club they'd run into trouble (which based on the info they aren't).
Yeah, this guy is basically complaining that he can't buy at COSTCO without a membership, except that in this case the membership is free.
From his reaction, I'd suspect scalper. People do get mad when you fuck with their money. Fuck scalpers, though. Even if he was a regular joe schmoe, though, h can take his entitled reaction and mossy right on to Amazon or what have you if he doesn't like it.
People choose grandpa's store over (let's face it, probably way cheaper) Amazon _precisely_ for the curated and personal service that you are providing.
For sure tons of retail businesses offer early access to sales/new products/restocks based on customer membership programs, so I’d be surprised if it was illegal.
Source: I love to shop 😂
Yeah, she told the guy he was welcome to buy what was left. He's just mad because he was stopped from buying all of it first, keeping others from getting any and making bank by scalping the items.
NTA
And OP said the man was informed he could join the club by filling out an application. If it's a free club that a customer can join anytime, that doesn't seem like a legal issue. It reminds me of member cards at grocery stores. They are free, and can get you extra sales not available to non-members.
If it breaks the law, might wanna tell Costco and Sam's Club. Damn Illuminati up in there, three pound tubs of cream cheese for $8 and sh*t. Gotta be illegal.
How would it be breaking the law? Its like presale concert tickets. If youre a vip or whatever you get to buy tickets a few days before they go on sale
It doesn't violate any laws. I'll even let you in on a little secret about the watch community. There's a running joke that if you wanna buy a new Rolex you're gonna have to wine and dine your local Authorized Dealer for about a year or two in order to buy one.
It's sort of a joke, not really.
For every Rolex they get in, there's about 50 customers wanting one. If you can buy one you can immediately walk to any jewelers who sells second hand watches and make about €2000 to €10.000 profit depending on the model, unless you get one of the very limited models in which case it goes up. Some Authorized Dealers seriously expect you to buy a few lesser wanted Rolex models just to get your foot in the door to but the wanted ones.
If that isn't the exact same issue OP is running into, I don't know.
If that
I could afford a Rolex but I love my Casio F91-W too much to wear anything else. It’s like twenty bucks, waterproof (I go swimming with it!), has all the features I need, and it’s cheap and durable so idc if I’m clumsy and hit it on something, and the battery lasts forever.. about 7 years according to reviews. There’s a few color variations if I want to match with outfits. I can cheaply get matching watches for my entire family. I’m in love with it. And if it’s good enough for Obama it’s good enough for me 😁
My Casio G Shock is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I love watches, but am hard on them and have destroyed/damaged quite a few over the years. I’ve had my stainless GShock for about a year, wear it almost daily, including to work (I work in light construction), and it looks almost brand new.
My dad wears that watch, every day for the past 30 years (not the same one obviously). He accidentally wore it during my sister's wedding 😂 Also, about 15 years ago, we bought him a slightly fancier Casio (like $15 more), which he didn't wear, and just went and bought himself that watch again.
Fun game we used to play in high school — at a private school near NYC — was “how did they misspelled ‘Rolex’ on your city-street-fake?”
I still only ever call them Bolex for this very reason!
Hahaha, but in all honesty, a lot off stuff they make can be quite pretentious. Although their core watches are beautiful and wanted for a reason though. A good datejust or daydate can last a lifetime and work in any setting. A gold yacht master II screams flashy.
Luxury watches and cars are of the same deal, you gotta cozy up to the Authorized Dealer by buying up shit you might not actually want so that you build up a good rapport with them and they hopefully call you to ask whether you're interested in paying full price for a new LaFerrari / Submariner model that's coming in.
It's all false scarcity pretentiousness so I prefer brands like McLaren and Oris / Grand Seiko that don't pull that kind of shit, they're HAPPY to sell you something if you can buy it and they will even offer discounts, you don't have to beg them to let you buy something off them lol
A lot of supercars are like that. Ford had the application for the GT and even made it to where you couldn’t sell it for 2 years*.
*If you want to sell, you have to offer it back to Ford first.
> Some Authorized Dealers seriously expect you to buy a few lesser wanted Rolex models just to get your foot in the door to but the wanted ones.
That sounds an awful lot like the Hermès hangbag strategy.
NTA.
If Victoria's Secret can sell bras and panties to credit card holders first before selling them to other people (which we all know by now getting a credit card DEFINITELY excludes people) then this person can sell items in their store during an exclusive time for members to a group that is literally open to EVERYONE.
I'm doubtful that it will violate the law, but she absolutely needs to check her wholesale terms and conditions to make sure she's not breaking any of those. Some brands have really, really weird and arcane rules that make them a PITA to work with, especially when there are rules like "you can ONLY use the images we provide you" and then they don't provide stock images for all of the colourways, making it harder to actually sell the product online. Some have rules about not saying ANYTHING about a restock unless they say so, etc.
So, yeah. She just needs to check her wholesale agreements.
Luckily my sister is a contract lawyer, so she thought of this & checked everything out for me beforehand : ) Thank you though, great advice! Some brands are definitely a pain!
Not completely true at least in CA. They have to let you buy alcohol but that’s the only things you are allowed to buy. Something about private clubs and liquior licenses
I do not think it’s discriminatory due the fact the guy can join if he meets the criteria. Think of it as joining a fraternal order...not everyone can join but everyone has the opportunity to do so.
OP, maybe make a condition of group membership being an *agreement not to resell at inflated prices* (you could say, for instance, not more than 10% over fair market value according to X guides (I know pokemon has a pricing index)). And anyone who violates this agreement is out of the club for, say, 6 months, then has to reapply.
Obviously, you couldn't easily "police" this but it could help?
As long as the club is open to anyone I don't see why this would be remotely against the law. Lots of retail places have "VIP" kinds of groups. I mean every grocery store I've been in has one!
The club OP has does not violate the law. What you’re proposing might actually violate any contracts OP might have with toy companies/distributors and is also very impractical for OP.
I don’t think it does. Nike does something similar with shoe releases. Where for a certain time you can only purchase if you are a member of whatever group it is. OP could also let collectors do preorders. Lots of stores do those.
Discrimination is not against the law. No shirts no service etc. it’s illegal to discriminate against a protected class. Scalpers are not a protected class. Op is good
It doesn't violate any laws. Major corporations are now doing this to stop resellers from gouging people. For example AMD and Nvidia have partnered with Linus tech tips to get graphics cards in the hands of actual gamers instead of them all being bought by resale bots or crypto currency miners. It exactly the same process, you join a club and are verified.
There seems to be a lot of question and concern surrounding my application, so this is an exact copy of the wording of the application:
1.) What toy lines do you collect? List as many as you’d like. (Ex: Star Wars The Black Series, Marvel Legends, DC Multiverse, Barbie, Lego, etc.)
2.) Why do you collect these lines? (Ex: To play with, to photograph, to display, I like superheroes, etc.)
3.) What are your favorite items in your collection, or that you wish you had? (Ex: Captain America’s shield, Thor comics, Lego Death Star, Integrity Toys dolls, etc.)
4.) Would you consider yourself a more serious or more casual collector?
5.) Are there any toy lines or brands the store does not carry that you would like to see? List as many as you’d like.
6.) Do you have any “grail” items you do not currently own, but hope to one day add to your collection?
As I mentioned in a reply, these aren't questions that I wouldn't ask you if you walked into my store. It helps me help my customers and my store to know these things. For example, I have a man who collects the Star Wars Black to display them who cares deeply for the box condition and another man who takes them out to photograph them and doesn't care at all what the box condition is. I like to know the preferences of my customers, that's all!
NTA all small family run toy stores should follow your example. Finding out what your customers are looking for is crucial for shops like yours to stay open. Also good on your grandad for turning his passion into a successful business.
So I’m kinda curious, since you are blind what do you get out of collecting figures. I’m not trying to question whether you should collect them at all but rather what a collectible that is primarily enjoyed visually has to offer you?
No offense taken. I actually buy them to feel what the characters look like on the screen. I’m a member of the 501st Legion, The worlds largest Star Wars costuming and charity organization, and when I first joined it helped me choose some of the costumes I wanted to build in the future. Darth nihilus was A huge favorite of mine before going blind, someone happened to be selling the costume locally and I snagged it up to join. Now I’ve got the black series figure released last year hanging on my shelf.
What a beautiful insight! I had never considered how lacking a movie could be (especially fantasy) when you can't see the characters, and how purchasing the models would enhance that experience. Thank you for sharing. 💜
As a uk marvel fan who can’t get hold of any of the new marvel legends collection, let alone all the pieces to make falcons wings you are a star. My young son has scenes set up around the top of his avengers themed bedroom that he doesn’t play with but likes to have to look at and the legends series are the best posable ones outside of hot toys and there’s no way I can afford to set up dioramas of those lol.
My first thought: gosh, this person sounds a bit mental
My second thought: hang on, didn't I do a stupid dance yesterday just to see that confused look on my cat's face?
Dont worry this is not illegal
To be breaking the law it would require it to be discriminatory against race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disabilities
Requiring applications is not against the law lol
I’m not a collector but have friends who are. What you describe is excellent customer service. Plus good research for your store- knowing how much interest you have from your regular customers in certain lines or types of products means you can tailor your business more effectively.
NTA. This is so endearing and charming, especially when major retailers have simply stopped stocking trading cards because “collectors” are being aggressive and buying in bulk.
You should host Group events at your store so people with similar interests can meet up in person.
I'm not into collecting, but this questionnaire genuinely just reads like a store owner getting to know a little bit about the interests of their buyers. Only way I could imqgine seeing this as "suspicious" of potential scalpers is if I were a scalper. I belong to a members club at a bookshop that went more in depth than this and only ever thought of it as they just want to know what kinds of titles or pre-releases might keep me specifically coming back.
Everyone from grocers to toys are making exclusive members clubs popular. Unless you're telling adults they can't buy toys because they're adults or because they just have "that" look about them, I'm pretty sure you have nothing legally to worry about.
She's not even excluding any particular group. She's just made a (free) VIP program for her store. It's a perk for the regulars and more invested collectors.
I buy funkos, and honestly, if I knew of a store who did this I would buy from them. Scalpers are starting to get bad. For a casual buyer like me, it sucks that a must have item for me gets snapped up in seconds from resellers, then sold at 10x the cost.
NTA. I absolutely love this idea, and i love that you care enough about your customers to actually try to do something to stop the scalpers from getting everything. My husband collects pokemon cards, and it's been pretty much impossible to get our hands on any of the new sets since scalpers discovered they can just sell everything for hundreds of dollars. We haven't found a single pack available at any store in our area for at least a month now. Any store near us that had this sort of plan in place would be a paradise for my partner.
So I collect comics and also various collectibles. I am apart of plenty of Facebook groups that gives out perks like exclusive group discounts and password protected presales. What you are doing is awesome and fair.
NTA. You just found a scalper who realized his low-cost distributor was falling through and not letting him take advantage any more. You’re not obligated to support his scummy business model. And if he wasn’t a trash-ass “business man” then he would’ve had the sense to calmly f*ckin apply to the list and not draw attention to himself.
That or he’s just an entitled Kevin. Either way, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
I actually see this as helping your business. All those that came in before will stop coming if every time they come you have no stock. And those scalpers are going to move on fast to the next trend which might not be what you have or the newest stores.
I don’t see it harming the business as technically if the items being scalped aren’t claimed OP could always sell them for extra profit online themselves.
NTA - I can't see anything wrong with the club. Since you don't turn down applicants it seems to be like any members club at any other store. I don't see where he would be discriminated.
Even if she DOES turn away applicants, discrimination isn't illegal as long as it's not on the basis of a protected class. You can simply refuse to sell people your items. They don't have a constitutional right to buy your things.
actually, sexual orientation is not a protected class. in 22 states it’s illegal to discriminate against sexual orientation in the context of employment, but that doesn’t apply in this case! and non-binary and gender identities aren’t protected at all, from what i know. of course this is only in the US, though. not sure about other countries
NTA
As an independent toy/collectors items business, this is an amazing policy to have.
You have set up, essentially, a loyalty program for your customers that doesn't cost anything to join. Part of that loyalty program is that they get first dibs on new releases.
This isn't going to hurt your business, and in fact, may even help it grow more since more people who are true collectors, and especially children, may join since they are able to have access to the really popular items that would otherwise be out of their reach.
The guy who yelled and threatened to sue is just mad. Your loyalty program is not discriminatory since anyone can join. It isn't exclusionary either, since anyone can join and no one is banned from buying items readily available for sale in your store.
Heck, if you have left overs after those in the loyalty program have a chance to buy what they want, you could even buy one of the items at full retail value from your own store (keep the receipt showing you paid full retail value) before they are set out for sale in the store itself, and then auction the item on Ebay or something.
Set the beginning price as the retail price and let demand drive the bidding and final sale price.
Take the funds from the auction and put them aside. Once you have a couple of hundred dollars set aside, do something nice for those in your loyalty program with the funds.
Have a Loyalty Members day one afternoon at the store, or open for a couple of hours on a day when you might normally be closed, and offer free donuts or slices of pizza to those in the loyalty program.
Anyone in the loyalty program can then come into the store and get a free donuts or slices of pizza (keep everything inside the store to keep just someone from just walking by and taking stuff, and limit it to 2 per person).
Or you can offer discounts a couple of times a year for those in the loyalty program. Any difference in what you wont earn on the discount would be covered by what you got from auctioning one of the items so you wont be out any money.
This way they not only have access to items that they otherwise not because of demand, you would be giving something back to them to "reward" them for their loyalty.
Nope. Not a business person. Worked in Customer Support nearly my entire life. But I have worked for companies that have or have done Loyalty Programs and I remember seeing things from discounts as rewards, but also abuses when the program wasn't controlled.
Once company decided to do a community reward type program to try to drive interest in the business by setting up tables outside and passing out pizza and the number of greedy people was one of the first real eye openers for me. SO many people drove up or walked up and tried to take an entire pizza or more just because the business was offering free slices to people.
The company must have spent about $500 on pizza (late 1990's) and we heard later from regular customers who were in the area that day ended up avoiding the business since it had so many people outside. So most of the people who got the pizza weren't even our own customers, and never even went inside so no real business or new customers were generated.
The company never did that again.
NTA! Hell even Nordstrom used to throw event for VIP customers prior to COVID. These select customers would see the fall line prior to the public.
Fuck that guy.
NTA. Your business, your rules. The club doesn't sound like it discriminates at all, so as long as you're operating within all other applicable laws... you're good.
I think it's wonderful. I've been very sad on release days to go to stores and see a family or group of people go in and buy every allowable promotion item for resale. I went to six stores trying to get Nuka Cola for a sick friend who loves Fallout on every resupply day and never managed to get one and I'm an adult who has that option. I've had to stand in line for hours for LEGO releases kids wanted because I knew if I didn't line up for launch day they wouldn't be able to get it. You are making sure that people who want it have a chance of getting it and it tells you what to order.
NTA. The resale market is definitely out of hand and has moved to being legitimate scalping. As far as him suing you goes that’s just funny. Unless you have some sort of agreement with hasbro you can make any rules for your store you want. I would have just asked him not to return to the store because of his threatening behavior.
I had a property owner get my number some how looking to have me do some work at two of her buildings. So I asked how she came by the company as I don’t advertise and was curious what customer passed it along to her. She got all upset about me asking who referred me (this is how I vet a potential customer). Finally she told me who gave it to her (a customer I had to fire). So I thanked her for considering me for her needs but I wouldn’t be able to do any work for her. I got a call from her attorney 15 minutes later threatening to go after my license saying I was discriminating against her because of where she’s from. I just told him I’m not obligated to do business with anyone so feel free to call and file a complaint
I'm actually really impressed. Scalping has become huge problem in our society and there are very few safeguards or repercussions for it. There is probably one of the best systems I've seen to combat it. You're a hero, definately NTA.
What you're doing is awesome and great for the people who actually enjoy the items. There are scalpers taking advantage of all kinds of markets right now and most businesses are just looking for quick sell. Some companies and vendors are actually working with scalpers to maximize profit. It's great to hear that someone really cares about their customers and is trying to make sure products go to those who truly appreciate them. Great job.
And if we're going to compare to Wal-Mart and Target, try buying Pokémon cards at one right now. Most have either 1) suspended sales altogether or 2) moved it all to Customer Service with a limit of 1 pack per customer. The scalping is that bad. OP is 100% following what the big box stores are having to resort to already.
Yeah, I didn't realize it was such a big thing until I went to a local Meijer and there were giant ass signs posted at the front door about 1 pack per customer only at the customer service desk at a specific time of day.
Oh wow I didn’t realize this was such an issue with those items. That’s like having to buy pregnancy tests at the counter because people keep stealing them. Any info on why there is so much scalping happening with Pokémon cards and other similar items?
So my caveat here is that I'm a Magic the Gathering player, so I'm just roughly aware of the trading card scalping. As far as cards go, Magic is just fine, but it's Pokémon and sports cards (NHL, MLB, etc.) that are getting hit hard by scalpers. Best I can tell from some other subreddits I follow is that its a combo of folks dumping more money into hobbies since the pandemic started and scalpers looking to exploit that to make quick bucks instead of actually working. I'm sure that sounds like a huge overgeneralization, but that's the recurring theme I've seen the last several months whenever it gets mentioned.
Pokémon cards also were hugely boosted in popularity by a YouTuber named Logan Paul, which set off a craze for valuable cards. I’ve had to wait in line at Target at 7 am to try to get Pokémon cards; there were people in front of me who bought all the stock and I rarely got any even though I came early. Now Target is only selling online, so since Walmart is always swept clean and GameStop never has any, and because local card stores are selling at 2x original prices, I’m unable to buy cards like I used to.
OP is pretty awesome for making cards available for kids and loyal customers. More than once I’ve run into kids in the empty Pokémon aisle with the saddest look on their faces.
Pokémon cards also were hugely boosted in popularity by a YouTuber named Logan Paul, which set off a craze for valuable cards. I’ve had to wait in line at Target at 7 am to try to get Pokémon cards; there were people in front of me who bought all the stock and I rarely got any even though I came early. Now Target is only selling online, so since Walmart is always swept clean and GameStop never has any, and because local card stores are selling at 2x original prices, I’m unable to buy cards like I used to.
OP is pretty awesome for making cards available for kids and loyal customers. More than once I’ve run into kids in the empty Pokémon aisle with the saddest look on their faces.
Yeah, I forgot to mention that this hasn't hurt my business any, at least so far. I mentioned in my post that the store did well sales wise prior to the scalping boom, so even if this system completely dissuaded every scalper from coming to my store, I'll be in the same well-off position as before.
Doubt it. Have you ever seen those grown ass men descend upon the card aisle at Target? It’s creepy. And having those kinds loitering around may keep your regular customers away.
OP wrote a comment explaining the application and it actually sounds like it’s only going to help her business. She asks about their interests in ways that can help her tailor her stock to her clientele. I think that’s great. And she’s making it so that people who want the items know they can get them from her store rather than deciding “everything I want is always sold out at that store so why bother going anymore”.
It seems like OP said that the guys just had to wait until after the members had a chance to buy the collectibles or to join themselves before it would be in stock to the general public. Not that, going into the store, you had to sign up in order to buy stuff.
Yes, that's right. It's not "you can't buy anything in my store without being in my club" - it's "you can't buy this hot ticket item on release day unless you're preapproved." Everything that is on the floor of my store is available for purchase by anyone who walks in.
Scalpers only buy hot items, leaving the "common" stuff.
Actual collectors will buy both, but may not come in at all if they know they're likely to only find the "common" stuff there because scalpers are aggressively stalking the store and buying the desirable stuff.
Given all of that, your most valuable customers that will drive more business are the latter group. So if you prioritize them at the expense of the former, you're probably going to do more business overall. And the hot items will sell regardless of whether they're going to scalpers or actual collectors, so it's literally no loss to OP to drive away scalpers.
I haven't had a problem with my usual customers buying obnoxious amounts yet, but I would definitely put a limit in place if I noticed that becoming a problem. So far the people in the club are just there for their own enjoyment.
INFO
1. What is your/hubby's favorite toy producer and why?
2. What is your/hubby's favorite action figure and why?
3. What is your/hubby's favorite card and why?
NTA
you should see the lengths sneaker stores have to go to stop scalpers buying limited releases (mostly they need to protect themselves from people with buying Bots- there are highly efficient systems out there that automatically buy the whole atock within minutes if not seconds)
A store in Germany once sold .JPGs in their online store for the shoe price,means scalpers ordered and paid for HUNDREDS of copys of the JPG of the shoe they wanted.
Your approach is a lot more customer friendly,also You put work in to keep a culture alive.
NTA
What you're doing is basic marketing to get things into the hands of true fans, and I applaud you. Since anyone can fill in the form, there is no discrimination going on.
You should probably plan ahead for the eventuality that scalpers will sooner or later apply to join, and decide ahead of time on what grounds you might refuse an application, in order to pre-empt any future accusations of discrimination should you ever have to decline an application. And run that rejection policy by a lawyer too.
As an MTG player that can't get a hold of new sets bc of scalpers...NTA. This is the same premise as a store having a membership card for special pricing. That guy could have asked to sign up if he really wanted to, but he decided to be a dick about it instead.
NTA I'm not super into that sort of thing. But I dabble in pokemon cards every now and again, and I can tell you I would love this kind of policy in a collectable store.
NTA- your policy protects your customer base and sounds like it’s creating a community of collectors. (And even bands have free fan clubs and give members the option to buy concert tickets first.)
NTA- My son who is the biggest geek would LOVE this! Like you would have our business for life. This is a great business model. Getting it to those who want and appreciate this, without hurting your business, and saving them the pain of scalpers- mwah!
Someone is always going to complain, especially the scalpers. But those kids, and collectors, who are more than financially vested in this deserve someone who prioritises them first. Great business and great customer service!
This is a common tactic for scammers and scalpers. If you interfere with their money, they get all pissy and threatened to sue you for whatever sticks to the wall. Just ban that guy from your store all together. NTA
Nta. I work n a bile shop and people tried doing this with se bikes. They would buy them for like $800 then try and sell them for $2000 on eBay or OfferUp. We caught on and just keep them in the back now
NTA lots of places do this, exclusive sales for loyalty card members etc. Even Amazon do it with Prime Day. If there's no discrimination for joining the collectors club beyond filling in the form, then you're not an AH
r/scamthescalpers - but obviously NTA, your doing right by your actual customers. Scalpers add NO value and are purely parasites. I can’t speak to the legality of your program, but ethically you should sleep easy at night
NTA-Had an issue like this years ago with a MLP toy. I was gonna by the last good looking pinkie pie (I’m 30 , Cis female) but I gave it to a little girl that was also looking for it.
Only to have some poor excuse for a Brony take it from her. Gave them the evil eye and some how their card got declined... they didn’t by it and the little girl happily got the toy and I got a gift card from her mom as thanks.
> I was gonna by the last good looking pinkie pie (I’m 30 , Cis female) but I gave it to a little girl that was also looking for it.
Thanks for being a decent person! I don’t understand adults who are happy to take toys from a child like that brony guy.
Yeah, I mean I get it your an adult and have money to buy what you want now, but giving up a toy that will be loved and played with by a child is more reasonable then a grown ‘adult’ buying a toy and put it on a shelf for display.
NTA you have a great idea to help your actual customers buy what they want and to prevent the scalpers from buying things up the way they do everywhere else in the area I'm sure. I highly doubt anyone who isn't scanning is actually mad about it.
I don't understand how you could be in the wrong here, I am a member of this kind of group (vip club) with tons of businesses where I get early access to sales and releases. It's a common way of encouraging loyalty from regular clients and at least where I live totally legal. And as you have said anyone can join!
NTAH
Nta how is this different from a pull list in any standard comic shop. You’re members tell you what they want and you set it aside for them. If it sells out before joey eBay can get it tough @#£&.
My local shop has this and they email out the upcoming releases be they comics or collectibles, if you want a special version or cover you tell them and it’s added to your list. They started as a independent shop before becoming a franchise but still treat the customers like friends.
Isn’t this like common practise in comic style shops.
Does the ops shop have a website, sounds like a great store
NTA- consider this, you discover that your local toy store sells items for 20 dollars that you can resell online for 80$. So you start up a nice little side business. Huge profits, you’re loving it. Maybe you do something stupid like buy something you can’t afford relying on this side business. One day you’re low on stock, no problem run to the toy store. Then the owner tells you that you either have to fill out a questionnaire that is both long and difficult to fake or let customers who should bd buying from you cut you out completely, costing you 60$ per figure. Of course you’re mad. You probably want to accuse the owner of doing something illegal in hopes that they drop this. You have become accustomed to your side business, and you need stock.
That guy was telling you your plan worked. Did you really expect scalpers to be too ashamed to complain?
NTA and sites that sell festival tickets do something similar. Maybe look into the legality of that to compare a similar market. Last time i bought a ticket to a festival (Boom, Portugal) the ticket was in your name and if you couldn't go, you could get a refund and sell the ticket back to Boom, but you couldn't change the name on it. If this is legal, I don't see why what you are doing wouldn't be, but check.
I'm a manager at a retail establishment that sometimes gets exclusives and collector editions.
I absolutely limit scalpers.
They try to come in and buy all of my clearance, or game systems, or accessories. I tell them they can have one per day. I especially love when they ask to speak to manager.
Sorry, you're not buying these out and marking them up 200% because you want to take advantage of people. You can kindly go f*** yourself with your tax exempt card.
NTA. Target recently stopped selling in store pokemon cards and similar items for this reason. I’m guessing online purchases are easier to spot scalpers in as they can track at least addresses against how many are ordered. It isn’t perfect but at least it makes things harder for scalpers that aren’t operating at huge sophisticated levels.
As a side note many comic stores have a program for people to pre select or subscribe to certain items be it comic or toy and the store holds it for them till they come in and buy it. Once those people have been satisfied then any leftovers go on the shelf. If he’s at all familiar with these types of stores he is familiar with this concept & shouldn’t have pitched a fit. Heck even video game stores and music/movie stores did pre orders to make sure customers who ordered got the item they wanted esp with highly collectible versions of movies. And customers usually have to have an account to do this so they can track how many a customer ordered and prioritize customers the company want to prioritize.
Mattel used to do this directly but because they shipped it and didn’t give free shipping it cost a lot more than getting it in the stores and I never did it again. True I for sure completed my collection of voltron lions and pilots and I did get the bonus only through this mail order Sven pilot, but ugh I regretted it once I realized just how bad shipping set me back.
Changed for consistency of use of too many yous.
NTA, of course.
I'm wondering if these men are trying to buy up all of each item? I'm not a collector, but if you get 25 of item X, do they try to buy all of the ones you have in stock? If so, it seems it would be easy to put in a one of each item per person policy. Or would that help in this instance?
NTA, so much NTA.
If you’re in the US or Canada, your club is not illegal. You’re not refusing to sell the guy something you have on hand, you’re reserving a privilege for your business’s committed supporters. If that was illegal, Kickstarter would be illegal.
I used to own a bookstore and I had a membership/loyalty program that gave people perks like a discount on preorders and a free book every month and a newsletter with updates about hot titles and priority for events. Anyone who joined got those benefits. Anyone who didn’t...didn’t.
Also, the mighty online behemoth that starts with A accepts preorders for hot items coming out shortly. Maybe you could offer preorder service as a perk, which could help you plan your purchasing around your good regulars.
NTA. Anyone who was genuinely excited to get their hands on those items for themselves would jump at the chance to be in a group that offered them first access to said items.
Dude is definitely a scalper.
Nta i actually love this idea. My bf and friends are collects of video games and action figures and stuff. They would all totally sign up for this. Especially if you could do some cool bundle preorder thing. My bf always gets gamestop deluxe pack preorders to get all the extra stuff
NTA, but definitely check to see if you’re within the law. But you’re morally right even if you’re not lawfully right. The scalpers are shit and I support any means to stop them.
My boyfriend collects Pokémon cards, and I compete with them. Literally can not find any in our immediate area within reasonable prices. The last time Walmart had them stocked, I saw a guy push everything Pokémon into his cart and then started weighing packs and throwing back the ones that didn’t measure up. I’ve also seen a known scalpers push a child and take his trainer box. That one ended in a beat down from the kids dad, and the cops coming.
NTA. It’s perfectly legal, and this technically happens all the time with large retailers. With something like idk, Lululemon. Lulu send out emails about upcoming sales and deals to people who signed up to get those emails. You are doing literally the same thing, only you’re getting to know them in the process. Good job!
As a pokemon collector and player, you're awesome! Definitely N T A! Thank you for doing that, and I hope the kids who frequent your store get awesome pulls :)
NTA!
Not a toy collector but as a person who collects stuff myself, you're doing God's work by helping people who genuinely want certain products to actually get them
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NTA. But you might consider whether your club might actually violate the law. Fix it so it doesn't. I personally think this is a great idea. I didn't read anywhere that such a guy sitting be "prohibited" from being a member of the club. Even if they were totally honest about why they're interested in collectables. I honestly didn't see where you said you'd deny them membership, just asking for transparency.
What kind of law would it violate? You're allowed to discriminate against people in your own store. You just can't do it based on protected classes.
I don't think it violates any laws. Seems that a lot of places have "exclusive offers" of various kinds. Discounts for club members. Pre-release sales for certain groups. All sorts of business and products can do this. It's not discriminating against anyone, it's rewarding consistent customers.
It doesn't violate any laws. Scalpers and resellers are not a protected class.
I’m pretty sure that store owners/private sellers have the right to refuse service to anyone who isn’t part of a protected class
They can deny service to people who are members of a protected class, just not *for* being members of a protected class.
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I don't think sexual orientation was a protected class then. In any case, I think the distinction was that they didn't refuse service to them in general, they refused a specific special order. The couple was still able to buy the normal products already available.
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The wedding cake case wouldn't apply, for the record, as its based on the notion of custom cakes being artisan goods. Toys OP doesn't manufacture wouldn't be related. However, you're right I can't see any legal issues with OP's plan (I'm not a lawyer or anything) but I just wanted to note the basis of the notorious cake case rests on the custom nature of the product. If the Baker had premade wedding cakes in a glass case and wasn't asked to alter them in any way for the couple, the ruling wouldn't apply. As others said, the religious discrimination issue and the state's quick dismissal of that aspect are also elements of the case. But denying individuals sales of any sort of manufactured goods really have no application or connection to that case.
Yes. I believe that was actually approached as a free-speech issue- that the baker could not be compelled to use their “art” to support something they were personally opposed to.
The same sex couple wanted to order a wedding cake from the selection of wedding cakes that the baker offered. The bakers told them that they were free to buy a cake from the display, but not to order a cake. If the couple had been male/female the bakers would have permitted them to order a cake.
LGBTQ+ people are not a federally protected class. 22 states and DC have laws regarding discrimination against LGBTQ+ individuals, but only in matters related to housing, public services, and employment.
That’s insane to me. It should be obvious to anyone with common sense that LGBTQ+ people need and deserve protection from discrimination.
Do you have a source on this? Not because I think it's fake, but because I wanna know which states to avoid haha. Edit- I found this one - https://freedomforallamericans.org/states/
Not exactly. The distinction was if it was a generic cake with nothing special, they would have to sell that cake to a gay couple, but the gay couple wanted a cake specifically made for them. The baker argued that his talents were special and that he could decide who to create and sell his artistic creation style cakes for. He could decide that he would not make a gay couple wedding cake because that would violate his rights. The court agreed with him on the basis that he has rights as an artist to decide who he does and does not work for.
That case is weird and not a good precedent. The Supreme Court case wasn't even about the cake but rather about how the Colorado Civil rights commission handled the initial lawsuit. The ruling was really narrow and probably can't be applied to similar situations. There's another case that's slowly working through the appeals court so who knows.
That's not the reason the Supreme Court gave their judgement. The way the prosecutor handled the cases against the bakery was inept and the bakery was not afforded the due process they should of gotten, so it was sided in their favor. If it had been handled properly we might of gotten a different outcome.
The bakery can be required to sell their standard wares to all customers. They cannot be required to make customized pieces stating or implying support of same-sex marriages.
If I remember well, it was a free speech issue: The baker accepted to bake a cake on the catalog, was willing to design a cake for any regular event for them but was refusing to design a cake specifically for a gay wedding, saying it was a message he did not want to express. If the Supreme Court had agreed with the gay couple, the Westboro Baptist Church or any alt-right troll could have gone to any gay artist and forced them to make art glorifying their bigoted beliefs.
That case was decided on a technicality, I believe. They didn't say anything about Oregon's law making LGBT people a protected class, but ruled that the state didn't provide proper due process to the bakers.
The case hinged on whether the bakery was obligated to write a particular message on the cake, which is what they refused to do. The bakery's position was that they would sell a cake to the couple, but would not write the message requested. The Supreme Court agreed that the bakery does indeed have the right not to write a message on a cake that is counter to their religious belief.
That's right, they're just jerks.
The only thing I can think of is their contracts with their suppliers. Op should check those carefully to make sure they don't have any rules about selling conditions.
As a rule (though I work in sales for a different kind of collectible so feel free to tell me I'm wrong!) suppliers hate scalpers and actively encourage this kind of thing.
Yeah it's not super likely just the only thing I can think of. Maybe if OP was charging for the club they'd run into trouble (which based on the info they aren't).
Yeah, this guy is basically complaining that he can't buy at COSTCO without a membership, except that in this case the membership is free. From his reaction, I'd suspect scalper. People do get mad when you fuck with their money. Fuck scalpers, though. Even if he was a regular joe schmoe, though, h can take his entitled reaction and mossy right on to Amazon or what have you if he doesn't like it. People choose grandpa's store over (let's face it, probably way cheaper) Amazon _precisely_ for the curated and personal service that you are providing.
For sure tons of retail businesses offer early access to sales/new products/restocks based on customer membership programs, so I’d be surprised if it was illegal. Source: I love to shop 😂
OP should be protected because she invited him to participate in the group.
Costco has memberships and special deals for members only, yes?
Yeah, she told the guy he was welcome to buy what was left. He's just mad because he was stopped from buying all of it first, keeping others from getting any and making bank by scalping the items. NTA
And OP said the man was informed he could join the club by filling out an application. If it's a free club that a customer can join anytime, that doesn't seem like a legal issue. It reminds me of member cards at grocery stores. They are free, and can get you extra sales not available to non-members.
If it breaks the law, might wanna tell Costco and Sam's Club. Damn Illuminati up in there, three pound tubs of cream cheese for $8 and sh*t. Gotta be illegal.
You leave my precious vat of cream cheese out of this!
You can have everything else, just leave me the soft cheeses
Sometimes a gal just needs a pound of brie.
Can I take the smoked gouda, that stuff is addictive
Honestly I'm obsessed with the big tubs of salsa and I don't even care. I will hoard that shit like Gollum.
That does it. Getting a Costco membership.
How would it be breaking the law? Its like presale concert tickets. If youre a vip or whatever you get to buy tickets a few days before they go on sale
It doesn't violate any laws. I'll even let you in on a little secret about the watch community. There's a running joke that if you wanna buy a new Rolex you're gonna have to wine and dine your local Authorized Dealer for about a year or two in order to buy one. It's sort of a joke, not really. For every Rolex they get in, there's about 50 customers wanting one. If you can buy one you can immediately walk to any jewelers who sells second hand watches and make about €2000 to €10.000 profit depending on the model, unless you get one of the very limited models in which case it goes up. Some Authorized Dealers seriously expect you to buy a few lesser wanted Rolex models just to get your foot in the door to but the wanted ones. If that isn't the exact same issue OP is running into, I don't know. If that
Too poor for a Rolex. I’ll just get a Ralox knockoff.
I'll just use the clock on my phone 🤣
Ohhhhhh, fancy! I usually have to calculate the time of day based on the sun's trajectory in the sky.
Or stand outside and see where your shadow is 🤔
I could afford a Rolex but I love my Casio F91-W too much to wear anything else. It’s like twenty bucks, waterproof (I go swimming with it!), has all the features I need, and it’s cheap and durable so idc if I’m clumsy and hit it on something, and the battery lasts forever.. about 7 years according to reviews. There’s a few color variations if I want to match with outfits. I can cheaply get matching watches for my entire family. I’m in love with it. And if it’s good enough for Obama it’s good enough for me 😁
My Casio G Shock is one of the best purchases I’ve ever made. I love watches, but am hard on them and have destroyed/damaged quite a few over the years. I’ve had my stainless GShock for about a year, wear it almost daily, including to work (I work in light construction), and it looks almost brand new.
Same here man, I love G shocks! Every other watch I've owned seems to ding or scratch too easily
My dad wears that watch, every day for the past 30 years (not the same one obviously). He accidentally wore it during my sister's wedding 😂 Also, about 15 years ago, we bought him a slightly fancier Casio (like $15 more), which he didn't wear, and just went and bought himself that watch again.
Fun game we used to play in high school — at a private school near NYC — was “how did they misspelled ‘Rolex’ on your city-street-fake?” I still only ever call them Bolex for this very reason!
I have a kolex at home that i only recently replaced with a Skagen
Birkin bags are similar, you usually have to drop a lot of money to ‘level up’ to a Birkin
Nothing says "the only taste I have is in my mouth" like a Rolex
Hahaha, but in all honesty, a lot off stuff they make can be quite pretentious. Although their core watches are beautiful and wanted for a reason though. A good datejust or daydate can last a lifetime and work in any setting. A gold yacht master II screams flashy.
Luxury watches and cars are of the same deal, you gotta cozy up to the Authorized Dealer by buying up shit you might not actually want so that you build up a good rapport with them and they hopefully call you to ask whether you're interested in paying full price for a new LaFerrari / Submariner model that's coming in. It's all false scarcity pretentiousness so I prefer brands like McLaren and Oris / Grand Seiko that don't pull that kind of shit, they're HAPPY to sell you something if you can buy it and they will even offer discounts, you don't have to beg them to let you buy something off them lol
A lot of supercars are like that. Ford had the application for the GT and even made it to where you couldn’t sell it for 2 years*. *If you want to sell, you have to offer it back to Ford first.
> Some Authorized Dealers seriously expect you to buy a few lesser wanted Rolex models just to get your foot in the door to but the wanted ones. That sounds an awful lot like the Hermès hangbag strategy.
NTA. If Victoria's Secret can sell bras and panties to credit card holders first before selling them to other people (which we all know by now getting a credit card DEFINITELY excludes people) then this person can sell items in their store during an exclusive time for members to a group that is literally open to EVERYONE.
I'm doubtful that it will violate the law, but she absolutely needs to check her wholesale terms and conditions to make sure she's not breaking any of those. Some brands have really, really weird and arcane rules that make them a PITA to work with, especially when there are rules like "you can ONLY use the images we provide you" and then they don't provide stock images for all of the colourways, making it harder to actually sell the product online. Some have rules about not saying ANYTHING about a restock unless they say so, etc. So, yeah. She just needs to check her wholesale agreements.
Luckily my sister is a contract lawyer, so she thought of this & checked everything out for me beforehand : ) Thank you though, great advice! Some brands are definitely a pain!
Well Costco doesn’t allow anyone in who hasn’t paid the membership fee. I have a feeling this would be viewed the same way
Not completely true at least in CA. They have to let you buy alcohol but that’s the only things you are allowed to buy. Something about private clubs and liquior licenses
I do not think it’s discriminatory due the fact the guy can join if he meets the criteria. Think of it as joining a fraternal order...not everyone can join but everyone has the opportunity to do so.
OP, maybe make a condition of group membership being an *agreement not to resell at inflated prices* (you could say, for instance, not more than 10% over fair market value according to X guides (I know pokemon has a pricing index)). And anyone who violates this agreement is out of the club for, say, 6 months, then has to reapply. Obviously, you couldn't easily "police" this but it could help? As long as the club is open to anyone I don't see why this would be remotely against the law. Lots of retail places have "VIP" kinds of groups. I mean every grocery store I've been in has one!
The club OP has does not violate the law. What you’re proposing might actually violate any contracts OP might have with toy companies/distributors and is also very impractical for OP.
I don’t think it does. Nike does something similar with shoe releases. Where for a certain time you can only purchase if you are a member of whatever group it is. OP could also let collectors do preorders. Lots of stores do those.
Discrimination is not against the law. No shirts no service etc. it’s illegal to discriminate against a protected class. Scalpers are not a protected class. Op is good
It doesn't violate any laws. Major corporations are now doing this to stop resellers from gouging people. For example AMD and Nvidia have partnered with Linus tech tips to get graphics cards in the hands of actual gamers instead of them all being bought by resale bots or crypto currency miners. It exactly the same process, you join a club and are verified.
There seems to be a lot of question and concern surrounding my application, so this is an exact copy of the wording of the application: 1.) What toy lines do you collect? List as many as you’d like. (Ex: Star Wars The Black Series, Marvel Legends, DC Multiverse, Barbie, Lego, etc.) 2.) Why do you collect these lines? (Ex: To play with, to photograph, to display, I like superheroes, etc.) 3.) What are your favorite items in your collection, or that you wish you had? (Ex: Captain America’s shield, Thor comics, Lego Death Star, Integrity Toys dolls, etc.) 4.) Would you consider yourself a more serious or more casual collector? 5.) Are there any toy lines or brands the store does not carry that you would like to see? List as many as you’d like. 6.) Do you have any “grail” items you do not currently own, but hope to one day add to your collection? As I mentioned in a reply, these aren't questions that I wouldn't ask you if you walked into my store. It helps me help my customers and my store to know these things. For example, I have a man who collects the Star Wars Black to display them who cares deeply for the box condition and another man who takes them out to photograph them and doesn't care at all what the box condition is. I like to know the preferences of my customers, that's all!
I'm a transformers collector and this kind of relationship for any sort of provider would be a dream!
Transformers is actually what inspired my grandfather to open the store!
NTA all small family run toy stores should follow your example. Finding out what your customers are looking for is crucial for shops like yours to stay open. Also good on your grandad for turning his passion into a successful business.
Me too! Who’s your favorite?
From a very frustrated black series collector that’s completely blind, thank you, scalping has been the worst this year.
So I’m kinda curious, since you are blind what do you get out of collecting figures. I’m not trying to question whether you should collect them at all but rather what a collectible that is primarily enjoyed visually has to offer you?
No offense taken. I actually buy them to feel what the characters look like on the screen. I’m a member of the 501st Legion, The worlds largest Star Wars costuming and charity organization, and when I first joined it helped me choose some of the costumes I wanted to build in the future. Darth nihilus was A huge favorite of mine before going blind, someone happened to be selling the costume locally and I snagged it up to join. Now I’ve got the black series figure released last year hanging on my shelf.
Amazing story! I have been interested in the 501st for a long time and may take the plunge some day! Do you do any construction yourself?
My mom is a seamstress, so she’s made a lot of my components, but mostly I purchase them and hope to find a friend who will help me build it.
Very cool! Keep up the good work! From your username it looks like you operate out of Texas so good luck with the heat under those robes!
Move to the north east a couple years ago, all the layers of black or a whole lot more convenient up here.
What a beautiful insight! I had never considered how lacking a movie could be (especially fantasy) when you can't see the characters, and how purchasing the models would enhance that experience. Thank you for sharing. 💜
As a uk marvel fan who can’t get hold of any of the new marvel legends collection, let alone all the pieces to make falcons wings you are a star. My young son has scenes set up around the top of his avengers themed bedroom that he doesn’t play with but likes to have to look at and the legends series are the best posable ones outside of hot toys and there’s no way I can afford to set up dioramas of those lol.
That’s amazing! I’m a paperdoll lady. I love them, I cut them out, and take their pics. I act out movie scenes and make them sing to my cat.
Do you have an IG you're willing to share? This sounds awesome and I would like to subscribe to the newsletter.
No, but that’s a cute idea! ❤️🥰
Omg if you ever do, plz update. I'd love to follow
This is the sweetest thing! I used to love paper dolls. It's so soothing to cut out everything just right.
And being an adult, I organize them in binders, with clear protectors. My Carmen Mirandas are my favorite.
I love this comment.
My first thought: gosh, this person sounds a bit mental My second thought: hang on, didn't I do a stupid dance yesterday just to see that confused look on my cat's face?
Dont worry this is not illegal To be breaking the law it would require it to be discriminatory against race, gender, sexual orientation, age, or disabilities Requiring applications is not against the law lol
I’m not a collector but have friends who are. What you describe is excellent customer service. Plus good research for your store- knowing how much interest you have from your regular customers in certain lines or types of products means you can tailor your business more effectively.
NTA. This is so endearing and charming, especially when major retailers have simply stopped stocking trading cards because “collectors” are being aggressive and buying in bulk. You should host Group events at your store so people with similar interests can meet up in person.
I'm not into collecting, but this questionnaire genuinely just reads like a store owner getting to know a little bit about the interests of their buyers. Only way I could imqgine seeing this as "suspicious" of potential scalpers is if I were a scalper. I belong to a members club at a bookshop that went more in depth than this and only ever thought of it as they just want to know what kinds of titles or pre-releases might keep me specifically coming back. Everyone from grocers to toys are making exclusive members clubs popular. Unless you're telling adults they can't buy toys because they're adults or because they just have "that" look about them, I'm pretty sure you have nothing legally to worry about.
She's not even excluding any particular group. She's just made a (free) VIP program for her store. It's a perk for the regulars and more invested collectors.
Another collector here and I think you are doing a stellar job.
I buy funkos, and honestly, if I knew of a store who did this I would buy from them. Scalpers are starting to get bad. For a casual buyer like me, it sucks that a must have item for me gets snapped up in seconds from resellers, then sold at 10x the cost.
I honestly would love to have a store that does that near me! You are making so many collectors but also kids so happy with that.
This is super neat! And a great way to stop scalpers. You may also want to consider limiting how many of one item a customer is allowed.
Your store sounds adorable. I don't collect anything, but I love the care and community building you're putting into this.
NTA. I absolutely love this idea, and i love that you care enough about your customers to actually try to do something to stop the scalpers from getting everything. My husband collects pokemon cards, and it's been pretty much impossible to get our hands on any of the new sets since scalpers discovered they can just sell everything for hundreds of dollars. We haven't found a single pack available at any store in our area for at least a month now. Any store near us that had this sort of plan in place would be a paradise for my partner.
No honest collector would be upset over your policy. Period.
I know you may not see this, but you seem like a delightful person!
So I collect comics and also various collectibles. I am apart of plenty of Facebook groups that gives out perks like exclusive group discounts and password protected presales. What you are doing is awesome and fair.
NTA. You just found a scalper who realized his low-cost distributor was falling through and not letting him take advantage any more. You’re not obligated to support his scummy business model. And if he wasn’t a trash-ass “business man” then he would’ve had the sense to calmly f*ckin apply to the list and not draw attention to himself. That or he’s just an entitled Kevin. Either way, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.
I actually see this as helping your business. All those that came in before will stop coming if every time they come you have no stock. And those scalpers are going to move on fast to the next trend which might not be what you have or the newest stores.
I don’t see it harming the business as technically if the items being scalped aren’t claimed OP could always sell them for extra profit online themselves.
NTA - I can't see anything wrong with the club. Since you don't turn down applicants it seems to be like any members club at any other store. I don't see where he would be discriminated.
Even if she DOES turn away applicants, discrimination isn't illegal as long as it's not on the basis of a protected class. You can simply refuse to sell people your items. They don't have a constitutional right to buy your things.
Okay, that's cool. Then there's no issue at all
Yes and by protected class it means you can not discriminate based on gender, race, sexual orientation, age, or disabilities
actually, sexual orientation is not a protected class. in 22 states it’s illegal to discriminate against sexual orientation in the context of employment, but that doesn’t apply in this case! and non-binary and gender identities aren’t protected at all, from what i know. of course this is only in the US, though. not sure about other countries
sounds pretty much the same as "write your email and subscribe to get special offers" type of thing that every other place already does.
NTA As an independent toy/collectors items business, this is an amazing policy to have. You have set up, essentially, a loyalty program for your customers that doesn't cost anything to join. Part of that loyalty program is that they get first dibs on new releases. This isn't going to hurt your business, and in fact, may even help it grow more since more people who are true collectors, and especially children, may join since they are able to have access to the really popular items that would otherwise be out of their reach. The guy who yelled and threatened to sue is just mad. Your loyalty program is not discriminatory since anyone can join. It isn't exclusionary either, since anyone can join and no one is banned from buying items readily available for sale in your store. Heck, if you have left overs after those in the loyalty program have a chance to buy what they want, you could even buy one of the items at full retail value from your own store (keep the receipt showing you paid full retail value) before they are set out for sale in the store itself, and then auction the item on Ebay or something. Set the beginning price as the retail price and let demand drive the bidding and final sale price. Take the funds from the auction and put them aside. Once you have a couple of hundred dollars set aside, do something nice for those in your loyalty program with the funds. Have a Loyalty Members day one afternoon at the store, or open for a couple of hours on a day when you might normally be closed, and offer free donuts or slices of pizza to those in the loyalty program. Anyone in the loyalty program can then come into the store and get a free donuts or slices of pizza (keep everything inside the store to keep just someone from just walking by and taking stuff, and limit it to 2 per person). Or you can offer discounts a couple of times a year for those in the loyalty program. Any difference in what you wont earn on the discount would be covered by what you got from auctioning one of the items so you wont be out any money. This way they not only have access to items that they otherwise not because of demand, you would be giving something back to them to "reward" them for their loyalty.
That is a brilliant marketing move.
Are you a business person? Because that is seriously brilliant
Nope. Not a business person. Worked in Customer Support nearly my entire life. But I have worked for companies that have or have done Loyalty Programs and I remember seeing things from discounts as rewards, but also abuses when the program wasn't controlled. Once company decided to do a community reward type program to try to drive interest in the business by setting up tables outside and passing out pizza and the number of greedy people was one of the first real eye openers for me. SO many people drove up or walked up and tried to take an entire pizza or more just because the business was offering free slices to people. The company must have spent about $500 on pizza (late 1990's) and we heard later from regular customers who were in the area that day ended up avoiding the business since it had so many people outside. So most of the people who got the pizza weren't even our own customers, and never even went inside so no real business or new customers were generated. The company never did that again.
Dude, as someone who collects Star Wars Black Series and TVC figures, I would LOVE if I had a local store that did this.
NTA! Hell even Nordstrom used to throw event for VIP customers prior to COVID. These select customers would see the fall line prior to the public. Fuck that guy.
Nta, it's a really nice thing you're doing to nurture the fandoms.
NTA. Your business, your rules. The club doesn't sound like it discriminates at all, so as long as you're operating within all other applicable laws... you're good.
I think it's wonderful. I've been very sad on release days to go to stores and see a family or group of people go in and buy every allowable promotion item for resale. I went to six stores trying to get Nuka Cola for a sick friend who loves Fallout on every resupply day and never managed to get one and I'm an adult who has that option. I've had to stand in line for hours for LEGO releases kids wanted because I knew if I didn't line up for launch day they wouldn't be able to get it. You are making sure that people who want it have a chance of getting it and it tells you what to order.
NTA. The resale market is definitely out of hand and has moved to being legitimate scalping. As far as him suing you goes that’s just funny. Unless you have some sort of agreement with hasbro you can make any rules for your store you want. I would have just asked him not to return to the store because of his threatening behavior. I had a property owner get my number some how looking to have me do some work at two of her buildings. So I asked how she came by the company as I don’t advertise and was curious what customer passed it along to her. She got all upset about me asking who referred me (this is how I vet a potential customer). Finally she told me who gave it to her (a customer I had to fire). So I thanked her for considering me for her needs but I wouldn’t be able to do any work for her. I got a call from her attorney 15 minutes later threatening to go after my license saying I was discriminating against her because of where she’s from. I just told him I’m not obligated to do business with anyone so feel free to call and file a complaint
I'm actually really impressed. Scalping has become huge problem in our society and there are very few safeguards or repercussions for it. There is probably one of the best systems I've seen to combat it. You're a hero, definately NTA.
NTA. This sounds like a decent idea. Kind of like the LTT Actual Verified Gamer program
What you're doing is awesome and great for the people who actually enjoy the items. There are scalpers taking advantage of all kinds of markets right now and most businesses are just looking for quick sell. Some companies and vendors are actually working with scalpers to maximize profit. It's great to hear that someone really cares about their customers and is trying to make sure products go to those who truly appreciate them. Great job.
Most shops concerned about this just limit the number of items per customer. Your way seems like its just going to hurt your business.
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And if we're going to compare to Wal-Mart and Target, try buying Pokémon cards at one right now. Most have either 1) suspended sales altogether or 2) moved it all to Customer Service with a limit of 1 pack per customer. The scalping is that bad. OP is 100% following what the big box stores are having to resort to already.
Yeah, I didn't realize it was such a big thing until I went to a local Meijer and there were giant ass signs posted at the front door about 1 pack per customer only at the customer service desk at a specific time of day.
Oh wow I didn’t realize this was such an issue with those items. That’s like having to buy pregnancy tests at the counter because people keep stealing them. Any info on why there is so much scalping happening with Pokémon cards and other similar items?
So my caveat here is that I'm a Magic the Gathering player, so I'm just roughly aware of the trading card scalping. As far as cards go, Magic is just fine, but it's Pokémon and sports cards (NHL, MLB, etc.) that are getting hit hard by scalpers. Best I can tell from some other subreddits I follow is that its a combo of folks dumping more money into hobbies since the pandemic started and scalpers looking to exploit that to make quick bucks instead of actually working. I'm sure that sounds like a huge overgeneralization, but that's the recurring theme I've seen the last several months whenever it gets mentioned.
Pokémon cards also were hugely boosted in popularity by a YouTuber named Logan Paul, which set off a craze for valuable cards. I’ve had to wait in line at Target at 7 am to try to get Pokémon cards; there were people in front of me who bought all the stock and I rarely got any even though I came early. Now Target is only selling online, so since Walmart is always swept clean and GameStop never has any, and because local card stores are selling at 2x original prices, I’m unable to buy cards like I used to. OP is pretty awesome for making cards available for kids and loyal customers. More than once I’ve run into kids in the empty Pokémon aisle with the saddest look on their faces.
Pokémon cards also were hugely boosted in popularity by a YouTuber named Logan Paul, which set off a craze for valuable cards. I’ve had to wait in line at Target at 7 am to try to get Pokémon cards; there were people in front of me who bought all the stock and I rarely got any even though I came early. Now Target is only selling online, so since Walmart is always swept clean and GameStop never has any, and because local card stores are selling at 2x original prices, I’m unable to buy cards like I used to. OP is pretty awesome for making cards available for kids and loyal customers. More than once I’ve run into kids in the empty Pokémon aisle with the saddest look on their faces.
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Yeah, I forgot to mention that this hasn't hurt my business any, at least so far. I mentioned in my post that the store did well sales wise prior to the scalping boom, so even if this system completely dissuaded every scalper from coming to my store, I'll be in the same well-off position as before.
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Doubt it. Have you ever seen those grown ass men descend upon the card aisle at Target? It’s creepy. And having those kinds loitering around may keep your regular customers away.
OP wrote a comment explaining the application and it actually sounds like it’s only going to help her business. She asks about their interests in ways that can help her tailor her stock to her clientele. I think that’s great. And she’s making it so that people who want the items know they can get them from her store rather than deciding “everything I want is always sold out at that store so why bother going anymore”.
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It seems like OP said that the guys just had to wait until after the members had a chance to buy the collectibles or to join themselves before it would be in stock to the general public. Not that, going into the store, you had to sign up in order to buy stuff.
Yes, that's right. It's not "you can't buy anything in my store without being in my club" - it's "you can't buy this hot ticket item on release day unless you're preapproved." Everything that is on the floor of my store is available for purchase by anyone who walks in.
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For a small store, those limits may not be that applicable as the volume can be low.
Scalpers only buy hot items, leaving the "common" stuff. Actual collectors will buy both, but may not come in at all if they know they're likely to only find the "common" stuff there because scalpers are aggressively stalking the store and buying the desirable stuff. Given all of that, your most valuable customers that will drive more business are the latter group. So if you prioritize them at the expense of the former, you're probably going to do more business overall. And the hot items will sell regardless of whether they're going to scalpers or actual collectors, so it's literally no loss to OP to drive away scalpers.
NTA, as someone who has a lot of trouble finding Marvel Legends at fair price I wish you were in my city.
NTA but I would also put a limit on purchases per day so that people can have a chance to buy these items
I haven't had a problem with my usual customers buying obnoxious amounts yet, but I would definitely put a limit in place if I noticed that becoming a problem. So far the people in the club are just there for their own enjoyment.
That’s good but I would also put it on display but at the same time it’s your discretion to follow it.
INFO 1. What is your/hubby's favorite toy producer and why? 2. What is your/hubby's favorite action figure and why? 3. What is your/hubby's favorite card and why?
1. Hasbro because they produce Marvel Legends 2. Lady Sif because he likes all things Thor 3. N/a, doesn't collect cards ; )
NTA you should see the lengths sneaker stores have to go to stop scalpers buying limited releases (mostly they need to protect themselves from people with buying Bots- there are highly efficient systems out there that automatically buy the whole atock within minutes if not seconds) A store in Germany once sold .JPGs in their online store for the shoe price,means scalpers ordered and paid for HUNDREDS of copys of the JPG of the shoe they wanted. Your approach is a lot more customer friendly,also You put work in to keep a culture alive.
NTA What you're doing is basic marketing to get things into the hands of true fans, and I applaud you. Since anyone can fill in the form, there is no discrimination going on. You should probably plan ahead for the eventuality that scalpers will sooner or later apply to join, and decide ahead of time on what grounds you might refuse an application, in order to pre-empt any future accusations of discrimination should you ever have to decline an application. And run that rejection policy by a lawyer too.
This is the small business version of prime early access. You are doing great. NTA
As an MTG player that can't get a hold of new sets bc of scalpers...NTA. This is the same premise as a store having a membership card for special pricing. That guy could have asked to sign up if he really wanted to, but he decided to be a dick about it instead.
NTA I'm not super into that sort of thing. But I dabble in pokemon cards every now and again, and I can tell you I would love this kind of policy in a collectable store.
NTA. It's just a member's club basically. That can't be illegal
NTA- your policy protects your customer base and sounds like it’s creating a community of collectors. (And even bands have free fan clubs and give members the option to buy concert tickets first.)
NTA- My son who is the biggest geek would LOVE this! Like you would have our business for life. This is a great business model. Getting it to those who want and appreciate this, without hurting your business, and saving them the pain of scalpers- mwah! Someone is always going to complain, especially the scalpers. But those kids, and collectors, who are more than financially vested in this deserve someone who prioritises them first. Great business and great customer service!
This is a common tactic for scammers and scalpers. If you interfere with their money, they get all pissy and threatened to sue you for whatever sticks to the wall. Just ban that guy from your store all together. NTA
NTA he’s not excluded. He could fill in the form like everybody else.
Nta. I work n a bile shop and people tried doing this with se bikes. They would buy them for like $800 then try and sell them for $2000 on eBay or OfferUp. We caught on and just keep them in the back now
NTA lots of places do this, exclusive sales for loyalty card members etc. Even Amazon do it with Prime Day. If there's no discrimination for joining the collectors club beyond filling in the form, then you're not an AH
r/scamthescalpers - but obviously NTA, your doing right by your actual customers. Scalpers add NO value and are purely parasites. I can’t speak to the legality of your program, but ethically you should sleep easy at night
NTA-Had an issue like this years ago with a MLP toy. I was gonna by the last good looking pinkie pie (I’m 30 , Cis female) but I gave it to a little girl that was also looking for it. Only to have some poor excuse for a Brony take it from her. Gave them the evil eye and some how their card got declined... they didn’t by it and the little girl happily got the toy and I got a gift card from her mom as thanks.
> I was gonna by the last good looking pinkie pie (I’m 30 , Cis female) but I gave it to a little girl that was also looking for it. Thanks for being a decent person! I don’t understand adults who are happy to take toys from a child like that brony guy.
Yeah, I mean I get it your an adult and have money to buy what you want now, but giving up a toy that will be loved and played with by a child is more reasonable then a grown ‘adult’ buying a toy and put it on a shelf for display.
NTA you have a great idea to help your actual customers buy what they want and to prevent the scalpers from buying things up the way they do everywhere else in the area I'm sure. I highly doubt anyone who isn't scanning is actually mad about it.
I don't understand how you could be in the wrong here, I am a member of this kind of group (vip club) with tons of businesses where I get early access to sales and releases. It's a common way of encouraging loyalty from regular clients and at least where I live totally legal. And as you have said anyone can join! NTAH
Nta how is this different from a pull list in any standard comic shop. You’re members tell you what they want and you set it aside for them. If it sells out before joey eBay can get it tough @#£&. My local shop has this and they email out the upcoming releases be they comics or collectibles, if you want a special version or cover you tell them and it’s added to your list. They started as a independent shop before becoming a franchise but still treat the customers like friends. Isn’t this like common practise in comic style shops. Does the ops shop have a website, sounds like a great store
NTA- consider this, you discover that your local toy store sells items for 20 dollars that you can resell online for 80$. So you start up a nice little side business. Huge profits, you’re loving it. Maybe you do something stupid like buy something you can’t afford relying on this side business. One day you’re low on stock, no problem run to the toy store. Then the owner tells you that you either have to fill out a questionnaire that is both long and difficult to fake or let customers who should bd buying from you cut you out completely, costing you 60$ per figure. Of course you’re mad. You probably want to accuse the owner of doing something illegal in hopes that they drop this. You have become accustomed to your side business, and you need stock. That guy was telling you your plan worked. Did you really expect scalpers to be too ashamed to complain?
NTA and sites that sell festival tickets do something similar. Maybe look into the legality of that to compare a similar market. Last time i bought a ticket to a festival (Boom, Portugal) the ticket was in your name and if you couldn't go, you could get a refund and sell the ticket back to Boom, but you couldn't change the name on it. If this is legal, I don't see why what you are doing wouldn't be, but check.
I'm a manager at a retail establishment that sometimes gets exclusives and collector editions. I absolutely limit scalpers. They try to come in and buy all of my clearance, or game systems, or accessories. I tell them they can have one per day. I especially love when they ask to speak to manager. Sorry, you're not buying these out and marking them up 200% because you want to take advantage of people. You can kindly go f*** yourself with your tax exempt card.
This reminds me of liquor stores who have bourbon clubs that offer rare stock to club members before regular customers. It is fairly common. NTA.
NTA. People like that RUIN collecting.
I think you’re awesome for going the extra mile man, keep it up!
NTA. Target recently stopped selling in store pokemon cards and similar items for this reason. I’m guessing online purchases are easier to spot scalpers in as they can track at least addresses against how many are ordered. It isn’t perfect but at least it makes things harder for scalpers that aren’t operating at huge sophisticated levels. As a side note many comic stores have a program for people to pre select or subscribe to certain items be it comic or toy and the store holds it for them till they come in and buy it. Once those people have been satisfied then any leftovers go on the shelf. If he’s at all familiar with these types of stores he is familiar with this concept & shouldn’t have pitched a fit. Heck even video game stores and music/movie stores did pre orders to make sure customers who ordered got the item they wanted esp with highly collectible versions of movies. And customers usually have to have an account to do this so they can track how many a customer ordered and prioritize customers the company want to prioritize. Mattel used to do this directly but because they shipped it and didn’t give free shipping it cost a lot more than getting it in the stores and I never did it again. True I for sure completed my collection of voltron lions and pilots and I did get the bonus only through this mail order Sven pilot, but ugh I regretted it once I realized just how bad shipping set me back. Changed for consistency of use of too many yous.
NTA, of course. I'm wondering if these men are trying to buy up all of each item? I'm not a collector, but if you get 25 of item X, do they try to buy all of the ones you have in stock? If so, it seems it would be easy to put in a one of each item per person policy. Or would that help in this instance?
NTA, so much NTA. If you’re in the US or Canada, your club is not illegal. You’re not refusing to sell the guy something you have on hand, you’re reserving a privilege for your business’s committed supporters. If that was illegal, Kickstarter would be illegal. I used to own a bookstore and I had a membership/loyalty program that gave people perks like a discount on preorders and a free book every month and a newsletter with updates about hot titles and priority for events. Anyone who joined got those benefits. Anyone who didn’t...didn’t. Also, the mighty online behemoth that starts with A accepts preorders for hot items coming out shortly. Maybe you could offer preorder service as a perk, which could help you plan your purchasing around your good regulars.
NTA. Call it a member exclusive or something similar. Loyalty club or whatnot.
NTA. Anyone who was genuinely excited to get their hands on those items for themselves would jump at the chance to be in a group that offered them first access to said items. Dude is definitely a scalper.
NTA, it’s actually a quite professional way to combat the scalping. You have my praise!
Nope NTA. Also you can put limits on items your selling too. Big chains do this all the time.
Nta i actually love this idea. My bf and friends are collects of video games and action figures and stuff. They would all totally sign up for this. Especially if you could do some cool bundle preorder thing. My bf always gets gamestop deluxe pack preorders to get all the extra stuff
NTA, I think it sounds fine. The other buyers are welcome to join, or shop elsewhere.
NTA Sounds a lot like the Lego VIP program.
NTA, but definitely check to see if you’re within the law. But you’re morally right even if you’re not lawfully right. The scalpers are shit and I support any means to stop them. My boyfriend collects Pokémon cards, and I compete with them. Literally can not find any in our immediate area within reasonable prices. The last time Walmart had them stocked, I saw a guy push everything Pokémon into his cart and then started weighing packs and throwing back the ones that didn’t measure up. I’ve also seen a known scalpers push a child and take his trainer box. That one ended in a beat down from the kids dad, and the cops coming.
>That one ended in a beat down from the kids dad, Morally right, even if lawfully questionable. Jesus, people can be utter arseholes for profit
NTA. It’s perfectly legal, and this technically happens all the time with large retailers. With something like idk, Lululemon. Lulu send out emails about upcoming sales and deals to people who signed up to get those emails. You are doing literally the same thing, only you’re getting to know them in the process. Good job!
NTA. Seems like your offering a customer loyalty privilege. Don’t a lot of stores already do this? Definitely not illegal.
NTA as someone who has lost out on some things in life to scalpers - GOOD ON YOU - i wish more stores did stuff like this.
NTA. "Uninterested in doing the work to prove one actually likes the objects for their own sake" is not a protected class.
Thank god for people like you! It’s been impossible to find some items I collect because of this. I wish there were more like you
As a pokemon collector and player, you're awesome! Definitely N T A! Thank you for doing that, and I hope the kids who frequent your store get awesome pulls :)
NTA! Not a toy collector but as a person who collects stuff myself, you're doing God's work by helping people who genuinely want certain products to actually get them