Quoted from Whysnow:If you are going to extrapolate, please at least use real data instead of made up numbers to push your agenda.
2 weeks ago there were only 2 vendors on pinside selling, last week there were 4, this week there are 9
Sorry I dont have screenshots of the previous weeks but here is current showing 9
https://pinside.com/pinball/machine/stern-the-beatles/market
I made a mistake with my search. Now I show 6 for sale ads, only 4 of them are "shop items"?? I don't understand this "shop items" stuff.
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Quoted from Whysnow:The number looking to sell a pin "not meant for pinhead" on the #1 pinball forum is a great data point and it makes it pretty clear that more people are trying to sell now and looking for ANY customers (even ones not in their supposed demographic for this title).
I agree. With the number of sellers (that I now see), it sort of looks like a buyer's market. But since this is Pinside, where people come to talk about pins, look for pins to buy, and place pinball for sales ads, the observation/fact that several retailers/distributors are here trying to move their wares looks like a normal occurrence to me. But that they are even here makes The Beatles pin a failure, in your eyes?
And why is it problem that they are here, supposedly outside of their demographic area? I hate to assume so I will ask: Does Stern have some sort of agreement with the distributors that they are only to sell with in a "protected" territory? I used to sell....drum roll..., vacuum cleaners in the 70s. Each distributor was "given" a protected territory to operate in. And there would always be some dirty SOB that would try to sneak in to someone else's territory. We called them "bojackers". They stole your sales and effed up your pricing structure before they scurried back home.
Is this what is going on here? Are distributors cheating Stern and other distributors by advertising on pinside?
I guess the short question would be: Is there a problem with Stern distributors advertising on pinside? If so, why?
Quoted from Whysnow:Simply put, people have gotten tired of dealing with distributors masquerading as Pinheads to hype games on here (i.e. FUN) and then they tell lies like "this is limited" and "only 800 in US" "buy now or miss out", only to have people turn around and re spout the falsehoods as fact.
I suppose this answers my question. But it all sounds like the usual sales talk and bullshit to me. From being the "first kid on my block" to have something, to "this is the last one I have in stock--you better get it now" or you will be sorry routine, I have seen it all as far as promotion goes.
I'm certainly not going to pronounce this pin's success of failure based on hype from a few pinsiders/distributors.
Quoted from Whysnow:Seems plenty think this reskin looks fun to play, obs cool theme, and nice art package and code, but all have been clear the price is BS and a money grab. It is rightly a kick in the junk for any passionate pinhead that likes the beatles, older style games, etc... to not only have the huge pricepoint but then all the false hype around here.
Thanks for clearing this up. The pin is too new to know if there are, or will be, quality issues. It is getting down to "it's all about the price" and no other reason.
Nice pin. It is priced too high.
Nice pin. Pretty artwork, It is priced too high.
Nice pin Nice music. It is priced too high.
Quoted from Whysnow:Between you, Levi, and hasslecassle... these should have been long gone the first day they were available (just like every real LE of a good theme that Stern has done in the past 5 years)
I'd say this is a bit of a stretch.
Quoted from Whysnow:Instead the facts we know to be true:
-Only the first ~964 are bring produced at this time and were sold as 10 packs to distributors. The remaining portion of the edition is supposedly made sometime in 2019 when there is demand (if? there is demand).
-Beatles store which markets to the demographic target for this pin sold its first 10 pack quickly, but now has only sold 2 golds out of the 2nd ten pack and sales have slowed. Worth note that the Prem and LE versions were also sold for 10k on Beatles store.
-Distributors are now marketing more specifically to pinheads since the game is not selling as well as predicted to Beatles maniacs. Call any distributor that bought a 10 pack and they have stock on hand currently. I dont remember the last 'limited' game where this has happened 2 plus weeks post on sale and typically most of a hot game the limiteds are sold out the first day.
But you have just given me one more data point. First day sell outs. If a pin does not sell in the first day it is a failure in your eyes?
How about if these are all sold in one year? Would it still be a failure? Is there a standard on what determines if Beatles is a sales success or a sales failure? What parameters does Stern use to determine a sales success or sales failure? For everybody who is calling Beatles a sales success or failure, what parameters are you using to make your determination?
Give me some standards. I set the sales bar at one year. Other than one-day-sellouts, what are your standards, besides price, to consider Beatles a success or a fail?