UD1 box sales at Expo

[skyride39]

Anyone annoyed that all the dealers that were able to give out a coupon for the priority signings priced their boxes at $75? Last year one could just buy a box for $60 from the cheapest dealer one could find there and UD would just give the redemption. But having to get a coupon from a certified dealer cancelled out any savings to anyone really wanting a priority signing. It felt like the certified dealers just agreed to boost the price. As if UD inadvertently caused a oligopoly to happen.

Cause there were other dealers not certified that were selling boxes for $65 a box, a huge difference especially if you wanted to get more than one box.

Sure the dealers need to make their money but there are buyers that want to save money. Or did no one mind paying the $10 premium for the privilege of lining up for an hour or so to get an auto?

Anyways, just my thought on this.

[09232003]

hey

I paid 75 for my 2 boxes and I only stood in line for about 15minutes
my 2 priority signings were
gordie howe #2/9
brayden schenn #24/75

so too me it was worth the 75, seems about average for a box
I also pulled in one box my RNH yg and if the other a RNH yg canvas

so my day was awesome

thanks
jim

[416beatles]

Skyride39,

I see your point. I bought a case and 2 additional boxes for the redemption on Friday. I also made out well on the redemptions, however that's not the point is it. It's about price fixing. I thought I was buying gas LOL!
I understand the Diamond sellers have to make their profit but I also don't think it's right that there is a fixed price for all dealers. There should have been more wiggle room. Isn't that part of what the card show is all about, haggling and negotiation?

P.S. - I received no price reduction even on 14 boxes.

Thanks for reading, James (416beatles)

[ralral33]

yes the prices were crazy so i stayed away from upperdeck and besides i do not like waiting in line no matter how good the priority signatures are lol. also thought the itg decades boxes were crazy priced at 110 a box when they usually only go for bout 80 dollars but i did want that quad mapleleafs redemption card , man they are swweeeeetttt looking . i will posting my huge haul of ultimate memorabilia shortley ,love that product and all the redemptions that came along with it , also cant wait for the NEW DECADES TO COME OUT ,

[malsk]

I am glad someone posted this....I also found this to be sickening. UD and ITG should be ashamed of themselves...brutal.

I stuck with Panini and had a blast opening all the silver redemption packs.

[skyride39]

Whoever came away with a great priority signing and a great box break, congrats. But yes my point was there was a dealer there that was not a certified dealer that was selling UD1 for $65 (they compensated for no priority signing by giving away a reebok winter classic cap which is pretty nice to be honest). This was available on Friday but not sure if available on Saturday and Sunday. Even the table from pittsburgh that sold UD1 last year for $60 didn't even bother to sell any this year.

Just saying if this dealer was able to sell for $65, it just implies the other dealers got together and marked it up by $75, knowing people would still buy just to get a chance at a decent priority signing. I'm sure UD wanted to control how many autos they had to give out or maybe it has something to do with UD wanting only dealers who had 'brick and mortar' stores back home or something to only sell boxes. Guess my point is we don't want to give the dealers another excuse to have to mark up boxes, knowing it could be had for cheap to us end-user here.

[ziadefan]

As someone who was selling with one of the dealers this weekend, I can tell you that undercutting of prices hurts more dealers than it helps. If one booth has to sell at 75 dollars to make a marginal profit, and one can sell it at 65 for that same profit, then the first seller won't come back to the show.

Basically it works this way...you spend an extra 10 bucks and get a chance at a huge auto.

Also, American sellers would often come up to the show and bring the boxes they can get for much cheaper than Canadian dealers.

As much as this show is for the attendees, it has to be fair, otherwise there will just be one person selling boxes and none of the other booths will make any money. If they don't make money, they won't set up next time.

[skyride39]

Skyride39,

I see your point. I bought a case and 2 additional boxes for the redemption on Friday. I also made out well on the redemptions, however that's not the point is it. It's about price fixing. I thought I was buying gas LOL!
I understand the Diamond sellers have to make their profit but I also don't think it's right that there is a fixed price for all dealers. There should have been more wiggle room. Isn't that part of what the card show is all about, haggling and negotiation?

P.S. - I received no price reduction even on 14 boxes.

Thanks for reading, James (416beatles)

man if it was last year, you would have been able to buy boxes at $60 a pop. i thought it was very cheap last year cause panini just came out with certifed so there was some competition. but it was weird that UD somehow took out the competitive pricing of its own boxes with this priority signing coupon this year. I'm sure it was not on purpose but there was a consequence to it.

[malsk]

skyride39 I wouldn't blame the dealers in this case...I was told by a few dealers I know UD told them not to price under $75....totally not right.

As for ITG I have no idea what there excuse is. If they are trying to say a Clark auto is worth $30 extra they are delusional. One dealer was still sitting on a lot of the product Sunday around 4pm and had easily 40 Clark Autos. I know of a guy that bought 10 of them for $10 each.

[skyride39]

As someone who was selling with one of the dealers this weekend, I can tell you that undercutting of prices hurts more dealers than it helps. If one booth has to sell at 75 dollars to make a marginal profit, and one can sell it at 65 for that same profit, then the first seller won't come back to the show.

Basically it works this way...you spend an extra 10 bucks and get a chance at a huge auto.

Also, American sellers would often come up to the show and bring the boxes they can get for much cheaper than Canadian dealers.

As much as this show is for the attendees, it has to be fair, otherwise there will just be one person selling boxes and none of the other booths will make any money. If they don't make money, they won't set up next time.

Obviously okay to make money, but if one can't make money doing this, then another dealer can come along and try. ultimately it is up to a collector who they buy from and human nature is who is the cheapest, not who needs to make money and feed their family, etc. That is the way it is.

Open market is going to make things cutthroat unfortunately. Maybe my beef is with UD interfering without realizing it (or maybe they do). I just saw a huge difference from last year (no coupon) to this year (need coupon) in terms of being able to get UD1 boxes for cheap that's all.