Store tf stock

[agesthreeandup]

Hey Camarojay, thanks for your input. It is honestly appreciated.

We have gone over this preorder fiasco many many times and have come up with an option that works for the bulk of the people out there.

There are many logistical issues when it comes to preorders that I am sure the general public does not know about. One of the biggest issues is that as a retailer, our window to place an order with the manufacturer is about 2 to 3 weeks when the product is announced. This is when you first hear about the item from Takara or Hasbro. Much of the time there is not even an image that goes with the preorder or a very poor image that tells us nothing about what we are ordering so we have to guess on what we are going to get. Some things are a no brainer, like Soundwave, but when we had to place our orders with Takara for the MP Prowl, they still did not show any images of the actual figure so we are just going on what we THINK may be a good seller. Imagine ordering 500 of Prowl because you know he is a fan favorite but when they actually released the images it was being released in the Mexican deco or something like that! Mistakes like that can destroy a small business.

The other biggest thing we consider is how many we can actually preorder. If we have a limited number of figures we order, we can only sell that many items! If we order 100 of Prowl, then allowed 100 of them on line but then sold another 20 of them in store, where would the extra 20 come from? We would end up buying from BBTS or TFSource or some other retailer just to make up the 20 that were oversold and that would not help at all. With the preorders all in one place, there is no possible way to oversell an item.

We have tried to make it as easy as possible for locals to preorder items buy having a pick up option available on the site. It just means that you have to make your payment on line as well either through paypal or a credit card and if you don't have a credit card you can always go to your Canada Post Office and get a prepaid Visa Card as the site takes all of those as well so really there is no excuse for anyone to not be able to make their purchase on line.

That being said, we ALWAYS have stock for the store. There is not one figure that we have received in the last year that we have not had inventory for the shop. The only problem with that is a lot of the time we do sell out of these items pretty quick if they are hot items. We had many Soudwave Masterpiece figures for the shop but you can blame the guys who come in and buy 3 or 4 of them at a time and go through the inventory within 24 hours.

We have always said, if you think you want it, preorder it! We don't take a deposit and don't request payment until we know items are shipping from suppliers. If you change your mind at any time you can cancel your order by just sending us an email. The thing is, the sooner preorders get in, the easier it is for us to gauge how popular an item will be. If everyone waits until 2 weeks before the release date to place their preorder, then there is no possible way we could ever order enough.

Hope that helps to explain a little bit. If you need any further clarification please let us know. Someone will help you out.

Ages Three and Up

[razin]

Originally Posted by camarojay

I have tried the pre order with my credit and pre paid credit cards and it was a hassle mybe it was just me

This seems bogus to me. There is no hassle to pre-ordering with a cc or pp-cc. Place order, checkout, done. Just seems you're hellbent on one way and not opening your eyes to other methods. As A3U said, you can preorder online and pick it up at the store. This is 99.9% the same thing as you going into the store slapping down your money and coming back at a later date to pick it up.

[elburrito]

Before saying anything else. Ages 3 & Up is doing something that few other boutique outlets do i.e., sell the most recent stuff from Japan. If there is any hope of finding, for example, a Takara Masterpiece release in stock at a store, it is A3&U.

Whether motivated by profit or enjoyment (hopefully both), A3&U deserves credit for just this reason (although there are many other positive aspects to the place as well e.g., display, variety, exclusive pieces, generally friendly staff to name a few).

That said, and along the lines of "stock in stores". I walked in to A3&U last November and inquired about a particular figure. I had planned to buy one the following day, but noticed that evening, A3&U advertised the toy online for about $30.00 less than in the store!

The staff person told me I was free to buy the item online saying that the website price might be old. I suggested that he give me the website price in store and got told to pound sand!

As it happens, I do not live in Vancouver but travel for work there from time to time. If you've ever spent a week in a hotel away from friends and family and for work, you know that (after about the first 2 days) it sucks.

I was not present in the store because I lack the ability or means of buying online, I was there to try to distract myself from the "excrements de taureau" (excuse my French) of the work/travel experience.

The suggestion that I would go home, order online and then return to the store the following day to pick up the item did little to alleviate the sting of the apparent indifference of the staff person.

Of course, the individual I dealt with could not have known all of that, but with the greatest of respect he ought to have known the the same toy was a little cheaper still on RK online and the impact on shipping-wait time from Hong Kong is a matter of days. Incidentally, I note that the A3&U website still advertises stock of the same item for the same less-than-store price.

True, had I brought my work phone, I theoretically could have logged on right there, bought the item on line and picked it up at the store right there, but really? What next? "...hum the opening bars of God Save the Queen, or you pay more for the toy?", or "...deliver this package to a guy in the mall, or you pay more for the toy?", Why should there be "purchasing hoops?"

...on second thought, song, dance, magic performance or feats of physical strength in exchange for in-store discounts is an intriguing if unlikely idea...

At the end of the day, I am really not trying to trash A3&U and I saw "staff turnover" referred to earlier so maybe I just got a bad apple or a good apple on a bad day, I don't know, but would like to see a little flexibility from the party who ultimately keeps the money.

For the reasons stated at the outset and others I will return to A3&U (hopefully without having chafed anyone there too much with this post) and for the most part will continue to appreciate the products, services and visual displays offered by that establishment.

[agesthreeandup]

Elburitto, thanks for your post. It does indeed bring up a very valid point and there are reasons and answers to your questions there as well.

First off, let me appologize for your poor experience. It is for sure not out intentions for you to come in and leave unhappy. We do our best to make everyone happy but unfortunately that can not be done all the time. There is human error in play much of the time and like you say, it could have been a good person on a bad day or a bad person who may not be around any longer. It could also be the experience you had as I find that whenever anyone gets a negative response to what they would like, the end result is a negative experience overall which does tend to leave a much more lasting impression much of the time.

Store stock and on line stock are handled differently. There is no way of getting around that. An on line shop has a lot less overhead than an actual store. Something that seems to be lost on much of the general public. Rent is high, staff are expensive and there are many other expenses that are inherent with a store that are missing with on line shops. You will find the price in the store is higher than the site 95% of the time. This is to cover much of the added expenses of having a shop in a mall.

Your solution of placing your order on your phone and then just going over to a staff and picking it up would not work as the staff in the store do not have the ability to process orders. You can't just place the order and then have anyone there process it. There is a whole different team that take care of all on line orders. When you place an order for store pick up, you can't actually pick up your order until you get the email from the site saying your order is ready for pick up.

There is always a trade off for convenience. In the case of Ages Three and Up, if you want to convenience of seeing what you are purchasing then you will have to pay a slightly higher cost. If time is not a factor in your life, then on line shopping may be much better for you as you can be assured that once you get the notice your order is ready for pick up, you can come in at your leisure and pick up your item.

We know the systems in place won't please everyone. I don't think there is a system on the planet that will please EVERYONE. We have done the best we can with the resources we have to make shopping with Ages Three and Up as convenient and painless as possible.

Bare in mind that A3U is also going through some huge growth. The shop went from 400 square feet to 2700 square feet only one year ago. We are still going through some growing pains in certain areas and are doing what we can to correct any real issues that there are.

We try hard to be aproachable at the shop as much as possible and if you really do want to talk or have questions feel free to ask any time. Of course not everyone in the shop knows everything going on but if they can point you to someone who does have those answers they will do so.

Thanks everyone who has participated in this thread. Anyone who knows us does know that we really are a part of the community as much as a retail outlet. Threads like this are amazing to see the support that is out there and also a great way to see where we may need some imporovement.

Ages Three and Up

[chovner]

So does that mean if everyone locally decides to stop coming to the store to buy, but buys online and uses the "pick up in store" option, you're losing money? I'm not being a smart ass, just curious how this works. With local retailers like Best Buy, and Future Shop I always buy my stuff online at work and then pick it up the same day on the way home from work... but then again those stores are alot bigger than you guys.

[CBII]

Ya I don't get how I can't order something on my phone, get my order confirmation number then walk up to the clerk with that number and pick up my order right away.

Sounds like an upgrade to your information systems is in order.

The clerk should be able to pull up the order, go to the back get said item, give item to customer (who's happy as pie) and check off that the item as been picked up....done and done....or am I missing something here?

Also if you're a Canadian Company why are your prices in US dollars? I know the dollar is kind close but I say make the yanks deal with exchanging money....Then again I'm an over patriotic Canadian.

I give you A3U credit for addressing the issues, however I'll be honest and just say another site sponsor gets my business cause prices are listed in CDN dollars and service has been great. Just saying....

[joshimus]

I've always been a firm believer that people should work retail at least once in their lives to be able to understand how it actually works and the obstacles that interfere.
For example, if A3U needs software upgrades, that costs a lot of money too. Pirating that kind of software is a bad idea.
People seem to think online stores are millionaires. Running a business costs money just as much as makes money. Unless you have an absolute niche market where your stock is virtually limited to you or a select few retailers with high demand, and where your profit margins are very high, you aren't getting rich anytime soon.
I've bought from A3U a few times in the past without issues but I generally use someone else these days, it's nothing personal in the slightest. I certainly think this odd anger towards A3U is a bit silly.

[Rodimus Prime1]

Originally Posted by camarojay

They need to take preorders in store or stock the product

Well if you have a Smart Phone, go to the store and use it to pre-order. They do bring stock in but not alot of Third party stuff

Don't know what you are really gripping about? It doesn't seem to be a big deal

Running a small specialized business is not hugely profitable, really small customer base, I think if they didn't run a online business they would have to shut down

[Darth Cylon]

Originally Posted by chovner

So does that mean if everyone locally decides to stop coming to the store to buy, but buys online and uses the "pick up in store" option, you're losing money? I'm not being a smart ass, just curious how this works. With local retailers like Best Buy, and Future Shop I always buy my stuff online at work and then pick it up the same day on the way home from work... but then again those stores are a lot bigger than you guys.

How can you compare one small specialty store to a national retail monster like Future Shop/Best Buy? A3U has maybe 3 people working and Spencer is running most of the business himself - in store and online. Future Shop/Best Buy employs hundreds of staff at the head office to keep some 200 retail stores and web stores running 24/7 across the country, even after waves of lay-off and re-hires and store closures (I used to work there).

[thebobkat]

The complaint about not being able to order the item on your phone/tablet in store and immediately picking it up assumes the stock in all in the store, which I assume it's not. And I assume that the store stock and online order stock is kept separate for logistics. The order online has to be processed based on their online store stock, then brought into the store if you've chosen the pickup option.

Even the Future Shop/Best Buy pick up option technically isn't that convenient...they will only allow a pickup from a certain store IF the store has stock of the item...they won't ship an item from another store or their warehouse to the store you want to pick up from. If the store or stores that you want to go to doesn't have stock, you're S.O.L. And agreed, the comparison is apples to oranges as Future Shop/Best Buy is a huge national chain...very different from a small business.