Crazy prices!

[GrahamB]

Here is a typical scene from Playmoland, containing 17 parts (amongst others) currently available from DS at Crazy prices!


Gladys and Edna meet in the street..

Gladys waves her red handkerchief with one hand, while carrying a cymbal of her affection for Edna in the other.  Edna offers Gladys a flower, but she too carries a symbol of her affection for Edna, behind her back. A couple of carpets, a small pink bow and an orange inflatable adorn the street, while a tractor chugs by….


Well, it’s a strange scene, but a more interesting way of showing the following parts..
I bought them all from Playmobil’s Direct Service department, apart from this one (a bag of small pale blue pieces of plastic), which I didn’t buy (so I photoshopped it into the tractor bucket in the street scene).


Here are the prices (£ sterling):
£0.15, £0.20, £0.30, £0.35, £0.40, £0.45, £0.45, £0.60, £0.65, £0.70, £0.75, £0.80, £0.90, £1.70, £2.20, £2.40, £4.15

Can you guess which price tag goes with which item, before scrolling down to find out?











With one exception, all of the items are included here because, frankly, they are overpriced. I think the spare parts service from DS is great, but some of the pricing is puzzling.

The green carpet (£0.65) is a square of thin card printed green on one side.

The round carpet was £2.80 in November 2010, but at its current price of £2.40 it is still overpriced.

The brown four-way Steck connectors  are currently priced at £2.20. A little while ago they were a reasonable £0.90 through DS, while the PCC special sale price was £2.49!

The prices of the road edging long (£0.45) and short (£0.80), the large bow (£0.20) and small bow (£0.35) make no sense.

A single cymbal at £0.45 is well overpriced, considering most small items are £0.15 or £0.20. But even then, flower blossoms used to be 8 on a sprue for about £0.30. See here for more on this subject.

The inflatable is spongy plastic, which might explain its £1.70 price tag.

Maybe some items are more complicated or costly to injection mould? This might explain £0.70 for the tractor chimney and £0.75 for the mallet, but £0.30 for the small pink cuff (gold ones cost the same), even though it is ‘ribbed’, er, no.

And £4.15 for a bag of small pale blue plastic bits, most of which will end up in the Dyson? My children use lentils instead!

The bell-shaped hoop skirt from 6168 is a bargain at £0.60 given the fact it is printed on the front,  so there are some compensations. Some parts are available in multiples at more reasonable cost (see http://www.playmofriends.com/forum/index.php?topic=8205.msg282951#msg282951) but on the whole, buying spare parts is not cheap, nor the pricing logical!

[playmofire]

Well, in part, you win some and you lose some with the prices.  However, there will be many factors that Playmobil take into account in their pricing.  For a start, there must be a minimum run which is needed just to make it worthwhile setting up the machinery and that will influence the price.  The likelihood of selling all the run will also influence pricing.  If it is unlikely that all a run will be sold, then it makes sense to charge a higher price so that you get back as much as possible on the small amount you will sell of that part.

As regards the four way connector, maybe the price increase is because a new mould has been produced to cover the Colorado Springs station production and the demand for spares and this accounts for the price rise.

[Raven]

The price of those blue lentils!  I just threw mine in a jar along with the beans from the 5572 Ball Pit:



Maybe I should separate them out one by one and offer them on eBay!

That round green mat is surprising too.

And the flower heads .. well, the price is maybe not surprising, but nobody surely wants just one of them.  And then it really adds up.  I wonder if the white flower heads are the same price?  I'm drowning in them.  Recent selling meant 'Four buckets and a million white flowers included.'

It's interesting, the pricing.  Many a thing I've passed on, because the price is too high.  But I've also had wonderful surprises too, when things that I think will be expensive turn out to be quite cheap.

[Tiermann]

I have no special insights into pricing. I remember hearing a long time ago that the prices were based on the weight of the items, but that was well before they started selling the parts easily online. (in some countries)
I do know that they deliberately raise the prices of anything electronic extra high to discourage people buying them from parts rather than the set as a whole. Likewise I was told by the head of Direct Service  a few years ago that they deliberately do not make certain key items in some sets available for order for the same reason, they want  you to buy the whole set as it is more cost effective for them when you do.

[Macruran]

I just want to know how Gladys and Edna's meeting turned out.

[Ismene]

I just want to know how Gladys and Edna's meeting turned out.

 


Roses are expensive too! Which is annoying because a couple white ones from my coronation couple have gone missing (and no one is fessing up, but they couldn't have just come off the bouquet on their own and wandered out of my room).

Raven, I'd hold on to some of the white flowers. They (or at least the old ones) go greenish after awhile from contact with the stems.

[GrahamB]

I think all flower heads are the same price (£0.15 from UK DS), including roses. It means it is almost worthwhile buying a set (new, reduced price in a sale maybe) just to get the flowers!
These things are probably made on a sprue, so detaching them takes effort (=time=money). Perhaps there are part numbers for the sprues, which would probably work out cheaper per flower, but we don't know them.

[sbblabotw]

Perhaps there are part numbers for the sprues, which would probably work out cheaper per flower, but we don't know them.

Well, I've figured out that there ARE parts number for sets of flowers - "30 51" part numbers are always parts with multiple separate sub-parts. Multiple-flower parts have never appeared on instructions, but often in spare-parts lists on the official site. I've used the quantities listed in instructions to figure out how many flowers per part, so it's possible they're not accurate. Here are some examples:

PlaymoDB Parts Containing "flower blossom (set of"
PlaymoDB Parts Containing "flower blossom, five pointed petals (set of"
PlaymoDB Parts Containing "flower blossom, petals folded back (set of"

You get the idea, put " (set of" after the part name in the search. There are roses and other types too.

I have my doubts that they actually come on sprues, since in sets they're in little bags. Has anyone opened a set with a flower-sprue lately? Anyway, from a few spot-checks I can say that they're definitely much cheaper per flower. Worth a try to get them.

[tahra]

I have my doubts that they actually come on sprues, since in sets they're in little bags. Has anyone opened a set with a flower-sprue lately?

Uhm.. one of the churches had the common white flowers on sprues (sets of 8, I think? the common kind).. Checking..  4296, since the other (5053) doesn't have those "normal" flowers.

Then again, though I opened them this weekend, they are not THAT recent, right? 
(not sure what you mean with "lately" - I don't consider sets post 94 or so ancient, so.. you know, when the klickys got new molded feet and printing all over..  )

[GrahamB]

I don't consider sets post 94 or so ancient,

I know what you mean... when I hear music I listened to as a teenager referred to as 'Classic' it makes me feel quite old. (And no, it wasn't Johann Strauss Live at the Vienna Opera House!)

Thanks, Heather. I forgot about checking those 30 51 numbers.. multiple parts can work out cheaper if you can find them- I got a set of 12 stair treads for the Mansion 5302 recently for £1; though I only needed one, the singles were no longer available but the multi-packs were. Anyone need 11 white stair treads (£0.08 each)?