Basic Fun is worried about their retailers...

[Pokeyonekenobie]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/florida-toy-importer-braces-retail-102147752.html?.tsrc=fin-srch

I've said it before.  If Basic Fun would open up an online store and let us buy directly from them, they'd make bank.  I know that you can buy some things from Amazon, but I'd really like access to their full line, which I think they could easily manage via their website.  Relying on Walmart and Target to choose our options for us is part of why they didn't make Flutter ponies and who knows what else they decided we wouldn't want.

But they've had to do a bunch of layoffs and paycuts during the shutdown so even that might not be enough to save them. 

I'd really like to see Basic Fun continue with the pony lines at least long enough to make us baby and big brother lines of ponies.

Edit: fixed the link--apparently the first one I posted didn't work.

[FiddlePhan]

I totally agree with you. There are so many Basic Fun items I'd love but it's just so darn hard to find any of them.   Where I live the only things I ever found were the collector and a few rainbow ponies.     Any others I was only able to find because I was on vacation and even then had to go to every single Target in the area to try and find ponies.    Even when Target had the items they weren't always on the shelves and I had to ask for them.     It would be so much easier to buy them from and online Basic Fun shop.   

[Charmer]

I think they should sell direct to public to the public, some shops sell them for a big mark up , hamleys in London are selling the 2nd wave of rainbow ponies for £18.50 each instead of £12.99 >

[brightberry]

I’m not so sure that an online site would save them.  Not when they sold so many in stores from impulse buyers and relatives looking for children’s gifts.  If you’re looking for a gift, having all the options in front of you and being able to hold one in your hands is more than halfway to a sale.  Plus, adding shipping to anything inexpensive can make it seem overpriced.

Then, they also have to put together the website, hire employees to do the shipping, rent a warehouse and so on.  The overhead costs might be out of reach for them.

I would be thrilled if they tried!  And hoping for the best that it can work out.  I just wouldn’t want them to be villainized for deciding that wasn’t an option for them.

[Pokeyonekenobie]

I'm not saying that they can't still sell through Target or Walmart, but if I had the option of not driving an hour away just to shop at Target for something that might not even be available because I could order it directly from their site, I'd do that.  The shipping is usually cheaper than the gas it takes to go to the store multiple times to find what I'm looking for.

[Carrehz]

Oh, I *wish* they'd make an online site (one that shipped worldwide, preferably! :p). It's been really difficult to find them over here - obviously I haven't been able to hunt for a long while, but I *still* haven't seen the Applejack/Bow-Tie wave in the wild.

[Leave a Whisper]

That'd be great if they did. I'm no business person though, so I'm not sure how difficult it may be for a business to open up a full blown online store.

[brightberry]

That'd be great if they did. I'm no business person though, so I'm not sure how difficult it may be for a business to open up a full blown online store.

It can be challenging.  I’ve worked with businesses looking to sell online.  It does require a large initial investment and more employees to get going.  And as a result, any resulting products will cost more... sometimes quite a bit more.  I’m not a financial analyst but, many of those that are, didn’t think the risk was worth it.  So it’s going to depend a lot on what Basic Fun can invest.  Maybe they can find a service that will mail the ponies out.  Maybe they can find a good deal on a warehouse. Maybe people will be ok with paying a lot more for a pony.  Maybe Target and Walmart paid for exclusive rights and they just can’t. It all depends.

[Leave a Whisper]

That'd be great if they did. I'm no business person though, so I'm not sure how difficult it may be for a business to open up a full blown online store.

It can be challenging.  I’ve worked with businesses looking to sell online.  It does require a large initial investment and more employees to get going.  And as a result, any resulting products will cost more... sometimes quite a bit more.  I’m not a financial analyst but, many of those that are, didn’t think the risk was worth it.  So it’s going to depend a lot on what Basic Fun can invest.  Maybe they can find a service that will mail the ponies out.  Maybe they can find a good deal on a warehouse. Maybe people will be ok with paying a lot more for a pony.  Maybe Target and Walmart paid for explosive rights and they just can’t. It all depends.

Thanks for the insight Brightberry.

[Harmonie]

It took forever for the Basic Fun G3 MLPs to be able to order online from Target. This was the only way I could get them because I never could find them in person any time I went to local Target stores. I was saddened by this, because I really wanted that experience of walking in a store and finding one. My local Targets must not care much for MLP because I only saw the Basic Fun G1s at one store and that was only once.

The demand is there (at least from me... Guess that doesn't count.  ) but the supply is not there!

[Leave a Whisper]

It took forever for the Basic Fun G3 MLPs to be able to order online from Target. This was the only way I could get them because I never could find them in person any time I went to local Target stores. I was saddened by this, because I really wanted that experience of walking in a store and finding one. My local Targets must not care much for MLP because I only saw the Basic Fun G1s at one store and that was only once.

The demand is there (at least from me... Guess that doesn't count.  ) but the supply is not there!

I feel ya

[banditpony]

I feel like it was pretty obvious it was going to look grim in March. A dedicated online store would not help at all based on all that goes into that. At best, a better relationship with Amazon early on would of helped online distribution.

I think folks in the USA are pretty lucky.
You can get Confetti, Flutterbye, Trickles, Pinwheel, and Tickle on Target's webpage for $9.99.. also the G3s...

and on Amazon for almost a full year the unicorn and pegasus set was available for $12.99. Some of those are gone now,  some are still there. The ones that are gone, some of them are still available through alternative sellers for <$15.99 like Medley or Twilight.

The earlier waves were a tiny bit harder to pin down online when they still out in stores, but they did appear briefly.

[Wardah]

Setting up an online store in the age of Amazon is tough. People have come to expect free, fast shipping and won't settle for anything less. I don't understand why they aren't working with Amazon more. MGA immediately worked to build a strong relationship with them after TRU crumbled.

I don't think things are as dire as them folding and vanishing. They own quite a few profitable IPs which would make them a prime target for acquisition by someone bigger. Which would also make things tough as they make things for both Hasbro's retro brands and Mattel's Fisher Price retro brand. I don't think either company would want to make toys of the other company's IP and if MGA gets them well we all know how their CEO feels about Mattel and while he might bear no ill will towards Hasbro he might want to focus on the IPs they own outright.

[SaraMari]

Yeah I didn't know they were that small of scale, 150 employees, it would be expensive and difficult to set up distribution channels. And even starting now it would take a long time

Anyhow, I agree I'd really like if they could at least get to big brothers and I'd be satisfied. I mean they don't need to redo ever year

[Barnacle_lady]

If they start to sell over here or to a physical shop that also carries mlp I am pretty sure that will give a financial boost Not everyone shops online.