Is buying from Taobao ethical?

[Loa]

I see so many people buying "Prototypes" and pre-releases from this site, and I am wondering if it is ethical.
Most of these ponies are unpackaged and being sold without Hasbro's knowledge.

So, essentially, these ponies are stolen from the factory for profit, knowing that there is a market.
I'm not trying to debate the labour that goes into the production of the pony's themselves as that's a different kettle of fish!

Do you buy from Taobao? Are you comfortable in doing so? Why do you buy them that way instead of waiting for a store release?

Discuss! (Nicely!)

[ponylovers_mom]

how do you know what you are buying?? I mean, I went and looked at the sight, but it being in Chinese, I had NO clue what any of it said, and I couldn't figure out how to convert it to English....

I make Reborn dolls, and we run into this a lot with the doll kits we use. a hot kit comes out and is a limited edition and it sells out super fast. some that buy more than one kit, turns around and sells the kit for double what they paid, and pockets the profit. I have to say, I have done this myself. I bought a kit for 89.99 and sold it for 160, so I nearly doubled my money. is this ethical, no, but it happens on a daily basis.

as for Taobao selling these ponies, unethical, yes(if they are indeed stolen), but as long as people buy them, they will still have a market for them and sell them.

that's my personal opinion anyway...

edited to add something, I didn't understand what I was trying to say myself! LOL

[Radha]

  I haven't bought from them, as I don't understand how it works (also I'm mainly a G1 person).  Do most of the ponies end up being released in the US eventually?  It seems like many of them are errors or oddities, but maybe those are just the ones that get posted more on here.

 Is there any chance Hasbro does a sort of nod and wink thing, letting some 'escape' from the factory to drive up interest?  Again I really don't know since I've never bought from them, but it might help keep collectors interested.  I hadn't really thought about them being straight up stolen from the factory- now I feel sort of naive 

[Vintergatan]

I don't collect G4 actively so I'm not a customer for TaoBao nor will i be, but i see zero problem with what is being done.
Then again I am looking at this from the labour perspective so no need to go too much into it here but I was under an impression that most of the things bought there are, as stated, errors, prototypes and oddities that would have been thrown away. I feel that if we're talking about such items, we should thank the workers for allowing us to save these toys.

I am jsut really reluctant to call it a theft if these items would have been disposed off anyway.

[Dewprincess]

So far the only things I have bought from Taobao are non-MLP, non-US release items that I would have been totally unable to get any other way.  I believe that the items I purchased are likely overstock/discontinued stock rather than prototypes.

[Navi]

I always kind of assumed that the ones that pop up on taobao are errors/prototypes/mistakes, and would have been trashed otherwise. Sometimes the ponies you get from Taobao come with some pretty obvious flaws.

[Flitter]

My only previous collector hobby as an adult was BJD, and coming from that background I was honestly really appalled at how accepted fakies (especially stolen mold fakies) and buying grey market off taobao was when I first started getting into collecting ponies. Recast BJD are very looked down upon and I'm still very very anti-recast when it comes to that hobby.
I've come to realize though that this is a really different game. I've never bought directly from taobao myself and admit I still feel a little apprehensive about the whole thing but what's softened my opinion is
1. I've tried contacting hasbro about whether they have an opinion on the taobao sales and never received any response whatsoever. They've never expressed any position on it.
2. Hasbro makes what I feel are stupid decisions (like changing prototypes in ways that are presumably to save $, never releasing certain ponies, being unclear with collectors about releases.)
3. These could very well not be stolen, but factory seconds, flaws, test runs, etc. that would be destroyed otherwise. We just don't know.

I currently own 2 prototypes myself, bought secondhand, and I can't blame collectors for wanting and buying ponies that were never released or that we are uncertain if they will be released or not at the time they are popping up on the site. Myself, I like to wait until ponies hit stores. I like to know I'm supporting the line I love. In some cases though there was just no other way to get the pony. I think a lot of collectors fear they won't be able to get a pony they like due to past experiences like with the translucent/glittery brushables, Minty A and others never were released. So that is why they jump on new things on taobao instead of waiting to see if it will be released. Some people just like odd variants, obvious testers/franken-ponies  Those things are going to be sought after by collectors and I don't see it as much different than gemini being allowed to sell Funko protos. I now feel that if Hasbro doesn't take a stand against it, it's not necessarily a collectors position to do so.
The thing I see as a downside of these sales though is when a lot of people buy new ponies loose on taobao/ebay then I see people complain that we never get new characters. It's like, well, those sales of that pony in a set could really be affected by the fact that a lot of collectors already bought it loose and therefore won't pay for it in a set. I could be part of the reason we don't seem to get many new characters now.
I can't really be firmly for or against it.
I have no idea how the Chinese sellers are getting the ponies so I can't form an opinion on if it is ethical or not either.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I heartily believe that it's illegal by North American standards if we were manufacturing here, so therefore ethically wrong, but most people don't share my opinion, so I've stopped sharing it each time that Taobao comes up.    After all, to each his own! 

And some INTERESTING things come outta there, I have to say!    I just won't be spending money on them.

[Twilight Pink]

I'm not sure what ethical means in this case, but I rarely buy from Taobao all the good, valuable ponies came before I got into G4 collecting, now the ponies I see on the site happens to sold mass on Taobao and eBay and i've learned that whatever specific pony will be released soon

[therestornadosinmysoup]

I have never purchased anything from Taobao. I'm not that big into G4. I think if Hasbro wanted it stopped, they would have done something about it by now. The only real thing I worry about is collectors spending good money on loose 'prototype', and 'error' ponies and maybe expecting them to be worth a lot of money down the road. I can't see how it will be proven that they are authentic, licensed ponies and not fancy fakes instead. I also wonder in what quantity these are 'discovered', or perhaps made on purpose to sell for a quick buck.   

[Shenanigans]

I don't see anything wrong with it I wish there was a Taobao when G1 was around because I'd love to have some G1 prototypes!

[Shiromisa]

On topic: I'm not sure how I feel on the objective ethics, but I think I've read that Hasbro and other companies that produce out of China are aware this happens, and just choose to keep producing out of China because it's still cheaper than other places. No source, though, sorry!

I'm not sure what ethical means in this case, but I rarely buy from Taobao all the good, valuable ponies came before I got into G4 collecting, now the ponies I see on the site happens to sold mass on Taobao and eBay and i've learned that whatever specific pony will be released soon

If you think about it, everything was new and plentiful at some point. Who knows what the weird/prototype ponies on Taobao now will be worth in a year or so! Like that aliFluttershy--I anticipate her being worth a lot if she's not officially released.

[Twilight Pink]

I don't see anything wrong with it I wish there was a Taobao when G1 was around because I'd love to have some G1 prototypes!

I see alittle bit of G3 ponies on Taobao, I love G3, but i'm apprehensive to order a G3 from Taobao because they may not have their magnets :s

[Vintergatan]

The thing I see as a downside of these sales though is when a lot of people buy new ponies loose on taobao/ebay then I see people complain that we never get new characters. It's like, well, those sales of that pony in a set could really be affected by the fact that a lot of collectors already bought it loose and therefore won't pay for it in a set. I could be part of the reason we don't seem to get many new characters now.
I can't really be firmly for or against it.

Yes but see, that's where Hasbro is being lame too! Like, if you want that new awesome character you've been waiting for for months, you have to buy a whole big expensive pack with Pinkie #467. That's Hasbro milking money off of their regular customers If people are resorting to going through all the trouble to buy from a chinese web page in stead of going to their local store and picking up a pony, that says a lot!

[Pony_Mama]

Doesn't it seem like if these prototypes were really stolen, couldn't Hasbro file a lawsuit and shut them down? It doesn't seems that Hasbro has an issue with it, so maybe we shouldn't either? To me, it's likely the same as buying from the China/Hong Kong sellers on ebay. Who knows where they're getting their product.