The people selling these ponies in china barely make enough money to support their family, sometimes I do think that when I purchase a taobao pony im helping a person in china afford their food, rent, and a possibly a little extra they can use to treat themselves or or their buy something nice for their child.
This was true a little while ago, when only people who could speak chinese could find these rare prototypes on taobao. I'm talking about the time when there were like 3 pages of ponies "only" and you had to know the exact name in chinese to find them back. At that time each pony was sold by an individual who had gotten a few out of the factory. I bought some can/fair exclusives at that time and proposed them here, thinking it was some kind of test release... it made a fuss as I had revealed the great surprise of the year, I really had no idea!
Anyway, at that time ponies were very cheap, it was a once in a while occasion.
Right now, don't see the chinese sellers as someone in a bulk bed at the factory, working hard not seeing his whole family, just like the little hands making branded shoes... these people still exist, but they are not the ones selling on taobao anymore! If you notice, most of the time the titles include "my little pony", which means the seller knows english (or at least a few words), they tend to be wholesellers who buy from the factory people very cheap and know how to advertise, make good title, take good pictures and hide potential flaws. They probably live in average flats, with all usual comodities (heater/AC, water, ...) and spend their day online checking their stocks and chatting with agents (the kind of agents that help you buy from taobao). I know all this as I chatted a lot with various sellers to get my hands on FS white celestias/bubbles. There are a few main sellers for these special ponies, everyone knows them! From the factory workers who know who to contact to sell out ponies, to agents who know when to contact them to make sure they have stocks of all the most wanted items. All the sellers I had contacted at that time told me that their best items were never put online (or just to increase their visibility) as all ponies were already bought by agents.
Seeing this market as a way to support someone in need at the other end of the world is not true anymore. Some might even live a wealthier life than most of us!
Aside from all this, did I buy from taobao before? Yes. Will I do it again? Probably not for G4 as I'm not such an avid collector anymore. I might look for some cheap baits (G3 or G4) and occasionnal collector G3 when I'll be there.
Do I feel bad about doing it? I know it's wrong but considering how much big companies cheat us, I feel little to no regrets. I mean, Hasbro knew the castle set was going to be quite a big sale, then why wait MONTHS after the wedding episode to release the playset? I feel they don't care enought about their clients (I might be wrong though?) for me to really care about how I buy. I am faithful to some brands, I will keep on buying ponies in regular stores but I'll also look for good oportunities for myself.
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