looking at My little ponies but idk which site is for the best

[sally234598]

looking at my little ponies on ebay and Etsy but wanted to know what site is better for buying them? I did buy a twice as fancy pony off ebay in 2021, but I might look into the list of ponies from G1 and decide there I do like parasol but some are in bad shape, and is it common for ponies to be really expensive some of them were like 38.00? that seems a lot to me Thanks for your time. but yet I don't know much about them I might look into getting a collectors book if there is one or just do more research but would like solid advice on which site to use and some of the sellers had bad negative feedback yikes this was on ebay so it makes me think do I really want to encounter that.

[Beth3346]

$38 is a lot for Parasol. I've used eBay and etsy but the prices have been a little high. i generally prefer ebay because the shipping on etsy can be really high. i'm not sure about collector books for MLP.

[SunPony]

I feel like the cheapest pony prices can be here on the Arena.  eBay can be hit or miss - your best bet might be to look at a number of "sold" listings for the pony you are interested in to see what it usually goes for.  You can also look around in the forum here, there are "price check archives" somewhere, where you can look for specific ponies and the people who keep up with prices will have given an estimate for their value.  But many of those are older so I'm not sure how accurate they will be anymore. 

There is also this price guide: https://www.angelfire.com/oh5/bluerose9978/PRICE/  which I think was made by a user on here?

[sally234598]

it wasn't parasol it was some other pony but the one I am getting is like 17.00 il bids on it soon USD

[milkywaymochi]

Etsy can be good sometimes, but it's true that the shipping can be crazy.
 I generally use eBay, however prices are high now, at least partially because now everyone who's found a peachy or a lemondrop in their attic is convinced that they have a genuine rare my little pony and price accordingly, other people see that and price their ponies accordingly, and prices get driven up. But anyway, despite that eBay can still spit out a reasonably priced pony every now and then, so definitely worth a try.

As for collectors books, there's the mlp collectors manuals by summer Hayes (I have the G1 book, but she's also published manuals on G2 and G3) which are useful for keeping track of sets of ponies and can give you a general idea of which ponies are more valuable than others but bear in mind that
1.) Only ponies who were sold in the US are included, and
2.) The G1 book at least was published back when G3 was still in stores, so the prices are somewhat out of date at this point.

[kingluke]

I buy my ponies from (eu/uk) facebook groups and vinted. Both are eu things but I'm certain there are usa/other country groups.

[sally234598]

ill find something but I am excited because I lost interest in My little pony  for a while I think it was the fact that I didn't have the money now I do so

[honor_h]

It's worth looking at ebay sold listings. One pony I looked at on there was listed at £99, but in the sold listings none had gone over £10.

Etsy is can be more expensive but not always.

[Taffeta]

The prices are also maybe going to be influenced by where you are in the world, since with G1, different ranges were available and some ponies are easier to find in some areas than others.

Parasol is quite common. If you are going to pay upwards of $10-$15 for her make sure you are happy she is in top condition, but that still seems a bit expensive even by 2020+ prices.

It's hard to keep a fixed idea of pony prices, especially as they've gone up and down a lot through COVID. And prices are also often influence by things like:
- How many people want x pony at that one time
- What time of the year it is (eg themed ponies tend to be more popular at certain times)
- What country you are buying from/buying in
- Where the pony was originally sold
- The condition of the pony
-What accessories/etc the pony comes with, if any.

Sometimes it's actually more cost effective to look at buying lots.

Summer's book is fine but as mentioned, only deals with the ponies sold in the US, not the global range. (They are not "US" ponies, since all the ponies sold in the US were sold in at least one other country.) And as mentioned, it's no use as a price guide any more, because it's old and out of date.