Calling all parents on this board....

Fortyounces

New member
what is the hottest toy right now with kids?

I know there's been alot of hype over this Sony PSP unit, but I would suspect that there are more teens/adults buying this than kids due to it's price tag.

What are your kids into??

Doesn't matter boys/girls, I'm just trying to find out what are the hottest toys on the market now.

thanks for your posts here!!!
 
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My girl goes for the classics:

Barbie
Slinky
and the magnetic connector things

Probobly doesn't help you though.
 
as far as age range.... it doesn't really matter.

The reason I am asking is this...

two Christmas' ago, my friend who's a big Playstation/XBox player told me about this PS2 network adaptor that allowed PS2 users to play games online with other people. It was basically a modem for your PS2. Well I did some research on this item and found out that Sony made a huge mistake and under produced units for the Christmas run. Being the true Capitalist I am... I went out to every game store, chain store, electronics retailer and bought as many as I could get my hands on at retail price of $39.99 each.

I in turn listed them on eBay and during the 3-4 weeks leading up to Christmas was able to sell them for anywhere from $50-$75 a piece. I'm looking for my next opportunity to flip some items like this.

Obviously, I've considered picking up a few PSP's but the unit cost of $250 each (plus tax) limits the number of units I can buy and relist at once. The mark up on the PSP on eBay is only about $20 a unit. While a decent profit, I'm looking at something I can pick up in large quantities and flip for a small profit per unit.

Just trying to guage what else is out there that I can profit from. Not having any kids of my own, or any friends with kids..I'm outta the loop.

I realize some of you may be offended by my intention on profiting from someone else's laziness to not go and buy it retail, but this is America....home of free enterprise and if people are willing to pay a premium for an item, as a red-blooded american...it's my duty to provide it! ;)

So what is a hot item for kids of any age right now (aside from the PSP)???
 
Fortyounces said:

...
Obviously, I've considered picking up a few PSP's but the unit cost of $250 each (plus tax) limits the number of units I can buy and relist at once. The mark up on the PSP on eBay is only about $20 a unit. While a decent profit, I'm looking at something I can pick up in large quantities and flip for a small profit per unit.
...

honestly i'd stay away from the PSP. apparently sony did a crap job of marketing it. stores that got initial order of 80 units were expecting to sell out by lunch time , but in reality, they only sold about 10 the whole day.

here's an summary with some linked articles and discussion:

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/03/26/2313238&threshold=1&tid=212&tid=207
 
yea.....i walked into a best buy and they were practically begging me to buy one. there were other incentives given too. I was so annoyed by the hounding saleman that i actually left the store. :bash:
 
I hear a lot of kids are into weed now. Also, they would love to be able to buy smack and just about any type of alcohol. I think another big thing is "Huffing". You could probably make a killing, literally, by selling a can a spray paint and a couple paper bags together as a group deal. Kids also like these "Fast & Furious" style Hondas. You could buy a couple of them, trick'em out and sell them.

To me this is no different than somebody scalping tickets at a game. It kind of reminds me of this guy that washed cars behind our agency. He would always love to get tickets to different events from us. I thought we were doing him and his kids a favor by giving them the tickets, until I saw his sorry butt scalping them. I am not saying you are crooked, but it is the same thing.
 
momo.75 said:
To me this is no different than somebody scalping tickets at a game. It kind of reminds me of this guy that washed cars behind our agency. He would always love to get tickets to different events from us. I thought we were doing him and his kids a favor by giving them the tickets, until I saw his sorry butt scalping them. I am not saying you are crooked, but it is the same thing.
:iagree:

Fortyounces:
I have a 3 year old daughter. Why would I (or other parents) want to tell you "what's hot", so then when it comes time for us to get it we now have to pay you twice the normal amount because you bought every last one? Now I know I'm no where near you, and that would probably never happen but I still find that a little inconsiderate. I'm not flaming you for trying to make a buck, I just wanted to give you a parents opinion.
 
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wow, you guys surprise me with the comments. Thought I would stimulate some conversation on what's hot and try and get back in touch with the industry and try and make a few bucks.

Solice,
Do you honestly think I am going to "corner the market" on this hot item and cause a price increase across the nation?

I was simply looking to buy and item, sell them on eBay and hope to profit a few bucks for my time and effort. Look at all the crap out there on eBay people sell. Hell, the whole purpose of eBay is for people to buy things in the area they live (whether brand new or used from a yard sale) and re-sell. eBay is 100% dependant on people like me.

So bash if you want, but that is the way of the world. I'm sorry I even asked for opinions here.

Momo,
I can
 
I'm really not trying to start an argument with you. You asked for opinions and I thought you would like to hear my "honest opinion". Like I said in my post, I wasn't flaming you. Your right, 1 person won't cause an influx of prices across the nation :D . I just had a picture in my head of being at a toy store and going to grab something off the shelf when all of a sudden someone else runs up and grabs the last 15 of them, for no good reason other then to resell them for a higher price. That sounds a little far fetched I know, but it was just an example :) . Don't take my last post as an attack, just a point of view ;):
 
I'll suport Fortyouncer on this one.

He is doing what every good red blooded capitalist does, speculating. He takes the chances on some item nad spends money to buy it. If the item becomes hot property, he sells it dear--kinda like gas stations and oil companies jacking up prices any chance they get. If the itmes stays hot, he sells and makes a profit. If the itme turns out to be a dud, it's his loss. He eats it. With ketchup.

On the other hand, no one is forcing any parent to buy their little snotty brats the latest toy on the market. There is no limit to what you can buy them or not buy them. IF they are crying for the latest Sony Playstation or XBox and you give in to them, well, fine for you and your little ones. But what about teeaching your little ones about self control? What about teaching them to buy something more educational, like a BOOK! How about using the money to help them grow? Perhaps they would learn something about life by NOT GETTING WHAT THEY WHINE FOR? Egads, to learn that you can't get it just be whining and crying....what a concept. Perhaps that is a greater gift to the little brats than any Xbox or gameboy in the world....
 
I can only tell You that my 2 months old boy loves this phone....It rings and plays some songs...A lot of fun for him...;):

Probably not much help to You but since I have no experience with toys and kids I can only help You with babies up to 2 months old........


As for this thread....if You want to make some $$$$......go for it...You will have more to put into your 4Runner...;):
 

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thanks for the support krosno.

and TranceKrayze.... F the books! :flipoff:

like in olliebears example, I too have experienced the "future of america"....my little nephews and their friends are about as smart as a rock. a small rock at that. And I totally blame their parents for allowing them to spend every free hour in front of their xBox or the television instead of doing their homework or being outside in this beautiful south florida weather. And then the parents wonder why the kids are getting D's and F's on their report cards and can't even read the printing on the XBox game box. It's a very sad statement, but I'm almost positive that my nephews wouldn't know the name of any of their Xbox games if you took the pictures off the box. If you would just label the box with the title, they'd be sitting there clueless. It's a damn shame.

It probably also speaks volumes for the quality of education down here as well. When you have an over crowded classroom with several disturbed students (be it mentally or physically), I can't imagine that there is even an opportunity for those willing to learn to understand the lesson. With some hyperactive kid squirming in his seat over here, another kid mouthing off to the teacher over there, and then a handful of kids with "learning disabilities" constantly looking for the attention of the teacher, it's a wonder that the average student has any opportunity to pick up the lesson as intended.

anyway, I'll step off the soapbox now. Maybe the way for me to make this money would be to go into politics. I could take some major "kickbacks" and get all the mods I want for the 4R.
 
Fortyounces said:
what is the hottest toy right now with kids?
One word, i-POD. That is if you can get one. I bought a mini- i-POD for my 14 year old Son and it was the only one out of the 3 stores I checked. Fortunatley it was blue, if it was pink it would still be in the store.
 
I'm really suprised that there is a mark-up at all on PSPs. Are there shortages of them? Because if not, people would just buy them from online stores for cheaper than that on ebay. Ebay usualy sells for less, so people get large quantities of items for cheaper and sell just under retail.
 
I guess my family still lives in the dark ages, but my examples of hot toys:

- My 8yr old boy wants more Lego, always! - he builds things for hours on the floor. He still enjoys PS2 games but not as much as his Lego. He hates reading! Damn!

- My 12yr old daughter loves buying craft kits and would love an i-POD.

Good luck being a speculator. Free market economy made the US what it is (good or bad;): ) I think some of the comments here are too harsh and unrealistic for what you are planning.

P.S. as a teacher in elementary school I see kids pretty tied up with music (CD's and i-pods), anime (sp?), Gameboy Advance, and believe it or not...recently YoYo's again.

Cheers
Mark
 
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Fortyounces
I like your style, I got this thing going down, I have some Scion TC hidden in a back alley and I need some extra drivers to help me hijack big rigs on the highway full of XBox 2;):

It's all planned out, it's fool proof, you can use the harpon to jump from the TC to the Truck:D
 

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