Price Increases at Gemini Jets

[YesterAirlines]

Pricing and how retailers compare on price is perhaps a little controversial and not something that probably gets discussed as much as it should. With Gemini's newly announced April releases comes a hefty price increase so I thought I'd take a look at what this means for your pocket. Do you think the rise is justified?

Price Rises at Gemini Jets

Pricing and how retailers compare on price is perhaps a little controversial and not something that probably gets discussed as much as it should. With Gemini's newly announced April releases comes a hefty price increase so I thought I'd take a look at wha

www.yesterdaysairlines.com

Note this is not a beat up of Gemini. I am reporting the news not making it. Nothing I say is inaccurate or particularly opinionated. I'm reporting the cold hard figures here.

 

[keji833]

I think generally any narrowbody above $40 or widebody above $50 isn't justifiable at all for the quality we are getting these days. Previously I buy at all range but have since implemented this strict cap for $40 and $50 for narrow and widebody with rare exceptions, anything above that I'd rather get a nice dinner. Hence i normally just buy at promo days or with a good discount.

On a side node, waffle has NG ultimate collection at the same price as regular release which is quite nice.

 

[Phantom]

I think generally any narrowbody above $40 or widebody above $50 isn't justifiable at all for the quality we are getting these days. Previously I buy at all range but have since implemented this strict cap for $40 and $50 for narrow and widebody with rare exceptions, anything above that I'd rather get a nice dinner. Hence i normally just buy at promo days or with a good discount.

On a side node, waffle has NG ultimate collection at the same price as regular release which is quite nice.

Looking at what I paid for a model 20 years ago and what for a loaf of bread and how much model I get for the buck today, I can't say they are overly expensive. And the bread certainly didn't get better.

 

[JJ Skippy]

After assessing the price increase, here’s my two cents. Personally, this doesn’t make me too upset as I can still afford these models despite the increase of several dollars. Fortunately, most retailers I shop from give out decent discounts (the one I frequent the most, PandaFox Toys, always has a 5% discount code somewhere, which granted isn’t much but it will help save you a few bucks) so I haven’t noticed a significant jump in my spending after I preordered two models from this latest release. With that in mind, and the fact that as long as they keep making what I’m looking for in my collection, it won’t be enough to deter me from buying GJ. After all, I’m just here to have a good time and enjoy collecting.

 

[YesterAirlines]

Fortunately, most retailers I shop from give out decent discounts (the one I frequent the most, PandaFox Toys, always has a 5% discount code somewhere, which granted isn’t much but it will help save you a few bucks) so I haven’t noticed a significant jump in my spending after I preordered two models from this latest release.

You should shop about. All the stores I've shopped with in the US have standing 10% discount codes that aren't very secret. I would take point though with you saying you didn't notice. Since you were using the discount code before the rise the discount code hasn't saved you anything. The price has still gone up by $4 per model hasn't it?

I can understand why prices go up but I can also understand why GJ raising their prices is a bit rich given the product they are often providing to market.

 

[JJ Skippy]

I’ve only shopped with PandaFox frequently because they’re very reliable and tend to be in the first wave to get the latest Gemini releases. I’m not one to shop at Waffle Collectibles for them because he’s usually a couple weeks behind everyone else, and as you know I’m not one to wait any longer than necessary for a model. To be fair he’s not an authorized retailer for a number of reasons so that would likely explain why.

Stores like JetCollector and DGPilot who usually have bigger discounts I’ve been meaning to try them out for Gemini preorders, but PandaFox is always quick to have them up for preorder so that’s where my business ends up going to most of the time. I’m pretty happy with the service they’ve provided me over the years. Now that doesn’t mean I haven’t bought from the aforementioned shops before, in fact it’s the opposite.

 

[Purpleplane]

I’ve only shopped with PandaFox frequently because they’re very reliable and tend to be in the first wave to get the latest Gemini releases. I’m not one to shop at Waffle Collectibles for them because he’s usually a couple weeks behind everyone else, and as you know I’m not one to wait any longer than necessary for a model. To be fair he’s not an authorized retailer for a number of reasons so that would likely explain why.

Stores like JetCollector and DGPilot who usually have bigger discounts I’ve been meaning to try them out for Gemini preorders, but PandaFox is always quick to have them up for preorder so that’s where my business ends up going to most of the time. I’m pretty happy with the service they’ve provided me over the years. Now that doesn’t mean I haven’t bought from the aforementioned shops before, in fact it’s the opposite.

I use JetCollector for my Gemini preorders, and they are fantastic....no issues at all.

 

[swagninja84]

The thing with pandafox is even though they have a smaller discount. They offer free shipping, so if you are only buying 1 or 2 GJ, they tend to be cheaper overall.

 

[YesterAirlines]

I use JetCollector for my Gemini preorders, and they are fantastic....no issues at all.

I've also used JetCollector and had a good experience as well.

Do a lot of websites in the US offer free shipping even on 1 or 2 models?

 

[swagninja84]

Do a lot of websites in the US offer free shipping even on 1 or 2 models?

I think just PandaFox, all orders have free shipping. They offer a 5% discount, as opposed to 10% for Jetcollector, eztoys and waffle.

 

[Jazajia]

I've also used JetCollector and had a good experience as well.

Do a lot of websites in the US offer free shipping even on 1 or 2 models?

Only PandaFox. That is their strength. If you only see one model that you like on a given release, they are usually the cheapest option. I was buying a lot from them for a while.

Another good option was The Texan Airplane Store. No free shipping, but they always had a discount code going on that undercut everyone else . For me their shipping was almost nothing since we are in the same city. One issue with them was their limited stock.

Now a days if there are a lot of Phoenix models that I want I’ll do a big order with West Coast Diecast a few times a year, and that works really well.

If there are Aeroclassics in the mix I’ll go with JetCollector or Eztoys. Unless you are going to take advantage of EZ’s free shipping on large orders, JC tends to be best as they both have the same discount, but EZ runs a few bucks higher on many products. Both have excellent service, EZ seems to ship faster.

Waffle is fine too, but I don’t see a reason to buy from him too often anymore unless it is a collection sale item, a store exclusive or some random brand (YY, etc…) that only he stocks.

 

[JJ Skippy]

Only PandaFox. That is their strength. If you only see one model that you like on a given release, they are usually the cheapest option. I was buying a lot from them for a while.

Another good option was The Texan Airplane Store. No free shipping, but they always had a discount code going on that undercut everyone else . For me their shipping was almost nothing since we are in the same city. One issue with them was their limited stock.

Now a days if there are a lot of Phoenix models that I want I’ll do a big order with West Coast Diecast a few times a year, and that works really well.

If there are Aeroclassics in the mix I’ll go with JetCollector or Eztoys. Unless you are going to take advantage of EZ’s free shipping on large orders, JC tends to be best as they both have the same discount, but EZ runs a few bucks higher on many products. Both have excellent service, EZ seems to ship faster.

Waffle is fine too, but I don’t see a reason to buy from him too often anymore unless it is a collection sale item, a store exclusive or some random brand (YY, etc…) that only he stocks.

100% agree with you on this! That’s why I keep going to PandaFox for GJ preorders, they always have free shipping + the 5% discounts.

 

[swagninja84]

Unless you are going to take advantage of EZ’s free shipping on large orders, JC tends to be best as they both have the same discount, but EZ runs a few bucks higher on many products. Both have excellent service, EZ seems to ship faster.

I found that the 10% discount usually was more than the shipping, so I always took the % discount as opposed to free shipping.

diecastairplanestore used to be my go to, before it was sold.

I think most of the US stores no longer do free shipping over a certain price and a discount code, but most of the Canadian ones do.

 

[YesterAirlines]

Interesting perspectives. Thanks. As an international buyer it's a bit different.

The reasons I have historically chosen Waffle have been because his prices generally are lower and he stocks a wider range of models than everyone else so it is easy to make an order up (buying 2 models makes little sense when the shipping costs internationally start around $20). His international shipping prices have gone up but are fine.

Obviously though he doesn't stock Aeroclassics so I tend to use either Threshold in Canada or JetCollector for those, unfortunately Threshold has in the past 4 or 5 months stopped getting all the AC releases. The CAD:GBP exchange is typically better than USD:GBP as well so Canada makes sense.

I bought from Eztoys recently but he put full value on the package so it got stopped at customs and I was charged extra, which was expensive and annoying.

There are 10% codes for all of these retailers.

In the UK only Bedfordshire Diecast is really reliable and has good prices but he doesn't stock Phoenix or Aeroclassics or Gemini. The alternative is AircraftModelStore but it seems to take them ages to get models in to stock, their website is unreliable when it comes to pre-ordering and although they outsource their customer service it just makes it useless. Buying in Europe is pointless because they add VAT on top of their already not cheap prices.

UK stores also don't do discount codes.

 

[Jazajia]

Interesting perspectives. Thanks. As an international buyer it's a bit different.

The reasons I have historically chosen Waffle have been because his prices generally are lower and he stocks a wider range of models than everyone else so it is easy to make an order up (buying 2 models makes little sense when the shipping costs internationally start around $20). His international shipping prices have gone up but are fine.

Obviously though he doesn't stock Aeroclassics so I tend to use either Threshold in Canada or JetCollector for those, unfortunately Threshold has in the past 4 or 5 months stopped getting all the AC releases. The CAD:GBP exchange is typically better than USD:GBP as well so Canada makes sense.

I bought from Eztoys recently but he put full value on the package so it got stopped at customs and I was charged extra, which was expensive and annoying.

There are 10% codes for all of these retailers.

In the UK only Bedfordshire Diecast is really reliable and has good prices but he doesn't stock Phoenix or Aeroclassics or Gemini. The alternative is AircraftModelStore but it seems to take them ages to get models in to stock, their website is unreliable when it comes to pre-ordering and although they outsource their customer service it just makes it useless. Buying in Europe is pointless because they add VAT on top of their already not cheap prices.

UK stores also don't do discount codes.

Waffle does have good prices, he used to be my retailer of choice for over a decade. But when PandaFox did a lot of marketing promoting their free shipping and 5%discount codes I started to use Waffle less and less. I was not aware of Waffle's 10% discount code at the time.

One thing that really annoyed me big time is how Waffle Collection Sales changed for the worse. I used to find some ridiculous deals there, and models used to sit for a while. I used to browse the sale periodically, think about a purchase for a while, and then combine new releases with models from the sale. Nowadays you don't have the luxury of pondering over getting a model from the sale, it will be gone. Or if it is still there, it is probably because he is pricing it like eBay, or it's some old/random stuff that most collectors don't want even if it was free. Though I reckon that as of late the scale is slowly shifting back in our favor.

 

[YesterAirlines]

Waffle does have good prices, he used to be my retailer of choice for over a decade. But when PandaFox did a lot of marketing promoting their free shipping and 5%discount codes I started to use Waffle less and less. I was not aware of Waffle's 10% discount code at the time.

One thing that really annoyed me big time is how Waffle Collection Sales changed for the worse. I used to find some ridiculous deals there, and models used to sit for a while. I used to browse the sale periodically, think about a purchase for a while, and then combine new releases with models from the sale. Nowadays you don't have the luxury of pondering over getting a model from the sale, it will be gone. Or if it is still there, it is probably because he is pricing it like eBay, or it's some old/random stuff that most collectors don't want even if it was free. Though I reckon that as of late the scale is slowly shifting back in our favor.

You've always had to be superquick on the collection sales. I can remember many times when I lived in NZ staying up staring at his collection sales trying to snag models. It was worse because again I cound't just buy a single model so I had to try and get at least 3 to make it worthwhile. Many times I missed out on a model due to that.

His prices have gone up. There are two reasons: 1. Other people started buying collections and paying more than he did and so he has had to pay more for models. There's been a quite high increase in the cost of 2nd hand models in recent years. 2. He saw that he was missing out because others were selling secondhand stuff for a lot more than he was.

I still find his collection sale pricing to be quite fair and cheaper than others but agree the pricing has gone up a lot.

 

[Jazajia]

You've always had to be superquick on the collection sales.

I think it was not as crazy as it is today with Facebook and all. I got a Viasa YV-135C for $25 around 2012, and had time to browse around a bit. Not gonna happen today, the two most recent I have seen there have gone for $75 and people have snagged them at lighting speed.

His prices have gone up. There are two reasons: 1. Other people started buying collections and paying more than he did and so he has had to pay more for models. There's been a quite high increase in the cost of 2nd hand models in recent years. 2. He saw that he was missing out because others were selling secondhand stuff for a lot more than he was.

I still find his collection sale pricing to be quite fair and cheaper than others but agree the pricing has gone up a lot.

I know... I always thought he was leaving a lot of money on the table. When the prices increased I just thought that It was nice while it lasted. Not his fault, but the market's fault. Unfortunately for Waffle, and us, the collection sale is no longer a magnet for customers. When I see a sough-after subject there for a good price I know there is a very high chance that the link will already be dead by the time I click on it.

Speaking of the devil and our beloved PandaFox:

Viasa DC-10-30 YV-135C Aeroclassics Scale 1:400

Free shipping on all US domestic orders! High quality collectible die-cast model with realistic print of airline livery and surface details.

pandafoxtoys.com

I get it, if people fight over it on eBay, it is not easy to list it for less than what we know it can go for sometimes, but it has been sitting there for close to a year.

------------

One last thing, re-releases are also killing collection sales. I personally think that's the way it should be: Models sell out, people still want them, model makers make more of them. Easy. I have never been a huge fan of having to pay $100+ for an airplane that most of humanity won't be able to tell apart from something you can find in the toy aisle of a supermarket.

 

[YesterAirlines]

One last thing, re-releases are also killing collection sales. I personally think that's the way it should be: Models sell out, people still want them, model makers make more of them. Easy. I have never been a huge fan of having to pay $100+ for an airplane that most of humanity won't be able to tell apart from something you can find in the toy aisle of a supermarket.

100% agree!