The first Hot Wheels Club Red Line Club (RLC) sale commenced yesterday, and it was a complete failure. The sale for the Volkswagen Drag Bus “Candy Striper” launched at exactly 12:00 PM (EDT), and by 12:05 PM (EDT) all 20,000 buses were sold out.
The reason you purchase an RLC membership is to be able to purchase an exclusive vehicle. What happened yesterday proves an RLC Â membership doesn’t give you the ability to buy anything. It only gives you the chance to spin the wheel.
It’s better to be lucky than good
Whether you can buy a toy car or not all comes down to luck.
Most people who tried to buy a bus yesterday got derailed when they tried to complete the reCaptcha task to prove they were not robots. I didn’t even get that far.
How much are they now going for on eBay?
I took a look on eBay for the RLC exclusive Volkswagen Drag Bus. From what I could tell, it appears many of those who got lucky yesterday and were able to buy one, decided to list it on eBay.
I don’t think anyone listing one of these buses on eBay is doing anything wrong. Good for them. I would do it too if I lucked out and won the right to buy one.Â
If I had one of these RLC Volkswagen Drag Buses, knowing they were commanding $150 on the secondary market, I’d have to sell it. If I didn’t sell it, it would be like I was willing to part with $150 just for the privilege of having it collect dust on a shelf. Â
I was more than willing to spend $25 plus shipping for the pleasure of owning an RLC Volkswagen Drag Bus. That was a price point I was comfortable paying. Choosing between owning an RLC Volkswagen Drag Bus sitting on my shelf or having $150 in my bank account is not a hard choice.
Buy low and sell high
I did something similar a few days ago. Last year I backed a Kickstarter campaign for a Spawn action figure.
Last May, I paid $40 for the Spawn figure and $17 for shipping. I don’t even know why I did it. Although I collected Spawn action figures years ago, it’s not something I ever think about doing today. There was a reason I sold all my Spawn action figures years ago. Reading about the Kickstarter campaign took me back to when I derived fun from collecting Spawn action figures. I decided I didn’t want to miss out on the Kickstarter.
I received my Spawn action figure last week. Realizing I didn’t have a real desire to get back into collecting Spawn action figures, I decided to sell it on eBay for $180. It sold the same day.
Selling the Spawn figure on eBay was pure capitalism. Because I had $57 in capital last May, I was able to make money without working. I didn’t even have to take it to the Post Office to mail it. The buyer paid for shipping. I printed the label and scheduled to have it picked up at my door.
The buyer paid $180 plus shipping. When I subtract the initial money I paid Kickstarter and the fees extracted by eBay, it left $95.25 in pure profit. That is what capitalism is all about. You use money (capital) to make money.
I’d like to think Ronald Reagan would be proud of me.
