TDS Duffy Shopping Service

[DuffyDaisuki]

The official site's not updated yet. It took them almost a week after Halloween to remove everything. I guess Christmas can't be as long, since New Year's is coming right up. Keep checking, and whoever gets the scoop, keep us posted!^^

I have absolutely no expectations about the next "Hello From Cape Cod" costume; I have no idea what it might be. I would love to be blown away, but even if I'm not, I'm already super excited for "Sweet Duffy." Sweet Duffy 2010 was kind of a bummer, since it was my first trip back to the parks without AP, which meant that I paid the one-day ticket price to literally stand in line for eight hours...or was it eleven? It was an incredible release, though, and Shellie May, despite my initial denial, really did add something to Duffy and to Duffy fandom. This year, though, Shellie's not debuting, so hopefully crowds will be at least a little more manageable. Hard to believe that this time last year I still hadn't "fallen in love" with Shellie May yet; I really have come to love her now. Not like Duffy, but I do love her. The name's even grown on me.^^

Is the timeline okay for everyone? Can you order by 1/16? I hope a lot of people can get in on this first order. We can all have "Sweet Duffy" at the same time - Duffy's big event will be our first big event! The first time for the shopping service, and the first releases of 2011 - let's represent and make 2011 the Year of Duffy!!!

(ahem)...Yeah, um, geeked out for a sec there.

[stevo505]

I might be able to order by the 16th if the site tells us what outfits are available. So let me get this straight: if I wanted an outfit that cost 3500 yen, I would pay around $43 plus about $13? Oh and do you have the link that tells us the prices and outfits available for Sweet Duffy?

[MatterhornJ]

I may be VERY interested in this if enough people get involved. Pretty great deal!

[gurgi]

Even at $53 or so, it's better than buying one costume on Ebay for $100. There are shoppers who will pick up costumes for you, but not really much cheaper than this, and...it's not really about the Duffy spirit, they just go to the parks a lot...

[gurgi]

Oh, and for everyone wondering how and where to check for the latest Duffy items from Tokyo DisneySea, go here.

This is the official TDS Duffy site.

?Duffy? The Disney Bear | ?????????

They update whenever there is any new merchandise, event, etc. If you want to know what the next costume in the "Hello from Cape Cod" series is, click on the dark blue banner on the right hand side...it has a little picture of Duffy & Shellie May (the logo for the series).

If there is something new in any of the sections, they have a "new" button on the section with the new release. Right now, it's not updated, but when you click on it, it has the Christmas costumes. However, there is a brown button on the bottom that takes you to a place telling you of the next release date, which is January 7th 2011.

Also, the Christmas section is still up, on the left hand side of the main site. This will most likely be replaced by the "Sweet Duffy" event merchandise when the time comes.

Also, there are four big logo buttons on the bottom of the page. The suitcase takes you to general Duffy and Shellie May merchandise. The cup logo takes you to the Duffy food offerings. The Duffy logo takes you to the character greeting info, and the Mickey & Duffy logo has info about the stage show "My Friend Duffy".

So...just keep checking the main site regularly and you will be able to keep up to date on the new items for sale, and any special event costums and merchandise. Also, I'm sure we'll all post anything as soon as it's known.

[DuffyDaisuki]

...A flat fee might be best to apply to everyone. I would say that 30% is about average. Don't go higher than that, because most of the Ebay sellers charge 20% to 30%...plush shipping, of course. Maybe try that once and see how much profit you get from 30% from everyone. It depends on how many people though. You might just recoup all of your costs and make some extra for your effort. I don't know...

I have to say I'm pretty confused about this information. I trust Gurgi absolutely and completely; if he says it, then that's the way it is. But I couldn't sleep tonight, so I thought I'd just take a quick look at eBay...

Literally every single auction I saw for any kind of Japanese Duffy goods has a minimum of 100% markup, but many (most?) are more like 200~400%. What I'm offering is not a deal, but a steal, especially considering how much work and care I put into shopping for others and how genuinely excited I am to do this. Plus, I offer the opportunity to order exactly what you want from one person with combined shipping... Many of the smaller and rarer things are unlikely to even show up on eBay. Even costumes that are not seasonal releases, but available year-round for the TDS low price of ￥2600~3200 are only available from one seller and only for $99.99 (though, like I said, I could get any one of these at TDS anytime - they are not limited in any way):

Travel Set
Saropet(Overalls)
T-shirt

Maybe this is just a fluke. Perhaps all the sellers offering the +20~30% prices just aren't listing at the moment, but with their only competition being people who sell at extraordinary and unjustifiable markups, why aren't they taking advantage of the holiday season? Maybe they just all sold out before Christmas? I have no idea. Still, it's very hard for me to imagine that "most" sellers are offering such low rates and yet I can't find a single one.

I trust that everyone who'd be interested knows I'm not about to gouge people, and I hope we can all be honest about the value of the service I'm offering and realistic about the time and effort (as well as my own money) it requires. I want everyone to understand this not because "wow I'm nice" or something, but because I'm hoping this will be a service Duffy fans can get really excited about - it is a much bigger deal than I thought and I'm even happier now to do it! I really still wanna do fun fan club stuff sometimes too, and that's gonna cut into anything I charge for the service (which is not "profit" until it pays for both park ticket and transportation anyway, and that's with no consideration for time or effort). Again, I'm not trying to be all hero or anything here, but I do hope that people really understand what I'm offering and why I'm doing it. Especially after looking at eBay, I actually think it's worth getting pretty stoked about.

I want this to be a Duffy Fan Club. I wanted to do something that would raise enthusiasm and create connections between us, something we could all be excited about together. Yes, I'm hokey. That's my incentive; and to stay motivated to do that, I wanna be compensated (a little) for my effort, and I wanna have enough money to give back to our growing community by planning fun extras from time to time. That's out of pocket and I really wanna feel good about doing it. I hope we're all on the same page. However, even if I never do a single bonus thing, my price is not just unbeaten - looking at eBay, it's unheard of. My offer still stands as outlined in my earlier post. People interested in the 1/7 "Hello From Cape Cod" costumes should start letting me know soon. Heck, some of you guys might even consider ordering extras to sell on eBay yourselves at these crazy prices!

i'm sorry but where did you see the ebay listings for 30-60%?

I haven't actually looked recently because I don't buy Duffy stuff on eBay, but I remember seeing stuff like straps and hand towels, which are ¥1300, selling for upwards of $26. My general rule of thumb is ¥100 = $1, but that's also no longer true. If eBay auctions offer satisfactory pricing and convenience, I will not be upset in the least if no one wants this service. I will never be an eBay seller. For me, it's all about the personal approach.^^

Flylikadove, I think I completely misunderstood you! I actually thought you were kind of accusing me of exaggerating the average eBay markup (which really confused me^^), but now I think you were expressing that even +60% would be a HUGE savings compared to what's listed on eBay. If that's the case, you'd be right! Sorry about that!

Has anyone seen these +20~30% auctions? Perhaps Duffy's market value in the US has increased dramatically recently - that would be AWESOME!!! Here's a quote I really liked from one eBay auction:

My daughter bought this at walt disney world's wilderness lodge gift shop before they became famous and popular. She has the eye...

And from the Queen of Auctions, no less! Bring it, Duffy!^^

[stevo505]

I'm interested in Hello From Cape Cod. I actually get paid the 7th. 3600 yen plus 30% equals around $55 correct? Is there a way to transfer the money to you in yen through PayPal?

[DuffyDaisuki]

It's actually closer to $58, but you'll pay me in yen and PayPal will automatically do the conversion for you; check out Gurgi's very helpful instructions near the top of this thread. Let me also explain the process a little more clearly:

1. You'll post your interest in ordering here in this thread.
2. I'll reply via MiceChat PM and send you my email address (which is how you will find me in PayPal).
3. You'll place a clearly stated, itemized and numbered order, including what you know the price in yen to be for each item, your total before service fee and then the total with fee.
4. I'll check everything too, and reply to confirm this.
5. You'll transfer funds (except for shipping) to my PayPal account. This should be ONE WEEK BEFORE I go to shop, so that the bank transfer actually has time to go through and I have cash in hand.
6. I'LL GET ALL YOUR STUFF!
7. Then, ideally the next day but I'm gonna say "within 48 hours," I'll go to the post office, pack everything up and get a shipping total for EMS (now that that crazy ban is lifted^^). I'll email you with the shipping charge information.
8. You'll transfer funds for shipping AND email me to let me know you've done this.
9. I'll confirm the transfer. Most often, I can go ahead and send your order with my own money immediately after confirming the funds; you probably won't need to wait for me to access or withdraw anything. However, if the shipping charges become really excessive, this step may be delayed as much as a week. I don't really see that happening, but I'd rather know now that I said it.
10. I'll email you with the EMS tracking number to confirm that I shipped it, and so that you can track the package yourself. This is where my responsibility technically ends, although of course we'll still be in communication.
11. YOU'LL GET A BOX FULL OF HAPPINESS & LUCK, CHOSEN AND SEALED WITH , ALL THE WAY FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WORLD!!!^^
12. Finally, you'll email me to let me know your package arrived, safe and sound.^^

Did I miss anything?

[gurgi]

DuffyDaisuki, I'm sorry about the confusion, I wasn't clear in what I meant. I was referring to eBay sellers who do personal shopping. They are the ones charging 20% to 30%. The Duffy auctions you found and that are usually there are insanely marked up. I just meant other personal shoppers, I agree with you that you need to make a little money for your own time and effort.

[DuffyDaisuki]

Dunno how or why this posted here. Sorry.

[DuffyDaisuki]

DuffyDaisuki, I'm sorry about the confusion, I wasn't clear in what I meant. I was referring to eBay sellers who do personal shopping. They are the ones charging 20% to 30%. The Duffy auctions you found and that are usually there are insanely marked up. I just meant other personal shoppers, I agree with you that you need to make a little money for your own time and effort.

Oh, okay. I was SO confused! Thank you for clearing that up!^^ I didn't even know such a service existed, but I still hope we — including you!^^ — can do this together. It's got me really excited and I'm pretty sure my approach will be more fun, too. I completely understand, though, if you've developed an unbreakable relationship with a new shopper. I'll be sad, of course, but I'd understand.

[pocketsan]

DuffyDaisuki, I am very interested in getting a "Hello from Cape Cod" outfit for my Duffy.

[gurgi]

DuffyDaisuki, I would like to join your shopping service too. I do have a contact, but I'm sure she'll be fine if I don't buy from her this time, LOL. I just need to find out your dates for shopping and payment. I want both the Hello From Cape Cod, and Sweet Duffy costumes. And, shipping them all at the same time sounds like a great savings on shipping.

[gurgi]

Oh, and for anybody looking for a good bag to carry Duffy around in, check this out.

Japan Tokyo Disneyland Disney Resort Duffy Bear Bag - eBay (item 130470654572 end time Jan-31-11 06:49:17 PST)

It is a tote bag from 2009 that was part of the "Cape Cod Seasons" series. And, the price here is $49, but that's actually a good deal considering the bag was about $70 when it was brand new. I have this bag and it's very cute, and fits Duffy perfectly.

[FI183]

^Oooo Thanks for posting that! I've been looking for a bag to put Duffy and Shellie in for when I go to the parks! I might consider this one!