So what's up at Harbour Lights?

So what's up at Harbour Lights? Where has TonyC been? He hasn't posted in a while. Did he give up on us "Wacko's"? It was nice to read his sometimes informative, sometimes teasing posts.

I'm also a bit curious to know how the Harbour Lights line is doing? Are the the core LE's doing better the last couple years? Has the resurgence of LLOM's helped? I've heard more dealers are gone, but I've also heard there are new dealer added.

I see most of the bad dealers who sell way below retail are gone or have stopped selling way below retail. I was tracking a few I was going to report, but they are either gone from Ebay, or are atleast selling new releases close to retail, some even over if you include shipping.

It would be nice to get a "State of Harbour Lights" post maybe once or twice a year. Maybe tell us what are the big selling pieces.

I hope to be collecting HL's for many many more years !!!

Tony's been on vacation..

I still see up to four of the worst offenders selling HL on ebay regularly. They may start out some of the newest releases a little above half of retail and the auctions usually end below retail. One of these sellers is located about an hour away in Richland, MI.

I have emailed Tony about some of these sellers but have yet to receive a responce. This is a problem that MUST be addressed ASAP because it is draining the lifeblood of HL dealers following the rules.

Tony believes in the product and its reputation and intends to safe guard it's value from discounters. He may be on vacation getting ready for the coming confligration, who knows. I heard him talk, I believe him, and also a collector as ourselves he has the motivation to protect himself as well as us.
I personally buy my new pieces from a reputable dealer and have joined with a few others on autoship as a way to be sure they are available to us. Maybe others can do the same. You don't always get them all, but you still support the dealers and your collection.
Ebay is a wonderful tool for selling goods and finding things you want, especially collectables. I have been able to fill in past issues in my lighthouse collection quite well because where I live, I no longer have a dealer and little access to sellers. With that having been said, I don't think Ebay is used wisely all the time. It just doesn't make sense to me to use it as a tool to make a few bucks while killing the goose providing the product that keeps them (and others) in business.
Dealers signed a contract to do something in a certain way. Some now use Ebay as a way to violate that contract and justify it by saying its only business thus easing their concience. I believe that is the problem with business today (but thats another topic). I personally try to be an honest person and an ethical person. I have purchased from other dealers when I don't get my piece from autoship, but I pay pretty much the same from them. Why? How can I trust a dealer to fulfill his promise of service and guarentee of product to me when they have have not fulfilled their promise to the manufacturer in the first place. To me, a few bucks are not worth it.
So how do you know you are dealing with a dealer? Its pretty easy really. Just ask for the piece number. You will get no answer from them or you will get a "its a low 3 digit" or something else just as vague. They can't give you the number because Harbour Lights knows who got what number and they don't want to get caught.
Well it all ends up with us, the Ebay buyer. We can continue to save a few bucks and eventually put an end to our collection by killing the product and supporting a dishonest system, or we can buy from reputable dealers maybe buying a few less pieces while supporting an honest system. For myself, I will support honesty and sleep better at night.

I agree Ebay is useful for buying the older retired pieces you can't find locally, but my first preference is from the CF Trading Post. I have bought many from several CF collectors.

Some of them are still selling, but not as low as they were in the past. I've noticed the starting bid price has been higher and the final selling price has been close if not over retail.

I know some of this has to do more with the bidding then the dealer doing the right thing. There has been some robust bidding from collectors who might not have a local HL dealer anymore.

Still thinks it better to order from Cape Annie's, The Cape Cod Shoppe, Lighthouse Depot, or one of many other good mail-order dealers.

I have not bought anything from e-bay for quit a while now. I have bought several pieces from members right here on the forums.
I resently recieved a retired 2005 piece from my dealer just by asking him and he checked with Harbour Lights to see if they still had any left. They had a couple and he ordered one for me. I don't have a local dealer but I am very happy with the one I have found to do business with. I can call him or e-mail him and he always gets right back to me.

I think if you will go back and carefully read Frank's post (Silverfox) that there is a lot to think about in it. Bottom line, if you support the dumping by dealers you are ultimately helping to end Harbour Lights in all probability.

The times leave a lot to be desired and people have to make choices. Many are choosing to not buy collectibles in general, not just HL, because of necessity. This impedes the flow of business into the local collectible store which turns into fewer and fewer sales and leads to a decision to close the store. And so it goes. Dealer dumping by unscrupulous dealers adds to the problems of those dealers trying to live by the agreement they signed with HL.

If you know the name of a dealer dumping on ebay, send that info to Tony. He will respond and work to cut that dealer out. However, you will probably need to know the storefront name of the dealer, not what they sell under on ebay. Or, if you made a purchase and know the flag number, send it and that will work just the same.

Support your retail dealer, whether it be a local store or one of the reputable mail order dealers. You will benefit in the long run.

Tony hasn't posted since July 14th. My guess is that since he took over the jobs of all of the Reps, he doesn't have any free time to post. I just talked to a HL dealer that says he talks to Tony once a week. If just a quarter of the dealers spent that much time with Tony that in itself would be a full time job.

Good to see TonyC posting again!!!

Now if we can find out WHEN the last two Grand Tour pieces will be released. Don't even need to know what they are other then what type(i.e. LE's, GLOW's or LLOM's) unless they're GLOW's(I buy some of the GLOW's). This way I can budget my HL LE purchasing the rest of the year.

And only three months till the first batch of 2009's Collectors Choice!!!