Once in a while, on my own blog, I like to share pictures and my impressions of things I’ve bought or have in my collection. Then, in late December, I received a package I had been waiting for, and while I saw some unboxing videos, I wanted to do my own post. Just before I was going to do the pictures, I suddenly changed course and decided to start the write-up first. So when I went to get the basic info for my item like the release date, I decided to head to straight to Amazon. I found was confused when I only saw third-party offerings for it…and all around $300.
And that’s how I found out that the Violet Evergarden box set from Funimation is putting the “limited” in “limited edition”.
Some of you regular readers of this column may have heard me say before I hate scalpers — people who just stock up on every would-be hit item or every clearance deal just so they can list on eBay or craigslist or whatever so they can make a profit. A lot of scalpers have set up sophisticated scripts so they can be the first to pounce on any deal, so the people who really want the time are often blocked from ordering. I mean, it’s one thing to resell an item if it doesn’t fit, you received a duplicate, you were too late to return something, or something along those lines. I’m referring to the people who dedicate their time to flipping products and tend to snatch up every one of an item they can get their hands on and prevent others from getting one.
Anyway, with my curiosity piqued, I decided to learn why this Violet Evergarden set was going for so much. The answer was quite simple: it was sold out everywhere. In fact, even though some people had ordered it at places like Best Buy, their orders were cancelled. So with little chance of getting one from the major outlets, people were turning to eBay and Amazon third party sellers to get ahold of one. And in the eBay completed listings, you can see the price slowly rising as fewer and fewer options to pick up the set became available.
Which leads to the question of why. Why was this set, according to reports, almost impossible to find on the day it was released (December 5th)? Yes, the title of this set is Violet Evergarden The Complete Series Limited Edition…but why is it so hard to determine what is a limited edition nowadays? I preordered my set back in late October, and I almost passed on it, as I knew it was coming out around the holidays and stores often have promotions. But with discounts, I got this $85 set for about $50, so I decided to make it my surviving 2020 Christmas gift to myself. I don’t have Netflix anymore, so I had planned on picking up Violet Evergarden. If it been a title on Crunchyroll or another service, I might have held off.
But I never would have guessed Violet Evergarden‘s limited edition would soon climb dramatically in price. Is it because this is a series available on Netflix that Funimation could only make a certain number of them? Why not state that the box set was limited to [x] number of copies? A few people have asked whether the collection will be reprinted, but Funimation has not responded. Yes, if you browse some of Funimation’s other special edition Blu-rays, there’s a mix of older titles still in-stock and more recent ones unavailable. But to be out-of-print within the release month with no indication it was that limited of a release? It makes it hard to decide what to pick up. I mean, of course things like PS5s were going to flood eBay at well-above MSRP prices — that happens with just about every new video game console.
It’s not like fans have no other option though; Funimation also released it in a standard edition, which is readily available everywhere. The limited edition, however, came with a special box, an artbook, and some postcards and stickers. But as I stared at my still-sealed set, I wondered, “Is this set worth keeping?” As of this writing, the last two sets have sold for over $650! Even at around $400, and even if you subtract fees and the original cost, people are still likely making a $250-300 profit. Even a $100 profit would still be a nice chunk of change. Do I want to sell it? No. But is $100, 150, maybe even $300 worth of value equal to an artbook and some other minor goodies? That’s a manga series. Several anime discs. A few video games. Or money for a laptop, which I need a lot more than an anime set when I could get the same basic experience for a fraction of the price.
If it is reprinted, of course a part of me is going to be sick knowing I could have earned a few hundred dollars. Again, I wanted this series, and I originally had no intention of making money off of someone else’s depression of missing out on the set. Yet to keep it brand new as a collector’s item seems pointless, as there’s limited enjoyment in looking at a sealed box outside of being a fancy paperweight. Open, though, and the value falls. And if they were average $300-400 just a few weeks ago, is it possible that soon most people will have opened their Violet Evergarden sets and a sealed one will be worth $700-800? Maybe more down the line? Or is it maxed out?
I mean, I haven’t checked all of my goods recently, but even at $300, it’d be one of the most collectible (single) items in my collection, and it would have one of the biggest increases in value from what I paid at about 500%. There aren’t many items I own that I wouldn’t be seriously tempted to sell for 2.5 times what I paid for it, especially for something with a similar item (the standard edition) readily available.
But in the end, I don’t want this set to be valuable. I want people to be able to easily buy regular and more premium items without significant mark-ups. I especially don’t want to see items being scalped for so much so soon after release! I feel bad for all those who were a little cash-strapped around the holidays (and during a pandemic) and decided to hold off until its release, or who had ordered in good faith from retailers like Amazon or Best Buy and came up Violet-less. I could have easily been one of them.
It’s just so hard to guess which limited editions are truly limited and not just a gimmick, and with the pandemic, it’s even harder to know if supply chains are messed up or if that’s all a company made. Look at the Animal Crossing version of the Switch. After selling out shortly after release in March, they were nearly impossible to find late in the year, and many thought that version wouldn’t be available again.
So all those who were paying resellers for a console just needed to wait a few more months. Some probably could have bought a regular Switch and just sold it when the cuter version became available, and they still would have been out less money than just buying it from a third party.
Hindsight is 50/50 though. And I’m sure I’ll be looking back at myself in a year and kicking myself. Either I’ll have a great anime series languishing on my shelf with an artbook I’ve never seen, missed out on an opportunity to have money to get something else I want, or regretting the time I had a set and let it go. I’ve had experience with all three, and either way, it never feels good.
Ah, decisions, decisions!