Purchasing Old Event Swag on The Niantic Gear shop.
I'm not sure if this is the right place but here we go!
Dear Niantic,
Hi! I'm one of probably a few hundred swag agents out there that has been watching the Official Niantic Gear shop for awhile now cause, well, i love swag. I love not only collecting it for myself to add to my growing obsession of it, but i purchase it to give away at events that i run or go to. I also like using the swag to meet new agents when i dead drop it or encourage agents to come and find me to get it at events. Sadly though, the official swag is becoming less and less available and the official shop has been missing small ticket items for awhile now.
While there are definitely many of us that love the wearable swag, it is honestly not items we can mass buy to fuel player run events with official swag. Thankfully we have had amazing fan made swag out there to try and fill the gaps but i thinking maybe there could be a solution out there that would help everyone, agents and you included.
I had the pleasure of going to the latest Chicago anomaly and being able to see the official market place. To my surprise i was able to get a lot of official gear from the past anomalies and events and i was overjoyed to get as much official swag as i could in my one suitcase i had to fly home with. I know at the time a lot of swaggers were upset they didnt get the same opportunities in their own anomaly events and that since then there have been very few chances to buy at events or on the shop but there was an interest and i believe there still is.
So i have a suggestion, and again i do not work in this type of work so i am not sure how plausible it is, but i was wondering if it would be possible to sell previous anomaly/event swag on the official website or maybe somewhere else? I know i have a huge interest in buying the old swag in mass for events in the future and i know quite a few people that run IFS events that would love to be able to purchase official patches, pins, cards, etc to add to their events. This would give us a chance to support the game we love in a way that we like and also possibly help you clear out some of the swag thats been collecting dust if there is any.
Thank you for reading!
Comments
Old swag, for me, are pins, patches, coins and the likes, NOT leftover nemesis sticker sheets. Would buy, if international shipping costs are not too high
Character medals, loadout cards, pins, small wearables are all great to have. And don't forget, there is a 3d-printing community that would love to lend a hand. We get lots of requests, but Niantic rules regarding fan art are a little weird at best.
@Ducilia thank you for your input! I honestly would take both but i do know that there are many that would love to have the ability to just purchase the older swag too.
@xxAZURExx the swag community has done an amazing job keeping the market alive.
hey @Ishira ! the complexity of such an implementation is mostly on taxation issues and laws of each country that can really act as a firewall.
What i want to say is that for Niantic to be able to sell through her store items must have been bought from an supplier. You cannot sell something that you have bought yourself as an individual or if you do not produce it.
So you must sell them the items in a price or donate them back to them.But you cannot sell something if you do not run a business in order for you to provide invoice for Niantic. Financial and taxation are real obstacles.
I am also not an accountant or a lawyer. But i think it is quite difficult.We must find a way to be done and in a profitable way . If Niantic gear shop is going to be used as a reseller point it must be done in a legitimate way.
I think it's definitely a good idea. I and many others I know would be happy to purchase physical swag. Many would prefer this to scanner badges too.
Most small businesses are easy to set up. Anyone wanting to make such products wouldn't find the issues too great I am sure.
I would agree with you if all the countries around the globe shared the same taxation laws, same taxes on business earnings and tje same low level paperwork and costs to start a small business. But we need more details on the idea of @Ishira .Is it to produce swag and sell it through niantic ? Is it to sell unwanted officially bought swag ? Can it done through a contract and an official partnership? What is the value for money ratio of such an effort. For both sides. For sure it is a whole set of issues to consider. Who will cover international delivery costs ? And what the final price for the buyer will be?
@Ishira i am not negative.i just note some possible obstacles.
I'm not talking about new swag but swag they have already commissioned and have a back stock of. Stuff that's already been produced and is just sitting around from past events and such.
While yes, I would love to see more swag come out, I'm just at this time speaking about the old swag theyve already released and maybe didnt sell as much as they needed to in the past. Kinda like what they did a little bit ago with their sale on old team themed stickers, pins, and patches.
I'm not talking about agents reselling at all just simply asking Niantic if they are open to selling their backstock/past items.
Οκ.Ι was wrong.You mean Niantic to sell their remaining stock of old swag items in a competitive price.A completely different approach from what i thought.My bad.
I suppose it is easy if the official store has stable and constant presence and availability and of course the items are in good condition to be sold.International shipping may raise the costs and the price..but nl 1331 tour can be used to "deliver only" the already paid swag to the buyers.not sell just deliver 😀 or use Munich as a massive swag delivery point during the anomaly.
Running a swag store when not an actual sales business can be tricky and with limited personnel it can be difficult. But steps needs to be taken.Swag market and possible buyers of of original , official and high quality items can bring in some cash.
@NianticCasey