This woman bought a huge supply of this year's hottest Christmas toy and now she can't get rid of them! I hate people like this.

 

‘Water for Elephants’ author desperate to sell 156 Hatchimals - NY Daily News

 

The New York Times bestselling author behind “Water for Elephants” is corralling a new circus: $23,000 worth of Hatchimals.

 

Sara Gruen bought 156 of the hot-ticket holiday toys on eBay around Black Friday, hoping to sell the already marked-up toys for even more. But after the online auction set a limit on how many Hatchimals the writer could peddle, she was left with a trove of pricey puppets — and a wave of fury from parents who have struggled to find the sold-out critters for their own kids.

 

“I am having Hatchimal nightmares,” the North Carolina-based author wrote on Facebook, announcing her own website to sell her surplus. “I have a fortune invested, only one venue to offload them, and in only three weeks they will magically transform into useless pumpkins that will take up space in my office FOREVER, and have caused my financial ruin.”

 

Gruen insisted that she stocked up on the toys not to make money for herself, but to help fund legal fees for an allegedly innocent man serving a life sentence. She’s currently working on a documentary about the case.

 

The writer bought 156 of the highly coveted toys on eBay the day after Black Friday. While the animated critters retail for just $59.99, the average auction price was already up to $151 — meaning Gruen dropped about $23,500 on her stash, she told PhillyVoice.

 

“It never occurred to me that I’d have trouble getting rid of them,” she said. “I figured I could sell them at a profit and put a dent in the extremely hefty lawyers' fees.”

 

But when she started reselling the Hatchimal stockpile on eBay, the auction site wrote to her with some bad news: Users can only sell three Hatchimals per week on the site.

 

She tried other marketplace sites — to no avail. Amazon won’t let vendors peddle the hot gifts without a note from the manufacturer, and Bonanza has barred newbie sellers without a history of hawking Hatchimals from starting during the holiday season, Gruen claimed.

 

With dozens of Hatchimals piled up in her office, Gruen said she was forced to set up her own online store.

 

“I cringe and hang my head in shame and feel sick to my stomach — if you or anyone you know wants a Hatchimal, here is a link to my Shopify store front,” she wrote.

 

The Hatchimals sold in the Gruen Zoo go for between $189 and $219. Each one comes with a signed copy of one of Gruen’s books.

 

News of the shop has not gone over well with parents, many of whom haven’t been able to get their hands on the animated toys ahead of the holidays.

 

“You rob hundreds of parents of the opportunity to get one of these at a reasonable price for their kids, and now you're begging for them to come bail you out of your greed induced moment of stupidity?” someone wrote on Gruen’s Facebook announcement. “Um... no.”

 

“This is what happens when you try and take advantage of desperate parents during Christmas,” another added.

 

Some had even harsher words for the writer-turned-Hatchimal peddler: “Hope everyone boycott's anything you write.”

 

Despite the criticism, the Hatchimals are selling. Two days after the store went live, Gruen said she sold 40% of her inventory.

 

Before the Hatchimal insanity, Gruen was best known for her 2006 book “Water for Elephants,” the story of a veterinarian student-turned-circus animal keeper. The novel spent three months on the New York Times Best Seller list and was alter turned into a movie starting Reese Witherspoon and Robert Pattinson.

Good.

 

That's what you get for being greedy. I hope she never gets rid of them.

Good.

 

That's what you get for being greedy. I hope she never gets rid of them.

 

Feel the same way when retails do this same thing?

Feel the same way when retails do this same thing?

 

Give me an example?

If her intention was truly to help pay legal fees for an incarcerated man who may actually be innocent, I can't muster up an ounce of disgust for her. Frankly, even if she was planning on keeping it, I'm just not all that aggravated. We buy pharmaceuticals that run the most price-rigged operations on Earth (until their patents expire), and we have hate in our heart for a chick trying to make $100 on a toy?

 

If I had to have a Hatchimal, I'd happily buy one from her store before I'd stand in line in the middle of the night at a Toys 'R Us to buy one.

I'd offer her $20 for one.

 

Disclaimer: I have no idea what these things are, but know they are the hot item.

Give me an example?

 

Walmart.

Walmart.

 

I know what a retailer is, are you talking about getting goods from a wholesaler and then selling it in their store?

 

FWIW, I don't have a problem with the lady buying the toy to resell it but I also don't need to hear her grumble about it when she can't sell it. Just like a ticket scalper.

 

And I also agree with Mentchaloto'letters that pharmaceuticals are the worse. It's not like we can stop taking certain medicines.

I know what a retailer is, are you talking about getting goods from a wholesaler and then selling it in their store?

 

FWIW, I don't have a problem with the lady buying the toy to resell it but I also don't need to hear her grumble about it when she can't sell it. Just like a ticket scalper.

 

And I also agree with Mentchaloto'letters that pharmaceuticals are the worse. It's not like we can stop taking certain medicines.

 

You missed what I meant about Walmart and this particular toy in general. They are holding it back and not putting it on the shelves, but it's available on their website for a crazy price through a third party retailer. Check out my thread about it in the premium forum.

Feel the same way when retails do this same thing?

 

Is she eventually going to drop the price to get rid of them like a retailer does? No...

So this is a story about a writer, who is a lousy salesperson....and now her life is somehow ruined ?

 

Seems to me that when she when was working on that English lit degree she was financially ruining her life at that time, so what's new ?

 

BTW: She has sold 10 million copies of her work....she's obviously not a financial wiz either....

You missed what I meant about Walmart and this particular toy in general. They are holding it back and not putting it on the shelves, but it's available on their website for a crazy price through a third party retailer. Check out my thread about it in the premium forum.

Just like the Mini Nintendo.

I despise the whole must have toy; jack up price capitalism that convinces kids that they are losers if they don't have this toy and parents that they are despicable if they don't get their kid this stupid toy.

 

Maybe an online auction of a small # would have warmed my heart a bit more. Or maybe something that didn't take advantage of the power this must have mentality has over people. JMO

:lol2: loser

Just like the Mini Nintendo.

 

Same ideal yes, not sure if they are holding that one back as well though.