It was a bit bittersweet for us this weekend. Our daughter went to a friend's birthday party sleepover, and for the first time she showed absolutely no reaction whatsoever to my wife leaving for the evening. She was just fine, thank you very much.
It was a Frozen party. With lots of Frozen decorations. Think: tons of cotton. And Frozen games, like Pin The Nose On The Olaf.
And even Frozen paper plates.
My wife commented that she was surprised that they got those, considering how ridiculously popular the movie continues to be. The party store had apparently gotten a shipment of Frozen party gear very recently, and they still had a bit when they arrived.
The birthday girl's dad, so I'm told, was sorely tempted to buy them out and sell them on eBay. I've had occasional success doing this, but he's pretty decent at it. He bought a bunk bed for $100 used, and when it didn't quite fit what his daughters needed, he sold it on Craigslist … for $275.
Spot the trend early … profit
I know that there are a lot of people making cold, hard cash on this Frozen craze. (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)
But, that's really the essence of investing, right? Buy low and sell high, right? Buy before something gets popular, and sell when people can't get enough of it and it starts to get hard to find?
A few years ago I paid more than retail on eBay for a Wii Balance Board. Why? I got hooked on the games at a friend's house, and decided that I wanted to get one. Unfortunately, nursing homes and physical therapy places had bought them all up, and they were hard to get some places. I didn't want to procrastinate any longer about trying (again) to get in shape, so I sucked it up and bought it for a premium.
I imagine the same goes for parents who want to give their child a Frozen party for their birthday, but find out too late that the supplies are gone in their local party store. But, capitalism runs full force on eBay, and there are always helpful people on there.
Helpful at some price, that is … hehe … 🙂
“Do you wanna throw a par-ty … ? Come on, let's go and pay!”
Invest in what you know, and get in early.
Disney has already said that they expect above average demand for Frozen products for a five year cycle. We’re not even fully through the first year yet. Christmas ought to be fun.
Oh, I don’t doubt it. I’ve resisted up to this point … only because people I never knew could sing are singing the freakin’ songs.