Target doesn't inventory by Manufacturer's UPC!?

[nicholas.alipaz]

So I was at Target this morning and had the Employee look up inventory on his scanner for the three super chases (there were no singles on the shelf). He confirmed that they don't have any in stock, but also confirmed that two other stores nearby had 20 and 12.

I then noticed that all the UPC's I gave him came up with the exact same counts (0). I then ascertained that they inventory every mainline single as the same item/internal-sku. So there is no way for them to determine if they have a particular car in stock without visually looking at the cars on the rack or seeing what boxes are in the back. All he was able to determine was how many cars were in stock at each location.

I did not know this, did you guys?

Another interesting note, he said the supply issue is a global Target problem. Not sure what he meant by that or if he really knew anything more about the situation if there really is one even.

[bobbyjack]

Target uses a DPCI number. All the 2013 singles are the same DPCI number as the Porto Corsa singles. This is normally only useful when a new line starts like "Planes" for example. It can't tell the difference between waves or case numbers.

[PopeMobile]

I was aware of this - the benefit to you is that you can exchange pegwarmers at Target for better cars - so in other words you can 'upgrade your inventory'. For example, you buy a case from someone and it has 1 super chase, 4-5 other good cars, and the rest pegwarmers. Pull out the pegwarmers (let's say you have 15 of them) and put them in a bag. Now go to any Target and buy 15 new cars off their shelves that are an upgrade over your pegwarmers (i.e. Brand New Mater, Snot Rod, Suki, etc). Now go to a different target and take your bag of 15 pegwarmers (McQueen, Francesco, Mater) and use the store receipt from your earlier purchase. You can now get a refund of the entire amount on that receipt. So when the smoke clears you have done the following:

- you have exchanged 15 pegwarmers for 15 better cars
- you haven't spent a cent since the buy/return transactions at Target cancel each other out
- you have done it all legally

[Bombom77]

From my experience in the UK, they use the barcode number for everything. So the barcode on Lightning McQueen with Cone would be the same for ANY OTHER 2013 card.

In fact, the one Morrisons i visited, they said they have "28" in stock, yet on the shelf there were 6 2013 cards and the other 22 were PC backs, so they didnt even differentiate between lines on their stock system. Same goes for Sainsburys in that respect. Makes it all the more harder to track down new cases

[Tmremote]

hehe i liked that "you have done it all legally"

[bobbyjack]

I was aware of this - the benefit to you is that you can exchange pegwarmers at Target for better cars - so in other words you can 'upgrade your inventory'. For example, you buy a case from someone and it has 1 super chase, 4-5 other good cars, and the rest pegwarmers. Pull out the pegwarmers (let's say you have 15 of them) and put them in a bag. Now go to any Target and buy 15 new cars off their shelves that are an upgrade over your pegwarmers (i.e. Brand New Mater, Snot Rod, Suki, etc). Now go to a different target and take your bag of 15 pegwarmers (McQueen, Francesco, Mater) and use the store receipt from your earlier purchase. You can now get a refund of the entire amount on that receipt. So when the smoke clears you have done the following:

- you have exchanged 15 pegwarmers for 15 better cars
- you haven't spent a cent since the buy/return transactions at Target cancel each other out
- you have done it all legally

Somebody did that at my local Target at the end of 2011 and those 65 Finn McMissiles hung on the pegs for 18 months before they were taken down. This is a good thing for the one who does it, but you hurt all the other local collectors in your area.

[OzzieMum]

Another interesting note, he said the supply issue is a global Target problem. Not sure what he meant by that or if he really knew anything more about the situation if there really is one even.

I'm pretty sure the "global Target problem" is exactly as it sounds, a global Target problem. I have called up stores before trying to find out same information & unfortunately they cannot tell me if they have a specific item, as they all register under the same code .

[cac1959]

Not only is it a global Target problem, there are also problems with systems used by most of the stores... they have no idea that there are differences between Cars items... you don't want to order merchandise online from Kmart.com - all 2 packs are the same to their system, all Deluxe, etc... and the Toys R US online system has been known to have problems as well - we once ordered Shiny Wax haulers from their website and received Sidewall Shine haulers... there's a thread somewhere about that.

[PopeMobile]

Somebody did that at my local Target at the end of 2011 and those 65 Finn McMissiles hung on the pegs for 18 months before they were taken down. This is a good thing for the one who does it, but you hurt all the other local collectors in your area.

Unlikely. What you are probably seeing is just a lot of pegwarmers that we all saw with the Porta Corsa cardbacks. It is well known that Mattel overproduced Finns, Maters, Mcqueens, and Francescos in 2011 and 2012 and many stores are still trying to shed that inventory.

[TopherDawg]

I'm sure bobbyjack knows his local store well enough to know when 65 of the same car show up. My store had about 20 Sub Finns show up as a return about the same time as Kmarts .99 cent sale. Don't try to tell me any different either.

[bobbyjack]

My Target looked like this for a year and a half. If I wanted to go Cars hunting, I was forced to go to the neighboring towns because my Target didn't get stocked with singles from about Thanksgiving of 2011 until Easter of 2013.

[LMQ702]

Target can however tell you their inventory count. If you know how many cars are on the pegs & you call them the next time they get a truck in you can give them the DPCI #. They'll tell you how many they have on hand. If the # goes up then you know they got more cars in. This method doesn't help finding a certain car but it can save you time/gas from having to visit that store everyday.

[LMQ702]

My Target looked like this for a year and a half. If I wanted to go Cars hunting, I was forced to go to the neighboring towns because my Target didn't get stocked with singles from about Thanksgiving of 2011 until Easter of 2013.

Wow!! That's not right.

[odisn]

I did not know this, did you guys?

Yep, I discovered this pretty quickly after I joined a couple of these Cars forums. It makes complete sense, if you think about it from the retailer's perspective.