Beanie Babies were deliberately promoted as "instant collectibles" by Ty Warner, as a means to con gullible and unsuspecting buyers that his cheaply-made stuffed toys would have investment value.
Big reveal: Beanie Babies have NO value, because TOO MANY were manufactured.
He made millions of dollars hoodwinking his customers, and became one of the richest individuals in the United States.
The "rare" Beanie Babies were actually oversold inventory which retailers no longer wanted on their shelves; so Ty Warner came up with the marketing campaign that those particular Beanie Babies were going to be "retired."
Result? Beanie "investors" rushed to gobble up all those "retired" stuffed toys, under the mistaken belief that anything being "retired" must eventually mean "rare."
No -- it simply meant that Ty Warner didn't have to pay retailers for returned merchandise -- the Beanie "investors" paid the retailers, and Ty Warner never had to pay a cent in return fees.
Don't believe me? Check out this article from the History Channel --
1786davycrockett
·1 year ago@sot-letic
Beanie Babies were deliberately promoted as "instant collectibles" by Ty Warner, as a means to con gullible and unsuspecting buyers that his cheaply-made stuffed toys would have investment value.
Big reveal: Beanie Babies have NO value, because TOO MANY were manufactured.
He made millions of dollars hoodwinking his customers, and became one of the richest individuals in the United States.
The "rare" Beanie Babies were actually oversold inventory which retailers no longer wanted on their shelves; so Ty Warner came up with the marketing campaign that those particular Beanie Babies were going to be "retired."
Result? Beanie "investors" rushed to gobble up all those "retired" stuffed toys, under the mistaken belief that anything being "retired" must eventually mean "rare."
No -- it simply meant that Ty Warner didn't have to pay retailers for returned merchandise -- the Beanie "investors" paid the retailers, and Ty Warner never had to pay a cent in return fees.
Don't believe me? Check out this article from the History Channel --
https://www.history.com/news/how-the-beanie-baby-craze-came-to-a-crashing-end
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoAbout as much as the rest of them, maybe a few dollars.