Thread: Spirit Stores - Pricing Discussion

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They have great stuff but I am shocked at the trend in the pricing of their merchandise. This year has been brutal, they have way more $250 plus stuff out this year.

I personally don't have the time or ability to build my own so I just buy already made stuff

I have seen many of their stuff to be less than half the price elsewhere. The following is a small list of some of the things you all should know before you buy from them (please add more if you see them so we all don't get fleeced):

1) the witch and cauldron is listed for $250

>>>can but can be bought at Walmart for 149.00

2) Jason $250

>>>can be bought at Walmart for $189

3) Inflatable Crime Scene $250

>>>can be bought at Walmart for $125

4) Inflatable Haunted Castle $400 (most brutal overpricing)

>>>can be bought at Walmart for $229

5) Animated Hex farm boy $150

>>>>can be bought at Spookshop for $100

6) Animated Spazm $150

>>>can be bought at Spookshop for $100

7) Shaking Pirate Clever Head $45

>>>can be bought at Target for $41

I completely agree! The problem they run into is PURELY "TIME"! Remember, Wal-Mart is a giant and runs all year round selling 1000's of different products, with 1000's of different stores around the world. They also have an entire team that negotiates to get the absolute lowest price to be placed in their store. Spirit, Halloween USA, Halloween Bazzar, ect set up for 2 months and have to make a substantial profit, not only to pay for the merchandice, but to pay for the highly inflated rent due to a short term lease and pay for electric, water, gas, permits, insurance, etc AND to pay their employees. Trust me, I hate it as much as you all do but if they dont make a substantial profit in the 60 days they have available they wont be there next year, the funny thing is...they keep coming back...so people MUST be paying these high prices to have them return next year... so I guess its a good AND bad situation...

I really want the crawling girl and the Hannibal but i think they are Spirit exclusives... Yipee....

Originally Posted by Alucard888888

I really want the crawling girl and the Hannibal but i think they are Spirit exclusives... Yipee....

Me too!

That just sucks that it's so high. We alreaddy spend a fortune in gas just to get to there dam stores.

Yeah, mines like 25 Miles away =[ I'm questioning also why the crawling girl is so much cheaper than the others though. There has to be some reason, does it break easy or what, i was expecting at least a 150$ price tag from spirit. Hmmm

(btw the cralwer is 99.99$) There has to be some downfall

The cost is relative, as it is with just about anything else you buy. If you like it, want it, can't make it yourself, and can afford it, it's not too much.
If you want it and can't afford it, and think you can make one you'll be happy with, then don't buy it.
If you can wait until after Halloween, and think the item will still be there, get it for half off on 11/1 when they run their one day sale.
Seriously, people complain about Spirit's prices and while they are high on some things, they offer a good selection of stuff and can provide a shopper with most anything they'd need to decorate or set up a haunt.
Walmart/Kmart/Target/etc don't offer anywhere near the variety, and Spirit always comes out with some unique stuff.
I normally drop a couple hundred bucks at Spirit, but I don't buy flimsy animatronics, or stuff that looks cheap. Try to figure the use/enjoyment you'l get out of something over several years, and then it can seem a bit more justifiable an expense.

Yea, I would say not really a fair comparison... the "little" Halloween places against the big box stores. Not many companies have the buying power of those massive corporations. You also have to watch the quality of items at the "big box" places... they sometimes will "buy" a design from one of the manufacturers and then ship it oversees to have the least expensive version possible made. It was done last year with the "Stabbo the Clown" prop. It was less than a third of the price elsewhere, but when I saw it in person I knew immediately why, it was also less than a third the quality craftsmanship.

Originally Posted by Dalloween

Yea, I would say not really a fair comparison... the "little" Halloween places against the big box stores. Not many companies have the buying power of those massive corporations. You also have to watch the quality of items at the "big box" places... they sometimes will "buy" a design from one of the manufacturers and then ship it oversees to have the least expensive version possible made. It was done last year with the "Stabbo the Clown" prop. It was less than a third of the price elsewhere, but when I saw it in person I knew immediately why, it was also less than a third the quality craftsmanship.

Spirit is not a small Halloween store...it is owned by Spencers and is relatively a larger corporation (albeit not as large as Walmart)

Spookshop is a much smaller company than Spirit/Spencers and has props 1/3 less for the same items (ie Hex & Spazm)

Bottom line is that the consumer should shop around first!

Our spirit opened today, is only half stocked and has the same overpriced stuff.

And several people reported opening sales at Spirit that our spirit didn't have. Like someone claimed they had two 700 watt foggers at 1/2 price (two for one, basically.) but the price they quoted for two ($75) was higher than the spirit store had for one at regular price ($35). So I don't know.

I started work there today and employees (at this store), only get a 20% discount on the props, etc. You can get ONE costume at 40% off and you have to wear it a minimum of 4 days in October.

I spent quite a bit of time surveying the goods and here's the deal ... some are good, some are crap and some are REALLY crap. The costumes are nice but I know for a fact that you can get the same ones online for 1/2 the price of what Spirit charges.

And as for that 20% discount ... big deal. I can sit home and have them email me the 20% off coupons like every other year and buy my stuff that way. The only reason I wanted the job was because I thought it might be fun. We'll see.