No Limits but Sold Out

Onastone

How can the mint offer a product with no limits:

Mintage Limit: None
Product Limit: None
Household Order Limit: None

and be Sold Out????

"This product is currently sold out."

The 2021 Mighty Minters™ Ornament—
Item Number: 21XT

There were obviously mintage limits and product limits we just weren't allowed to know about. I'm just irritated as I wanted one of these way back in November, signed up for an enrollment, they proceeded to charge me "zero" and sent me nothing as the site said "REMIND ME"....and now "SOLD OUT" .... Merry Christmas ya filthy animal.

jmlanzaf

@Onastone said:
How can the mint offer a product with no limits:

Mintage Limit: None
Product Limit: None
Household Order Limit: None

and be Sold Out????

"This product is currently sold out."

The 2021 Mighty Minters™ Ornament—
Item Number: 21XT

There were obviously mintage limits and product limits we just weren't allowed to know about. I'm just irritated as I wanted one of these way back in November, signed up for an enrollment, they proceeded to charge me "zero" and sent me nothing as the site said "REMIND ME"....and now "SOLD OUT" .... Merry Christmas ya filthy animal.

They don't sell them forever. There is no mintage limit on proof sets, but they aren't still selling 2001 proof sets. Why is it a surprise that they stopped selling a 2021 Christmas ornament? It's like going to Walmart and being mad that they don't have a 2021 calendar available.

MetroD

I am sorry that you did not get the ornament.

FWIW, it appears that this item 'has/had' a "product limit" of 5,000 units.

Source

With regard to the unfilled subscription, 21XT was released on 10/21/21. If you enrolled in NOV for "MF", I believe that you were too late for the 2021 release (i.e., "No previous releases will be included as part of any enrollment.").
Source of Quote

WAYNEAS

Merry Christmas.
Your friend, the mint.
Wayne

Onastone

@jmlanzaf said:

Why is it a surprise that they stopped selling a 2021 Christmas ornament?
Because the ornaments don't usually sell out that fast, I tried back in November but they were unavailable then. I thought they were just delaying mintage for awhile blaming everything on Covid, then they slammed the sold out sign up recently.

The mint is still selling the ornaments from 2020 and 2019.

It's alright, those Mighty Minters don't seem to be that popular and I see a lot more ornaments on this year's schedule.

ricko

Just check ebay.... Just about anything is available there... I had a special teapot that I really liked (stacked brewing setup), and it died. Supplier no longer made them. Checked various outlets (i.e. Amazon etc.), no luck. Checked ebay... BINGO!! Cheers, RickO

derryb

They did not limit themselves to a mintage. They minted, they stopped minting and they sold all they minted.

A mintage limit of none means there is no limit to what they can make and sell. They determine when to stop making and when to stop selling.

Onastone

@derryb said:

They did not limit themselves to a mintage.

Thanks for that. Now they're into a new system called Pre-Order!

derryb

Pre-ordered coins reduce their available stock and are counted toward mintage limits. This lowers the number of available coins to regular customers even when there is a household limit.

MetroD

@derryb said:
They did not limit themselves to a mintage. [...]

While I am at a loss to explain it, the "product limits" for the ornaments appear to be included on their corresponding "enrollments" page.

Example #1 - American Woman Quarters (Enrollment "NF"; current limit of 4,360 per woman)

Source

Example #2 - U.S. Mint (Enrollment "ME"; current limit of 8,000)

Source

Example #3 - Mighty Minters (Enrollment "MF"; current limit of 5,000)

Source

As a 'sanity check', let's compare the 'cumulative sales figures' for each of the 2021 ornaments to the hypothetical "product limit".

~ U.S. Mint (21XU)
Hypothetical "Product Limit" = 8,000
Sales (as of 3/13/22) = 7,117
Status = Currently Available
Analysis: The "product limit" is respected (i.e., sales < limit). Further, there is a theoretical max of 883 'left'. So, an "add to bag" status is reasonable.

~ Might Minters (21XT)
Hypothetical "Product Limit" = 5,000
Sales (as of 3/13/22) = 4,823
Status = Sold Out
Analysis: The "product limit" is respected (i.e., sales < limit). Further, there is only a theoretical max of 177 'left'. So, a "sold out" status is reasonable.

Will have to monitor the upcoming 'American Women Quarters' ornaments to determine whether the pattern 'holds'.

@derryb said:
[...]

A mintage limit of none means there is no limit to what they can make and sell. They determine when to stop making and when to stop selling.

Serious question, NOT snark.

Does the Mint manufacture the part of the ornament that surrounds the coin, or do they purchase it from an external vendor?

derryb

My comments on limits has been about items manufactured by the US Mint. Accessories to these items such as packaging may have an affect on the number of items made and sold by the mint. What they make may be limited by number of accessories they ordered or received to complete the product.

Onastone

@MetroD said:

Does the Mint manufacture the part of the ornament that surrounds the coin, or do they purchase it from an external vendor?

Good point/question. I would guess external vendor. That would make another company in the chain...