Alright, I think I got it. So the vendors order when the group buy is live and then resell their acquired stock of the item for profit after initial group buy has shipped? Which means since I wasn't quick enough I get to pay them for performing the service of having essentially reserved some extra stock for people like myself who came late.
Hopefully I got a firm hold on that. Still new to the hobby so I'm not completely familiar with how it all plays out yet. Thanks.
::EDIT::
Well I went ahead and paid for the extras... Now I get to pit it in a race against Dracula. If it gets here prior to a years time then it wins. lol
Well, lets see if I can explain this so it makes more sense:
After a GB ends, vendors usually order extras ON TOP of what people bought during the length of the GB. Some vendors sell their extras right after the GB ends as "Pre-Orders" which is at a higher price because you wait less, since the set is already in production and it's guaranteed to be made. This is what Kono is doing.
On the other hand, some vendors sell their extras AFTER the sets ship, so they won't be released for sale until the customers that joined during GB got theirs, plus replacements for lost parcels, etc. Usually, "Extras" pricing is even higher than "Pre-Orders", since these will be in-stock, ready to ship sets with no production lead time. Furthermore, some vendors incorporate both of these strategies, having both "Pre-Orders" and "Extras" for sale, creating a 3-tier price structure.
It usually goes like this. GB price: $129.99 Pre-Order:$149.99 Extras: $179.99 (In the case of a standard base kit. This varies, of course.)