pre order case prices

[Photoner Hawkwind]

Everyone should watch carefully on their preorders. Collect and save is advertising the boostercases at the same prices as the starters.

They are also claiming 9 units per booster even if boosters have 5 and starters are the only ones with 9 units.

Although they currently seem to have the lowest prices on preorder starters, I think I will look at Cool Stuff, Dragon Justice and Icon before I order and it won't be from collect and save.

BTW I haven't seen anything at Game Outfitter. Maybe they aren't going to carry it.

[Stealth]

Everyone should watch carefully on their preorders. Collect and save is advertising the boostercases at the same prices as the starters.

They are also claiming 9 units per booster even if boosters have 5 and starters are the only ones with 9 units.

Although they currently seem to have the lowest prices on preorder starters, I think I will look at Cool Stuff, Dragon Justice and Icon before I order and it won't be from collect and save.

BTW I haven't seen anything at Game Outfitter. Maybe they aren't going to carry it.


All Star Trading Cards .com has a price of $105 per booster case. Paul is the owner and I've dealt exclusively with him for ~ 10 yrs. I usually get them on the release date for a pre-order, and have NEVER had a problem. Warrants repeat ordering in my book...:)

[Sean-Khan]

If only there were cheaper mailing costs & no customs... Right now I think of buying some locally, ordering some from online stores few boosters a time.

[TheFoeHammer]

All Star Trading Cards .com has a price of $105 per booster case. Paul is the owner and I've dealt exclusively with him for ~ 10 yrs. I usually get them on the release date for a pre-order, and have NEVER had a problem. Warrants repeat ordering in my book...:)

Agreed, similar experience here. And I have the added benefit of him being local.

[Muenchausen]

Everyone should watch carefully on their preorders. Collect and save is advertising the boostercases at the same prices as the starters.

Photo H, you beat me to the punch. I was going to start a thread like this after I reviewed the COC to make sure it wasn't violated. Anyway, I don't know why anybody orders from C&S. They went from the cheapest on the internet to the most expensive. Most of the online venders are selling a case from $102-$105 + shipping. The guy that Stealth recommends has really good shipping prices which make him the best buy I've found so far.

Go historically waits until a few weeks before the release to advertise. They usually have the best deal with free shipping if you order over $100.00 but, if you have a problem with your order look out. I had a problem with my last order. When I attempted to call them I found out that the only way to contract them is leave a phone message or an e-amail. They promise to respond within 24 hours. THEY DON'T. It took 3 weeks to straighten out a problem that should have only taken a week. They lost me as a customer. Then they insinuated that I might have ripped them off.

I hope everyone who has a vendor or on-lone store that they buy from will take the time to post their prices and shipping costs.

[Muenchausen]

All Star Trading Cards .com has a price of $105 per booster case. Paul is the owner and I've dealt exclusively with him for ~ 10 yrs. I usually get them on the release date for a pre-order, and have NEVER had a problem. Warrants repeat ordering in my book...:)

Stealth, Has All Star Trading listed AANM yet? I couldn't find anything on his site. Am I looking in the wrong place?

[Stealth]

Stealth, Has All Star Trading listed AANM yet? I couldn't find anything on his site. Am I looking in the wrong place?

No, Paul has been on a vacation lately. Give him a couple more weeks and it'll be listed. I talked to his helper and they will carry it, but we're still a few weeks out yet.

[Diamondback]

Well, here's what I've found.

Bearing in mind that I have to have everything shipped to a PO Box 'cause UPS refuses to acknowledge my house address even exists (it's like somebody's on crack or something, because I've had this address for a quarter-century)...

CoolStuffInc.com: $124.19 delivered to Seattle-area ($15.20 shipping)
CCGArmory.com: $127.85 delivered ($12.90 shipping)

Anyone ever dealt with either of these places?

Mind you, I still have a pre-order with my FLGS...

[TheFoeHammer]

Well, here's what I've found.

Bearing in mind that I have to have everything shipped to a PO Box 'cause UPS refuses to acknowledge my house address even exists (it's like somebody's on crack or something, because I've had this address for a quarter-century)...

CoolStuffInc.com: $124.19 delivered to Seattle-area ($15.20 shipping)
CCGArmory.com: $127.85 delivered ($12.90 shipping)

Anyone ever dealt with either of these places?

Mind you, I still have a pre-order with my FLGS...

CCG Armory, I have dealt with before. I have never had any major problems with them. I have had a few singles orders that I did not think were packaged as well as they could have been and a few back orders on specific items that I did not find out about until receipt. But typically on case orders at release time they have been stellar.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

Well, here's what I've found.

Bearing in mind that I have to have everything shipped to a PO Box 'cause UPS refuses to acknowledge my house address even exists (it's like somebody's on crack or something, because I've had this address for a quarter-century)...

CoolStuffInc.com: $124.19 delivered to Seattle-area ($15.20 shipping)
CCGArmory.com: $127.85 delivered ($12.90 shipping)

Anyone ever dealt with either of these places?

Mind you, I still have a pre-order with my FLGS...

Cool Stuff has been one of the sites that I regularly order from along with Icon USA and Dragon Justice.

[Creepingdeath_84]

I havent found anywhere to pre-order at. Can anyone give me a link plz? :(

[Muenchausen]

I'm waiting a few more weeks before preordering. A lot of on line venders haven't listed AANM yet.

[TheLittleGuy]

Well, here's what I've found.

Bearing in mind that I have to have everything shipped to a PO Box 'cause UPS refuses to acknowledge my house address even exists (it's like somebody's on crack or something, because I've had this address for a quarter-century)...

CoolStuffInc.com: $124.19 delivered to Seattle-area ($15.20 shipping)
CCGArmory.com: $127.85 delivered ($12.90 shipping)

Anyone ever dealt with either of these places?

Mind you, I still have a pre-order with my FLGS...

First, thank you Diamondback for ordering your case at your FLGS!

For everyone else...ordering online is why most of us don't have a FLGS anymore!! We have got to start supporting the place where we play!! If you have a game store that you use for playing the game...the least you can do is spend the extra $20 or so and order your cases from them!!

[Muenchausen]

Sorry LittleGuy, never had an FLGS. Sure, Hastings put up a few booster packs on the impulse racks. Other than that nothing.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

I wish I had an FLGS that would cut me a deal like Icon or Cool Stuff or Dragon Justice does for a preorder. Afterall they wouldn't be losing any money as the stuff is already sold.

[TheLittleGuy]

I wish I had an FLGS that would cut me a deal like Icon or Cool Stuff or Dragon Justice does for a preorder. Afterall they wouldn't be losing any money as the stuff is already sold.

Your FLGS has a little thing called overhead...they can't afford to sell it as cheap as the internet guy. I know paying close to retail or paying full retail sucks when you can get a deal online, but we have to remember who supports the games. We have to remember who designates play space for the games we play... Anyway, I am just on my soapbox on this one... I just hate that the internet guys are eventually going to win and there will be no such thing as a Friendly Local Game Shop anymore...

[hatch]

Battleworks.net

[Muenchausen]

Battleworks.net

Hatch, I just visited battleworks. The prices seem a little high for starters and booters but, $30.00 for a Bismark, Iowa or Yamato is ridiculous. The HMAS Canberra was listed for $19.99. I just bought 3 of them for $1.99 a piece + shipping.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

Your FLGS has a little thing called overhead...they can't afford to sell it as cheap as the internet guy. I know paying close to retail or paying full retail sucks when you can get a deal online, but we have to remember who supports the games. We have to remember who designates play space for the games we play... Anyway, I am just on my soapbox on this one... I just hate that the internet guys are eventually going to win and there will be no such thing as a Friendly Local Game Shop anymore...

I don't agree, as I've worked for a distributer before and have been a Tax accountant. Yes, Storefronts have overhead for all their unsold product. But preorder's are already sold so once in they are out immediately and don't cost any extra overhead. As an accountant I wouldn't include the sunk cost of overhead with a few preorders. I would divide that cost among in store stock. That's how I would treat it except when reporting as taxes then it would all be lumped together in cost of goods sold. Just my opinion.

[TheFoeHammer]

I don't agree, as I've worked for a distributer before and have been a Tax accountant. Yes, Storefronts have overhead for all their unsold product. But preorder's are already sold so once in they are out immediately and don't cost any extra overhead. As an accountant I wouldn't include the sunk cost of overhead with a few preorders. I would divide that cost among in store stock. That's how I would treat it except when reporting as taxes then it would all be lumped together in cost of goods sold. Just my opinion.

I'm not sure what type of overhead you are referring to.

Typical overhead for a store are non-variable items like rent, electricity, employee salaries, etc. These items are not part of COGS but considered General and Administrative expenses because they do not change regardless of how many items you sell.

What TheLittleGuy is saying is that if a FLGS puts his prices at the same level, his margins will not be enough to cover that fixed overhead. Additionally he will not have the benefit of a larger customer base like the online dealer has, so he kind of gets it from both ends, higher costs to operate, less volume to drive sales. So regardless of whether they are pre-orders or not, the store wants the margins from all their sales to help go towards covering the overhead. So they set their prices accordingly.

And if we still want that roof "overhead" to meet our friends at, we need to spread the wealth, at least once in a while, to the places we play. Otherwise it will be a lot of home hosted games and also not a lot of places to go see stuff before we purchase it.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

I'm not sure what type of overhead you are referring to.

Typical overhead for a store are non-variable items like rent, electricity, employee salaries, etc. These items are not part of COGS but considered General and Administrative expenses because they do not change regardless of how many items you sell.

What TheLittleGuy is saying is that if a FLGS puts his prices at the same level, his margins will not be enough to cover that fixed overhead. Additionally he will not have the benefit of a larger customer base like the online dealer has, so he kind of gets it from both ends, higher costs to operate, less volume to drive sales. So regardless of whether they are pre-orders or not, the store wants the margins from all their sales to help go towards covering the overhead. So they set their prices accordingly.

And if we still want that roof "overhead" to meet our friends at, we need to spread the wealth, at least once in a while, to the places we play. Otherwise it will be a lot of home hosted games and also not a lot of places to go see stuff before we purchase it.

My point was that he does not change any of his regular pricing so that his expenses will still be covered by his 40% markup over his merchandise cost for all the stock that he normally sells.

I only change the fact that if he is taking a preorder on a product he actually receives the payment before he recieves any extra product that his above and beyond what he would normally sell.

He can sell preorder at a competitive price becuase he's not competing with the regular stock he sells just with the online preorder competition.

Most online vendors mark this up about 20% above their merchandise cost. They have some of the same overhead just not as much. (these are gaming industries rough markups, they vary a little from these %. Other industries such as clothing and groceries have much larger retail markups).

It's the FLGS choice of whether he wants the consumer dollar for the preorder items or not. If he uses a regular 40% markup I personally feel he's a little too greedy for cash that he doesn't provide product for until a later date. And I will definately not buy from him. I've got to eat too.

This is a little more detail of what I mean't because I got the feeling from your answers that you didn't realize that I was considering all of the Flgs' situation. I've had several friends run successful Game Stores until they retired or passed on.

[Joisey]

We've got the first reports of bent minis, from the TGN review. Think I'm going to wait to hear what you pre-order guys think of the minis once you've got them in your hands before I start buying.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

We've got the first reports of bent minis, from the TGN review. Think I'm going to wait to hear what you pre-order guys think of the minis once you've got them in your hands before I start buying.

Good point, I'll be sure to post my opinion of their quality when I get them(hopefully next week).

[Muenchausen]

We've got the first reports of bent minis, from the TGN review. Think I'm going to wait to hear what you pre-order guys think of the minis once you've got them in your hands before I start buying.

I bought two HMAS Sydneys off ebay. One was OK. The mid section where the smoke stacks are located are warped, they both came in the preformed blister plastic so I'll assume it was a production problem.

[hatch]

Having had a FLGS before and now just doing online, I have been there. You have a couple of different customers: those who look for the best price and those who want it right here and now regardless of the price. The latter are the best!!!

In the shop I would not discount unless I knew the buyer would be shopping online and would go elsewhere if I didn't cut him a deal. The other shop in town never discounted. I would sell cases to his boosters for product. I would only pre-sell at discounted prices and would go up to normal price after the release, I would give 10 to 20 percent off on cases sales but not on boosters.

Online sales are different as price is the main thing people look for so you have to be competetive, and this will totall beat out any FGS prices.

[jeffgoboom]

Just got an email that my collect and save starters are on the way. Now if I only hear from the place that I ordered my booster cases from.

[Joisey]

Okay, based on some early reviews from those who have gotten early shipments, I ordered two starter kits from the Warstore.com. I've shopped there before and have no complaints. I'm still going to withhold from making any large purchases until I've had the chance to look at the minis myself, however. If I'm not pleased, I'm only out $36.93.

[Photoner Hawkwind]

Having had a FLGS before and now just doing online, I have been there. You have a couple of different customers: those who look for the best price and those who want it right here and now regardless of the price. The latter are the best!!!

In the shop I would not discount unless I knew the buyer would be shopping online and would go elsewhere if I didn't cut him a deal. The other shop in town never discounted. I would sell cases to his boosters for product. I would only pre-sell at discounted prices and would go up to normal price after the release, I would give 10 to 20 percent off on cases sales but not on boosters.

Online sales are different as price is the main thing people look for so you have to be competetive, and this will totall beat out any FGS prices.


That sounds like very sound business practises.

[Muenchausen]

That sounds like very sound business practises.

It's "sound" only until the customer that didn't get the discount finds out. Sound like a sure fire way to PO some of your loyal customers though.

[Joisey]

My starter packs were shipped out by The Warstore the same day I ordered. Hopefully I'll have them for the weekend. :)

[Autarch]

My order from All Star Trading Cards is In Transit as of 10:36pm on 3/14...

[gunhawk]

I bought two HMAS Sydneys off ebay. One was OK. The mid section where the smoke stacks are located are warped, they both came in the preformed blister plastic so I'll assume it was a production problem.

Two questions:

Can you bend the ships back into shape and do you know if this kind of plastic has a memory? That is, if the ship is dipped into hot water and then into cold, will the original shape come back?

[hatch]

It's "sound" only until the customer that didn't get the discount finds out. Sound like a sure fire way to PO some of your loyal customers though.


Ah, but if you were running the shop correctly you knew who were your loyal's and who wasn't. You don't want to cut your own throat and discount to everyone off the street as you will be short on the rent. It's only fair to ask Retail price to average joe's, but I always rewarding bulk & frequent customers. Any I knew who was buying online, they would show up with huge amoutns of product and I know I didnt' sell them. I would just talk to them and convice them to buy from me next time.

The worst was one guy coming in with his Tyranid Army he just bought from the other shop and coming in and using our customer Paints. (We had a place setup for people to paint figures using a few store supplies) I was flabbergasted that he we do that... He didn't understand why we were a bit miffed at him...

oh well...

[Photoner Hawkwind]

Ah, but if you were running the shop correctly you knew who were your loyal's and who wasn't. You don't want to cut your own throat and discount to everyone off the street as you will be short on the rent. It's only fair to ask Retail price to average joe's, but I always rewarding bulk & frequent customers. Any I knew who was buying online, they would show up with huge amoutns of product and I know I didnt' sell them. I would just talk to them and convice them to buy from me next time.

The worst was one guy coming in with his Tyranid Army he just bought from the other shop and coming in and using our customer Paints. (We had a place setup for people to paint figures using a few store supplies) I was flabbergasted that he we do that... He didn't understand why we were a bit miffed at him...

oh well...

LOL. :D I can't believe people like that actually even find others to play with.

[101st_Airborne]

Ah, but if you were running the shop correctly you knew who were your loyal's and who wasn't. You don't want to cut your own throat and discount to everyone off the street as you will be short on the rent. It's only fair to ask Retail price to average joe's, but I always rewarding bulk & frequent customers. Any I knew who was buying online, they would show up with huge amoutns of product and I know I didnt' sell them. I would just talk to them and convice them to buy from me next time.

The worst was one guy coming in with his Tyranid Army he just bought from the other shop and coming in and using our customer Paints. (We had a place setup for people to paint figures using a few store supplies) I was flabbergasted that he we do that... He didn't understand why we were a bit miffed at him...

oh well...

lol who plays tyranids????!!!!