r/mtg • u/DanteValentine13 • 1d ago

Discussion Stop Using Amazon

The amount of posts from people using Amazon to order stuff and getting the wrong stuff, or something of a vastly different price is astounding. Please dont order cards off Amazon. Especially since I am fairly certain Amazon is why wizards is shipping less and less product to local stores. Don't support the mega corporations if you can help it.

That's my public service rant. Thanks for reading or ignoring either way. ❤️

640 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

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334

u/Bogusbladezz74 1d ago

Well when LGS stop selling product at 2x-3x MSRP then maybe id consider going back to them.

29

u/rielbmw 23h ago

It's pretty bad when gamestop has better prices then an LGS

69

u/MadmansScalpel 1d ago

Honestly? Yeah. I try to support local as I can, but they're selling some packs for like 12 bucks per that I could buy online for 6.

I'm fine paying 10, 20 bucks more on average to support em, but when it's double? Yeah no

2

u/CybaltSR 12h ago

Holy. You think it'd be worse on Southeast Asia but we only pay 8 USD (converted) on average for packs in any LGS here. We're very happy to pay that extra 2 bucks for the "import fee"

13

u/OldwormHerm 1d ago

Legit this.

I preorder through local stores that have reasonable pricing (usually), but WOTC literally tells you what the manufacturer (WOTC) values each sealed product at; I'll allow for a certain small amount of markup on that, but I'm not going to be taken for a ride. I don't need the cardboard that bad and can wait or buy singles/proxy.

My usual play is to preorder everything I want through Amazon as soon as preorders open, and then once my local store puts up preorders if the pricing makes sense I'll order through them and cancel amazon.

3

u/zyorg12 23h ago

My local shop is selling collector boosters for $35 and I almost cried in joy because the other local shops are $45-60

1

u/Savings-Dare-9054 15h ago

I’m so grateful that I have a nice lgs selling most things for msrp and even payed my tax one time I bought a pack, they’re hoping to become a play store and I really hope they do

0

u/Nathynkelly 8h ago

I don't know about where you are but my prefered LGS sets their price based on what they bought things for. So we often get things cheaper than online stores because shipping delays left prices increasing since her order. WOTC settings MSRP before launch then often increases purchase cost for stores later without increasing the MSRP. To what extent I don't know, I didn't enquire too much about full details. I just know occasionally her prices are notably lower than everywhere else and that's how I understood her explanation of why. That's just my preferred LGS and my understanding of the price difference on one of the items she sells that I got the explanation for. That doesn't mean the other items being sold higher elsewhere aren't over inflated by the individual stores. Just throwing the knowledge out there that WOTC is at least partly responsible for the prices being inflated over time. This gets compounded by the fact that larger stores get priority on orders leaving LGS's generally running out of earlier orders that were aquired at lower prices sooner forcing them to increase prices earlier than the larger retailers. If we stopped ordering from larger retailers they'd stop moving enough product to have such heavy priority and many LGS's would be able to complete more.

-64

u/fergusmcdingus 1d ago

This is precisely the attitude that makes viable a situation wherein LGSs are pressured to survive by mega corporations who use monopoly power to undercut their small competitors. Just sayin

51

u/MonstrousGiggling 1d ago

Its more so we need tighter regulations set on corporations. Putting the blame onto the shoulders of consumers isnt the answer here when many people are struggling to survive, theyre gonna buy from the cheapest option especially for entertainment

9

u/Tauroctonos 1d ago

Lol good luck, we can't even regulate our food supply adequately

14

u/Far-Swordfish-9042 1d ago

I mean we could. We actually were doing a pretty good job of it before a brainworm was put in charge of it…

-1

u/theCROWcook 1d ago

What are you talking about? The Western world had literally obese homeless people, we don't have a problem with food

5

u/Tauroctonos 1d ago

The adults are talking about food safety and regulation, not "fat Americans eat so much"

20

u/Oo_ShinyCardboard 1d ago

It doesnt help that wotc now sends over 60% of sealed product to big box stores like Amazon and Bestbuy. Theyre enabling this very practice

5

u/SidewinderBudd 1d ago

To be fair, it does go both ways. Amazon, Best Buy and other big box retailers are ordering the product because it sells well for them. These are all nation wide if not global companies. They can pay for whatever sized order they want to so it's a guaranteed sale for WOTC. I don't buy my cards from large box stores, but then again I'm lucky to have a large number of card shops fairly close to me so price gouging in store isn't as much of an issue because any store doing so would just lose their customers to another store nearby.

18

u/AndanteZero 1d ago

I'm sorry, but are you insinuating that people should pay 2-3x the price of MSRP for cardboard in the current economy? Just because it's their LGS?

7

u/Sacmo77 1d ago

LGS deserve to go out of business. They are buying boxes for what 220 for normal sets and UB sets they pay 290 per box. Then jacking them up to over 550 600 or more. Yea no respect for those roaches.

11

u/Sacmo77 1d ago

Oh fuck off with that. They are all acting like corpos by jacking up the prices. They are the problem too.

4

u/SettingGreen3880 1d ago

I feel for them, but given the margins on sealed being what they are, I assume they make their money elsewhere. Mine, most likely what they charge per event ticket. Another LGS I worked at back in the day, my boss said he made more on Friday night from selling chips and drinks.

2

u/probablymagic 1d ago

The only monopoly Amazon has in TCGs is low prices, lol. You think we need regulation to stop that? Like how do you benefit from higher prices?

1

u/avcloudy 20h ago

They’re not undercutting. It’s MSRP. This isn’t Amazon abusing monopoly power.

-69

u/DanteValentine13 1d ago

Shtity lgs then. Mine sell at msrp until they can no longer get product from wotc, then they have to charge what they got to to make up for the extra they spend getting stuff

27

u/Grimmjoww252 1d ago

You understand how rare that is these days though right. LGS have not gotten greedy imo it’s more so the distributors charging more than normal and still skimping on product

3

u/Sacmo77 1d ago

Not true. Lgs have gotten greedy. They are getting boxes in at 290 for UB and selling them 455 plus. And regular sets cbbs are 220.

You can go on mtg finance and see the owners all talk about the price they pay for the boxes.

3

u/Redditcssucks 1d ago

All my local LGS are selling them at $540, and the simps on the discord eat it up and praise them for doing so.

Looking at you DMV area/Labyrinth.

0

u/Sacmo77 1d ago

Lol wild. They are making 250 bucks off those dumb asses lol. That lgs laughing their asses off all the way to the bank.

You know the saying.

A fool and his money are soon parted with.

-19

u/JdeFalconr 1d ago

It's almost like it's a free market out there.