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Price gouging? Doesn't exist. (at least not in an economic sense, although it does in a legal sense)

They charged what they could sell them for (and apparently you thought the Skaven cards were worth it) and made a decent profit.

Good for them.

Of course, I wouldn't even buy the cards for the MSRP, since the spell list for my army is included in the main rulebook and my army book. Perhaps it's different for Ogres and Rats?

Pre-order from GW?


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biccat wrote:Price gouging? Doesn't exist. (at least not in an economic sense, although it does in a legal sense)

They charged what they could sell them for (and apparently you thought the Skaven cards were worth it) and made a decent profit.

Good for them.

Of course, I wouldn't even buy the cards for the MSRP, since the spell list for my army is included in the main rulebook and my army book. Perhaps it's different for Ogres and Rats?

They are nifty (and completely optional) things to have that give you the convenience of having a few less pages to flip back to during a game.

I have them for all of my Fantasy armies (Skaven, Chaos Warriors, Demons and Beastmen + the basic set and the Storm of Magic set). They're useful to me and worth the money I spent on them.

Update: I got the cards From Kriers comics and cards in Modesto CA for $4.00. Kriers is a great place with friendly staff. They obviously price their items as to be competitive with online stores (%20 off, no sales tax, with added bonus of no shipping charges). IMHO this is the kind of thing stores should be doing. Not raising their prices! I see a lot of people thinking it's ok for GEG to charge what ever they want for these types of items. Which is all find and dandy. Just don't act like you are doing me a favor while you are ripping me off. I've been shopping and playing at this store for almost twenty years now, through different owners and everyone in there knows me by name. Now I will no longer shop there. I just think the current owner is more set on greed than taking care to keep his customers.

I'm sure GW would have something to say about this, retailers IIRC are supposed to sell their products within a certain price range and ideally at MSRP. If GW is aware that an independent is selling product at 3-4x MSRP, they'd probably have something to say about it, and if not GW then probably whatever product distributor the store is doing business with.

A retail store selling first-hand product should not be pricing according to ebay prices.

Glad you found a alternate store. I know the feeling when your gaming place of choice looses its mind. We had one in our area Cap's Comics. It was great for years then it moved locations and became the personal lan party the owners and their friends.

It's always nice when you get one side of a story and can commiserate with that person. If you want to hear more then here is my response to jcroxford:

http://greatescapegames.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=577

I was trying to be civil, but since he wants to paint the label of "greedy" on me, I feel that line has been crossed. He is apparently (as is anyone else that believes retailers should discount) of the belief that is my and every other game shop owners duty to serve his needs and not try and make a living. Anyone on this forum that has been a gamer for long has seen game store after game store go out of business (23 in 23 years here in Sacramento) because the owners are hobbists and not business people. I lost this persons comic business when we missed a couple issues of his comics (understandable, but I offered to make it up to him). I once was about to lose another comic subscription because we didn't have all of a gentleman's comics (even though he was told not to cancel his current subscription because orders from Diamond are two months or more ahead of shipments). I happen to get many of the same comics in my personal saver and offered them to him. He has been a customer since and we are good friends. So anyone that knows me knows I bend over backwards for customers (as customer loyalty is the only way to stay in business) and that my store has, by far, the best customer service ratings in Sacramento. We have been in business for 15 years, something few game stores can boast of. And had jcroxford contacted me, as my employee suggested he do, and explained how upset he was, I would have sold the cards to him at msrp. But, he chose not to do that and instead started a flaming campaign. Quick frankly, that is not the type of customer I want. Oh, he also forgot to mention that I sell GW spray paints for $3.25 less than GW and have since they raised their prices from $12. Funny how details like that are skipped.

For those of you that support shopping at on-line discounters, I hope you have the integrity to not go into your local stores to find players or use their tables and terrain. If you do you are really have no honor.

To the person who suggested cheating at one of our tournaments. We have run over two hundred GW tournaments and have the largest non-GT tournaments in North America (according to GW). Our first tournament of the year had 90 players for 40K, so we do something right. However, employees come and employees go, and they do have to be trained. Perhaps your friend does paint great armies, but so do many of the players that come to our tournaments, many of them dedicated GT players and we even have a few Golden Daemon winners. So if your friend didn't win it was either because a new person was doing scoring, and as you said some scores are subjective, or there were just better painted armies. A player's choice award is given out that is strickly players votes. If your friend didn't win that then he obviously didn't have the best painted army there. I am sorry you had a bad experience, but hope you have found some tournament where your friends painting is more appreciated. I do allow my staff to play in the tournament (some of them live and breath 40k), but no employee has played in and won a tournament in over a year since Sirus stopped playing in the tournaments (who happens to be exceptionally good and won many tournaments around Northern California, not just at my store).

For those reading these that know me, you know I am always reasonable, try to do what I can for any customer, and would never allow cheating or favoritism to take place at a tournament I run. For those of you that don't, you can believe what you read, or you can come directly to the source, talk to me personally and then make up your own mind. In any case, I wish the best to Jude and to all of you.

Gary



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I'm glad Jude found his cards at a discount. However, I don't know where Jude lives or works, but Modesto is about 40 miles from Sacramento. So if he made the trip specifically for the cards, and assuming he has a fuel efficent car, he paid about $13 for the cards. What a deal!

As far as Kriers Comics, if they are doing business legitmately and playing sales tax, they will be out of business within two years. If they are not doing business legitimatily, then they will be out of business within a few years (California's anti-business policies are very expensive). The good news for Jude is that some other store with a hobbist running it will pop up in its place, will discount, and then will disappear within a few years. It's an ugly cycle ;-)

I'll just say that the first time this happened with the skaven cards, I did talk to you. This was after the staff in the store couldn't believe they were priced like this, and it must have been a mistake. I was very upset at that time and it didn't seem to bother you. Why bother trying to haggle with you again. The staff made it very clear that these were the prices Gary wants! And no one mentioned I should talk to you if I disagreed.

I think you guys should take this outside Or at least pick up the phone and talk about it.

Gary,

Glad you posted your side. Personally, as a business person and a gamer, I feel you can charge what you want for anything. But, if you charge more than MRSP, you should be prepared to explain why to your customers, and expect customers to go other places.

The only thing I do not like is your "Well he should of talked to me and I would have sold to him at the regular price" To me this comes accross as one of three ways.
1. I tried to over charge and got caught, so to make up for it I will give you a "Discount"
2. I only rip off people that are not regulars
3. The price is only a starting point, and I am open to haggling.

1 and 2 make you look bad. If it's 3 then fine, but expect everyone to haggle over every price.

EDIT:

Also as for as the one company doing legitamite business, in California allows Absorption of sales tax. That means they can get away with not charging Sales tax as long as they pay the sales tax on behalf of the customer. So nothing in his transaction suggest they are doing nothing illegal.

babawonga wrote:For those of you that support shopping at on-line discounters, I hope you have the integrity to not go into your local stores to find players or use their tables and terrain. If you do you are really have no honor.

As a person who has been going to FLGS's for about 23 years, I have to wholeheartedly agree with this sentiment. If you do not support your FLGS financially, you really have no business going in there to play games. Too many stores close down because they cannot maintain financial viability. If we, as gamers, want to have places to go where we can play our games, then we have to support those places.

Yes, you can protest what you don't like with your wallet by shopping at online retailers. If that is what you choose to do, then I hope you can find some good games at your online retailer.

privateer4hire wrote:
GW did a similar thing with those limited run skull dice for WHFB.

I do believe my FLGS still has a set of the mixed dice still available. I might be ... 'encouraged' to pick them up. Encouraged for a small fee. You know. If you catch my drift. Wink wink.

Mr Mystery wrote:
And joking apart, why not tell GW? May not achieve owt, but it might just get them to belt up.

This isn't a bad idea. I know a local game shop was closed down because (among several other reasons) the manager was selling GW stuff at a discount that broke the terms of their agreement (sadly, before I got into the hobby)

jcroxford wrote:I'll just say that the first time this happened with the skaven cards, I did talk to you. This was after the staff in the store couldn't believe they were priced like this, and it must have been a mistake. I was very upset at that time and it didn't seem to bother you. Why bother trying to haggle with you again. The staff made it very clear that these were the prices Gary wants! And no one mentioned I should talk to you if I disagreed.

Did you try asking to pre-order your cards through the store, and having them held? I've got the same problem at my store that Gary has, with people wanting to buy all the cards up and dump them on Ebay. Putting them on the rack at msrp means you won't get them, unless you're there first, before someone snags all 6. I try to ask all the players who have that army if they want them, then give a set to anyone who plays regularly, and then put them on the rack if any are left. This at least gets skaven cards to the skaven players etc. A couple of people want one set of each that comes out, and we hold those as well.

In the overall picture, I price gouge horribly compared to Gary. He makes an extra 69.00 on cards every 3 months. In that time I sell about 100 cans of primer, which I don't discount, and make another 325.00, so sounds like you've focused on one thing to pick a fight over, and throw a fit online. I won't argue with your right to disagree with Gary, or to be angry. But going online to trash a business you went to for 20 years over a pack of cards? Declare that you aren't ever going back to where you've gamed for 2 decades and everyone knows your name? Too Much Drama.


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biccat wrote:Price gouging? Doesn't exist. (at least not in an economic sense, although it does in a legal sense)

They charged what they could sell them for (and apparently you thought the Skaven cards were worth it) and made a decent profit.

Good for them.

Of course, I wouldn't even buy the cards for the MSRP, since the spell list for my army is included in the main rulebook and my army book. Perhaps it's different for Ogres and Rats?

Spells are in the books, just convenient to have the cards. They did a set for Battlemagic as well, that covers all the spells in the main book.

Your comment on economics is interesting. People like to talk about supply and demand when it comes to getting discounts, but they sure hate it when the pendulum swings the other way and they have to pay extra for a limited item with high demand.

Jbunny - I didn't overcharge for them, I charged what the market will bear as demonstrated by what they sell for on-line. The same situation occurs with Magic From the Vaults sets. A finite number are released and the msrp is $39.95. They sell on-line for up to $120.00 and locally for $70 to $80. No one is being ripped off, it is simply supply and demand. My supply of BMCs is six. I have dozens of customers that want them so how do I decide who gets them? Simple, by selling to those who are willing to pay the actual market value. If I sold for msrp I have no doubt Jude would be pissed if I sold out before he had a chance to buy them. And no, I do not haggle. As I said, I bend over backwards for my customers, local or not. Jude has been coming here a long time and had I known how upset he was I would have sold them to him cheaper. He, as he stated, mentioned his distain for the price with the Skaven cards, I explained why I priced them that way and he said no more. I had no clue how important this was to him. My employee said he suggested Jude contact me this time, Jude says he didn't, I wasn't there. In any case it is a closed matter.

This has made me reconsider selling them at all and instead I am looking at giving them away free with the purchase of a new book and battallion. I wonder who would complain that they couldn't buy them seperately?


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PS Yes, you can not charge tax, that is called a disocunt. You still have to pay the tax to the state. If the store is paying their sales tax (yes, some store owners actually cheat!) then he was discounting the cards 20%. As I said, he will not be around long.

Mikhaila puts it into perspective impecably. 20 years Vs. $8. Jude I too respect your right to shop else where, be upset and soforth. But in this instance I think you chose the wrong battle to slap an ultimatum on.

I hope in the future that you and Gary can come to an unstanding and patch things up.

babawonga wrote:

This has made me reconsider selling them at all and instead I am looking at giving them away free with the purchase of a new book and battallion. I wonder who would complain that they couldn't buy them seperately?

That is a really good idea IMHO.

Well I did not say you over charged. But, your explaination that if he complained then I would charge MRSP gives the appearance of over charging.

As to speculating on the other company, I don't think you know anything about their business model. I will say this. They took one of your loyal customers of 15 years, and turned him into theirs. So, they got that going for them.

Are you charging eBay prices for a box of Tactical Marines or $37.50 since you are so concerned about pricing to what the market will bear?

@babawonga- I'm all for local gaming stores charging what they need to stay in businesss, and I generally abide by a policy of "Pay where you play".

But clearly, in this case, you made a mistake but don't seem to be able to admit it. You lost a customer, and more money than you will make off selling the cards at such a high price, even though I'm sure they eventually will sell. It is the attitude you are giving off, even more than the price, that would bother me if it were my FLGS.

Triple MSRP for any item is certainly worth asking about... and I for one don't plan on haggling in my FLGS. If they're charging a fair price (usually MSRP, and not a dime less to stay in business) then I'll support them. If not, I'll take my business elsewhere...

You say your attitude is to bend over backwards for customers... but that's not what I'm seeing from what you typed. Again, that's what would bother me more than the price.

mikhaila wrote:In the overall picture, I price gouge horribly compared to Gary. He makes an extra 69.00 on cards every 3 months. In that time I sell about 100 cans of primer, which I don't discount, and make another 325.00, so sounds like you've focused on one thing to pick a fight over, and throw a fit online. I won't argue with your right to disagree with Gary, or to be angry. But going online to trash a business you went to for 20 years over a pack of cards? Declare that you aren't ever going back to where you've gamed for 2 decades and everyone knows your name? Too Much Drama.

Comparing charging retail on a product to charging four times the MSRP isn't an apples to apples comparison. There's a big difference in a reasonable customer perception between a large markup over printed price and not getting a discount on that printed price. I would balk at my local FLGS charging more than retail on a product that they paid the normal amount for but I also don't demand that they give me a discount either.

Either way, a store has every right to charge whatever they want (within their own retailer/manufacturer agreements of course) and a customer has every right to not buy it. Would I have stopped going to a store that was charging a premium on a limited item? No... but I wouldn't feel ashamed at bringing in and using my item bought at MSRP elsewhere either. As for not returning to a store that you've gamed at for 2 decades because of "premium" pricing, I don't see that as any worse than an owner charging a loyal repeat customer of 20 years 400% more than the stated retail price. Is the extra $12 he might have made on that card set worth the loss of future purchases from that same loyal customer? I don't know as neither side has really commented on the purchasing habits of the lost customer. I agree that two separate thread on two forums is a bit too much drama though.

By the logic presented by some people here, Magic singles should not be priced at what they will sell for, but instead in relation to what they cost. So instead of selling a Mox for hundreds of dollars, a shop should charge about 24 cents as they only cost about 13 cents out of the booster. They would give a nice 45% margin, the same margin that GW gives retailers. Is that the thinking?


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As for not returning to a store that you've gamed at for 2 decades because of "premium" pricing, I don't see that as any worse than an owner charging a loyal repeat customer of 20 years 400% more than the stated retail price.

Oddly enough, Jude never offered to pay full retail for spray paint.

Is the extra $12 he might have made on that card set worth the loss of future purchases from that same loyal customer?

The point is irrelevent. I have to desire to have a customer whose response to a gripe is a flame campaign.




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I agree that two separate thread on two forums is a bit too much drama though.

Agreed. I am done here. Game on!

babawonga wrote:By the logic presented by some people here, Magic singles should not be priced at what they will sell for, but instead in relation to what they cost. So instead of selling a Mox for hundreds of dollars, a shop should charge about 24 cents as they only cost about 13 cents out of the booster. They would give a nice 45% margin, the same margin that GW gives retailers. Is that the thinking?

Apples and oranges again. Variable rarity items blindly packaged vs selling them individually but not blind is not the same thing as taking an albeit limited issue product and marking it up immediately 400%.

babawonga wrote:
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As for not returning to a store that you've gamed at for 2 decades because of "premium" pricing, I don't see that as any worse than an owner charging a loyal repeat customer of 20 years 400% more than the stated retail price.

Oddly enough, Jude never offered to pay full retail for spray paint.

A more accurate comparison would be whether or not he would refuse to buy it at full retail.

babawonga wrote:

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I agree that two separate thread on two forums is a bit too much drama though.

Agreed. I am done here. Game on!

On that we agree. I've said my peace.

babawonga wrote:By the logic presented by some people here, Magic singles should not be priced at what they will sell for, but instead in relation to what they cost. So instead of selling a Mox for hundreds of dollars, a shop should charge about 24 cents as they only cost about 13 cents out of the booster. They would give a nice 45% margin, the same margin that GW gives retailers. Is that the thinking?

That's hardly the same thing. When a shop opens a load of boosters they have to go through a lot of packets to get a handful of the best rares, they lose a lot of packets to get the decent ones. Then they sell them at whatever amount they like just as people do second hand. I'm okay with that because the customer has the choice of either picking the exact card they need and paying a lot for it or buying a random booster. Really, if you just want the one card, you're better off paying the the high cost than buying a heap of boosters hoping to find it.

As long as the sealed boosters are sold at the RRP alongside the choice of opened cards, I can't see a problem at all. I did it all the time, I would buy a few boosters, but if there was a particular card I needed I would pay a few quid for that one, which might be the equivalent of an unopened packet or two at RRP, but at least I got the exact card I needed. But the regular boosters were still there, at RRP if I wanted to take a punt.

Getting stuff from the supplier/wholesaler, seeing that it's in limited supply and then marking the product up several times from its RRP to take advantage is profiteering pure and simple. Perhaps the store owner is in the right to do that. But as far as I'm concerned, screw them. Unless the store owner has had to pay over the odds to secure a shipment, he should really be selling the stuff at RRP and better have a good reason to charge more.

For products sold as the are, straight out the box they are shipped in and sold to the retailer at standard wholesale price - I expect to pay something very close to the RRP. If a retailer wants to charge more than RRP I need a better reason than "oh they sell for a lot more on eBay so I want to get the same".

Fact of the matter is that in these cases the customer and the store owner will almost never see eye to eye.

The customer feels disrespected due to perceived price gouging and feels further disrespected when the owner refuses to back down. The store owner feels disrespected due to what they interpret as the customer telling them how to conduct their business and further disrespected when the customer leaves and spreads negative press over situation. Neither is going to back down from their position as the customer could easily go elsewhere and the store owner isn't going to deviate from what works for them. At the end of it all, unless the store is the only game in town (whereupon the customer should think twice about this kind of confrontation) - it is up to the store to determine if this is a customer they want to retain or not and act accordingly.

On an aside - one of my old FLGS would sell From the Vaults to select longtime customers at MSRP as a kind of "thank you". Their rationale was that they 'could' sell them at $100, but their past experience (consideirng the varying quality of the sets as of late) was that they'd generally just sit on the shelves for months before being sold and they'd rather not have them sit there and instead create goodwill amongst their loyal customers. (They ARE still in business and have been for over a decade despite selling this product under the market value). Of course, YMMV.

Agreed that the magic cards is not at all the same thing. This might not have been the best venue to post the complaint... however, I think the response from the store owner is very revealing.

I'd be pretty shocked if any of the stores that I give my business to responded that way... rather than a more reasonable explanation of the price they felt they had to charge.

And it would have to be a pretty good explanation to convince me... the MtG is not a good comparison at all to warhammer peripheral items, imo, as explained more eloquently by the posters above.

biccat wrote:Price gouging? Doesn't exist. (at least not in an economic sense, although it does in a legal sense)

They charged what they could sell them for (and apparently you thought the Skaven cards were worth it) and made a decent profit.

Good for them.

Of course, I wouldn't even buy the cards for the MSRP, since the spell list for my army is included in the main rulebook and my army book. Perhaps it's different for Ogres and Rats?

Really? Try it then with gas or milk or otehr essentials after a disaster and see how fast the federal government comes down on you like a ton of bricks.


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babawonga wrote:Anyone on this forum that has been a gamer for long has seen game store after game store go out of business (23 in 23 years here in Sacramento) because the owners are hobbists and not business people.

No thats not the only reason why they go out of business.

For those of you that support shopping at on-line discounters, I hope you have the integrity to not go into your local stores to find players or use their tables and terrain. If you do you are really have no honor.

Coming from somone gouging their customers and then turns around and says their reasonable, and try to do what you can for your customers, thats mighty funny.

For those reading these that know me, you know I am always reasonable, try to do what I can for any customer,

That seems to be more then a bit of a fib. If the guy wanted ONE pack of cards, you couldnt sell him one without the entire line of "I dont want them sold on ebay so their $14/$15 dollars?" Really? And you still see yourself as seasonable and do what you can for customers? Dont see the contradiction?

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I'm glad Jude found his cards at a discount. However, I don't know where Jude lives or works, but Modesto is about 40 miles from Sacramento. So if he made the trip specifically for the cards, and assuming he has a fuel efficent car, he paid about $13 for the cards. What a deal!

See there? That attitude is among the reasons folks wont shop you. Not only did you, for frankly flimsy reasons, sell the cards for an outrageous sum, but now this. THIS is why stores are going out of business as much as the internet. What a donkey's behind.

Anyone on this forum that has been a gamer for long has seen game store after game store go out of business.

Been a gamer for 13 or so years now. The game stores in my home town have been around for a long time and seem to be doing quite well. Probably because they're managed by respectful, competent people.

I didn't get an answer either. "Market pricing" is fun when you get away with it.

carmachu wrote:

biccat wrote:Price gouging? Doesn't exist. (at least not in an economic sense, although it does in a legal sense)

They charged what they could sell them for (and apparently you thought the Skaven cards were worth it) and made a decent profit.

Good for them.

Of course, I wouldn't even buy the cards for the MSRP, since the spell list for my army is included in the main rulebook and my army book. Perhaps it's different for Ogres and Rats?

Really? Try it then with gas or milk or otehr essentials after a disaster and see how fast the federal government comes down on you like a ton of bricks.

What you are referring to is profiteering, which is illegal. It's also nowhere near what happened here, considering you can simply order the cards directly from GW at the lower price - assuming they are not sold out, which is what happens to limited run items, and then all bets are off and you pay the going market rate as you would for any rare, hard to find luxury item. Seriously, this is capitalism 101.

Why is this hard to understand? If the store is selling out of a limited run item, they are going to charge more. If you dont want to pay their price, just go somewhere else. Dont get indignant and post a huffy thread full of hyperbole, just go shop at one of the dozens of local stores or online retailers. If the guy that runs this store screws up and charges too much for items, then people will stop shopping there, he'll go out of business, and the problem will be solved. This seems like a total non-issue to me.

babawonga wrote:This has made me reconsider selling them at all and instead I am looking at giving them away free with the purchase of a new book and battallion. I wonder who would complain that they couldn't buy them seperately?

Thats a good idea, but people will still complain. Theyll complain until they have nothing left to complain about, and then theyll complain about having nothing to complain about.

How to prevent mooks buying up masses of limited edition stuff to flog on Ebay.

ONE. PER. CUSTOMER.

No need to gouge. No need to rip people off. No need to get angsty on the Interwebs.

Or even pop them BEHIND the counter. Boof. Problem solved, no one is upset.

Mr Mystery wrote:How to prevent mooks buying up masses of limited edition stuff to flog on Ebay.

ONE. PER. CUSTOMER.

No need to gouge. No need to rip people off. No need to get angsty on the Interwebs.

Or even pop them BEHIND the counter. Boof. Problem solved, no one is upset.

It happens with a lot of things. The problem with a lot of action figures is that they short pack some at the factory. This is why shops get a box with 20 Luke Skywalkers and only one of some strange alien. The worse example has to be when they did the first Darth Maul figure and you couldn't find him anywhere. Utter madness, I mean no one would want the coolest guy in the whole film would they? I found one, and bought it, but it was the only one I saw for months. But I've heard since that the few that were around were changing hands for silly money. Later on they made more so it wasn't rare at all.

Shops like Forbidden Planet take advantage of this, which is why figures out the same shipment end up as different prices on the shelf. But stores like Toys-R-Us are also aware of it and take the approach of limiting sales of some figures because it's better for customer relations. It's better to limit sales and ensure as many different people come to your store, it means more sales on other items because they walk around your shop seeing all the other shinys and hopefully means they will be happy and come back. What they don't want is for some fething eBay scalper to clear the shelves of the rare figures and leave them with a wall of Luke Skywalkers. They may get a lot of money in one go, but I would assume that having a string of families leaving empty handed later on isn't worth it in the long term.

There are two problems. Firstly there are people who deliberately try to profiteer on eBay. I have never bought a new item to sell on eBay, possibly naively, I prefer to leave spare copies of rare stuff in the shops hoping some kid gets to it before a 'collector'. But these people, by bulk buying rare items partly create the very market they cater for. I don't give a monkey's about 'well that's capitalism', which is usually what american posters come out with, it's frankly disgusting. These people harm the hobby by their profiteering. Those stores that then ride on this to also profiteer are little better. If they wanted to show any respect for their customers they would start limiting sales of items, ensure that their regulars get them, kids get them, that people who want to use play with them get them. If they are so rare, they would sell out even if you limit their sales, you're sure as hell not going to be left over with any stock. To simply take advantage of their high prices to make a quick buck is a very poor way to approach the situation. It's profiteering and if you piss off your regular customers well you only have yourself to blame. But it's to everyone's loss when a hobby shop closes because the owner couldn't tread the line between making a profit and maintaining good customer relations.

I notice that 'babawonga' doesn't attempt to justify his spectacular mark up on packs of cards. There's some talk of how he sells cans of paint a bit cheaper, and how he would have sold the cards for less if he's argued with him on the shop floor or something. But really, I think that's a sign that he knows that of the different ways to approach the limited supply issue, he's taken the one that gives him the most profit, which may not be the most clever approach. I mean telling someone, they can pay my inflated prices, eBay inflated prices, or sneer because the alternative is to spend even more in fuel just to go elsewhere to get a product doesn't strike me as being particularly thoughtful. I also find it mindbogglingly ignorant that this guy criticises customers for not showing loyalty when buying stuff in-store if they want to play on the premises, but then charges their customers 400% of the RRP because that's what he thinks he can get away with on rare items.

My game/model store never charges over RRP. The guy is open about the fact that if he were to eBay stuff he could get more, but he never charges more than RRP, sometimes he'll cut prices to shift old stock. Firstly pricing everything individually is a hassle, but the other is that when people walk into his shop they expect to know the prices. Finding that model cars, pack of cards and miniatures is differently priced (and higher) compared to expectations based of adverts and other stores just puts people off.