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alright, some venting going on here, but I just need to ask Dakka Dakka about my problem at my local GW

Alright, so I'm a noobie to warhammer 40k as a whole, and as such I have a very small 1,000pt army. Maybe 1,250 at best. So i cant play a lot of other people who have more stuff than me simply because they dont like to go under 2000. The manager and other people (mainly one guy) keep telling me to buy more stuff.

The problem is, i'm still looking for a job, so money is very very tight, and I couldn't afford some of the models I wanted even before the price hike. I wanted to get a couple of vindicators (I love demolisher cannons ) but I really didn't have 100 bucks to spend. So I went to ebay and bought two vindicators for pretty much the price of one. So Now I have enough to make it 1,500pts, because I was able to spend $80 instead of $115.00

So a couple of days ago I accidentally mentioned I was getting two vindicators from ebay, and tfg started to complain that I should "support the local store" and I started to get worried that they might not let me play there anymore.

Now I will buy things there in the future, but only when I have money for it. I am looking to get the stormtalon and another speeder, but I dont have enough money

Did I do something wrong with this?

While it is always cool to support the local store, nah, you didn't do anything wrong.

No.

If the store manager has a problem with this I wouldnt go there anyway. People need to realise that money is tight with recessions and that we need to try to save money when we can. I have 2 lgs and its hard to support them both as I also buy models pre-owned through friends or ebay.

Most of my armies are picks from ebay. My FLGS has a used case though(they buy/sell/trade 40k), and I try to buy out of it when I can. About the same as ebay, but no shipping.

It is not wrong at all to get ebay models. I am not exactly made of money either.

If you see a deal, take it. I buy off ebay and sell it at my local store from time to time, I also buy from my local store and sell it on ebay from time to time.

But I also buy new items from my local store. I don't buy new items anywhere else.

No, no you didnt. anyone who tries to make you think you did is being a d-bag and should be ignored forthwith.

Chin up dude, you made a savvy purchase and its all jealousy from here on out....

No way mate, don't worry, you just did the sensible thing! If you went into a video game store, and you could buy exactly the same game cheaper, but used, would you?

No you didn't do anything wrong. I bought a Night Lords army off Ebay one time for $225 that would have retailed for somewhere around $500 I didn't feel the least bit bad about it and still don't.

Recently I bought Abaddon off Ebay. He cost me 7.25 including shipping and there isn't anything wrong with him. Never feel bad about spending money wisely.

To be honest whenever i sell anything on ebay i usually buy more models new anyway, so chances are the person selling is making space/money for thier new army (that they will buy new)

Don't worry about it.

That's actually the one thing that gets to me about most of the GW shops I've been to. They really want you to support the shop but don't understand that if I can get the stuff I need for cheaper I do it. More over you didn't do anything wrong. You made a smart buy when you the chance. They can't kick you out because you didn't buy from their shop. Even if they did. Id just say to hell with them and find another shop to play at. I've actually had more fun at independent retailers then at a lot of the GW shops I've been to.

Don't feel bad at all mate, that's all part of the horrific joy of a market economy, if you can't compete, then you get beat! I've bought tons of stuff in store and also on Ebay etc without batting an eyelid. At the end of the day, if they were really serious about getting you to spend that money instore, they'd be competitive on price!

They arn't going to kick you out, everyone buys off of ebay.

Most of us buy stuff from eBay, or from discounters like Maelstrom, you needn't feel bad for that. It should, however, have occurred to you - since it's bloody obvious - that loudly mentioning it in your local shop, whose tables you use without charge, probably wouldn't go down well with the staff.

Alright, thanks for the help! After I wrote this thread, I remembered a lot of people have 2nd hand things, like one guys has 3 monoliths in his army he got for 20 bucks. They all where bought from GW at some point, right?

Anyways, bought one new, unopened vindicator from ebay, and one metal one that was used. So I think it was more or less tfg. the person who talked down about it usually complains about everything, including that I made my own character and I am using vulkan's rules for my iron knights captain, saying that I am playing salamanders.:/ some people have no imagination i guess.

Tiger9gamer wrote: ... and tfg started to complain that I should "support the local store

This should answer your Q. TFG is often right about 40k rules, and knows how some armies fare against others, but anything social, like judging 'what is cool' is right out of his conveyance. That's why he's a douche.

my shop says the same thing. you know, if they would match prices i would NEVER buy anywhere else, but you just can't pass up great deals, especially in your circumstances. don't let them guilt you. they're just looking out for themselves and you're doing the same so they can't really hold that against you.

I think it's pretty poor form for the manager to be pressuring you to buy more stuff, anyway. I get that it's retail and that they're trying to get sales (I work in retail, too), but that crosses the line, IMHO.

While it's great to support your local store, they are still providing a free-of-charge service with no explicit or implicit agreement to buy solely from there. The manager can ask you to leave, of course, but they should never pressure you into feeling obliged to buy anything.

curran12 wrote:While it is always cool to support the local store, nah, you didn't do anything wrong.

THIS!!!!! Don't feel bad dude. You did nothing wrong. except maybe being a broke wargamer which is not wrong at all, It's called life.

Personally I bought my entire army off of ebay as cheeply as I could. But then I didn't have a local store, now that I do I plan to buy about 50% of my models there and the other 50% whereever I can get the est deal.

You did nothing wrong. I could understand if the owner got upset OVER TIME, if you never bought anything from him, but I would think, any time you show up for a game, buy at least ONE bottle of paint, or glue or brush, something small every time, so in the long run it will add up for the owner.

Now if you play and never buy, it's up to the owner to say something. But since you do plan on buying something eventually there, (I believe a big purchase) you did nothing wrong.

It's just as "wrong" as buying from another store. You should support your local store when you can, but it's seriously no big deal (or any deal at all really) to buy off eBay. Most of my stuff came from there and the Swap Shop.

You didn't do anything wrong, but I personally try never to mention to store owners buying stuff from someone else. It's just sort of awkward. That's my own thing though, you don't need to be held to that.

If it was an independent store I would say support them as much as possible.
If it is a GW store, screw'em. Too many rules about only using GW models in their stores with no exceptions for even 1 model. Forget that.

There are two sides to every coin of course.
First, no you didn't do anything wrong, and they have no reason to shun you for getting a few models from ebay. I mean, have you ever bought something there? A few models, codex or rule book? Even paints, brushes, glue ect?
I could see maybe if you bought a whole army off ebay, and painted and assembled them with crappy walmart model supplies and just came in bragging about all the money you saved then used up the tables. Talking about saving money by buying third party is a bit of a taboo in the GW store, but them knowing you got some stuff that way doesn't make you a second class gamer.
At the same time it is good to support your local stores "when you can afford it". I'm not saying put off buying models at all until you can save up for a model from them, or even going 50/50.
Near me I have a GW and an independent FLGS (I actually have a second independent store that lost my business, but that's another story). They don't really care if our local gamers buy from one or the other, as the GW has a better selection, but the FLGS will sometimes have better prices.
I just bought two preds online for the price of one, new on the sprue, because their boxes were damaged (all the bits are in perfect shape however). I even told the guy who runs the FLGS about it, and he thought it was great. I've spent at least 2k between my two local stores(just since I moved here 4 years ago). I buy my paints and brushes from them as well. So when I ebay/second hand, it's not a big deal.
We have other gamers who got into the game buying AoBR and a codex, and then expanded their armies with ebay. It's no secret, and although we don't openly discuss it, we don't hide it either. They still get money from us in modelling supplies.
Another thing is that even buying all second hand, you are still supporting the hobby. One of the things that makes warhammer successful is number of people playing it. Sure I could play another game, where the minis are half the price and I only need 10 models to play. But only 1 or 2 other people in my area play it. What's the point in investing in a table top hobby you can't share with anyone? While you may not be directly contributing to GW's pockets by not buying all your models from them, by having a bigger army, you can play more games. Playing more games means you can play with more people. Which means those people are enjoying the hobby more, and will invest in it more. And even you being in the shop playing with an entire ebay army looks good for the hobby when a new potential player comes in and sees you playing a game, and helps pique their interest.

I guess this is my long winded way of saying, no you did nothing wrong. Sorry for my mini rant, as I just had a slightly heated debate about this topic with another gamer sunday, so all my points were still fresh in my mind waiting to jump through my keyboard.

Nope. You're an educated consumer. Kudos to you.

However, just to play Devil's Advocate....

It *is* important to support the area you want to play in. There is a possibility that a store could go under because they can't compete with the online marketplace. That is a possibility, which could leave one without a place to play.

However, that is a specific situation that probably won't affect very many people. Most stores have a constant source of revenue from multiple games (Magic, Board Games, FoW, etc), so I would call it more of an exception than the rule.

Still, something to consider.

alright, just to be clear, I dont buy everything from ebay. So far I bought AoBR, a codex, a speeder, about 10 or more paints, 3 bottles of glue, An attack bike, and the Space Marine Battle force.
so far I bought $329.00 worth of models, and I am planning to buy $75 more next on fast attack.

Plus I try to be as polite as I can there, trying not to cuss like a sailor and be polite. I dont know anything anymore

There's nothing wrong with being an educated consumer. Buying things that are cheaper that have the same effect means you're doing the smart thing. Worry about your own life before worrying about the lives of others, you can always help those in need after you are in a comfortable position to, any time before means you're doing both sides a disservice.

I think it's wrong that man wants you to spend 115$ instead of 80$. I have an ork army if you look at costs of units and the terrible way gamesworkshop does some of their packaging? They would know why if I see it on ebay, I buy it there.
I wanted 45 lootas with the deffguns. They sell them 4 to a box because the fifth is a mekboy. I would have to buy 12 boxes of NIB lootas to get the full amount I want. 12 x 25 is just not in my budget and I've seen whole armies go for less than that on ebay....so imho and the way I do things? No. No you did not.
(I also buy from my local gamestores when I just can't find it on ebay XD)

As most of the guys have said, nothing wrong with buying models on eBay.
However, maybe hold off on the loudly telling other customer's about it. When you start convincing them that eBay is the way to go, and nobody starts buying from the FLGS.. that's where the problem begins.