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Does anyone have a preference for one? Seems to be a lot of mixed press for all the ones I know!

Do people generally prefer Internet stores over brick and mortar ones now?

20-30% discount on retail is too good to pass up for most people, especially if you are buying in bulk you literally can save hundreds of pounds.

Firestorm games for me, might not be the cheapest but they are amongst the quickest. Have also found that any questions are answered very quickly. i like the free shipping over 30 quid as well.

Total wargamer have been painfully slow for me in the past as have wayland.

As for preferring brick and mortar shops to online stores, i think i actually do and would go without the discount to go pick something up in person... however being in the sticks of lincolnshire means i don't really have a flgs and what is about dont carry much stock, specially for 15mm ww2

Gifts for geeks are fantastic.

Free shipping on warmachine stuff and 10% discount isnt bad at all. Plus they are very quick.

I've had mixed results with total wargamer. My Warriors of chaos stuff was posted quickly but when I ordered some warmachine it took an ages to even get a message back about the item

I recently ordered from Wayland, but it was only two days ago so it's too soon to pass judgements.

I voted Other, since there are some Swedish sites I like ordering from. However, if Wayland delivers I might just order from them again.

I prefer to stick to GW, I would rather pay a few pounds extra and get it within a few days than use one of these sellers and have to wait around a month for my order.

 Rayvon wrote:
I prefer to stick to GW, I would rather pay a few pounds extra and get it within a few days than use one of these sellers and have to wait around a month for my order.

Which ones have you tried? Wayland and Total Wargamer have both been excellent when I've ordered from them recently, my stuff turns up within days.

However I voted 'other'. I've been using Troll Trader more often than not recently. Discounted stuff and free, fast delivery.

 Rayvon wrote:
I prefer to stick to GW, I would rather pay a few pounds extra and get it within a few days than use one of these sellers and have to wait around a month for my order.

I find its just a case of calling and finding out if they have an item in stock - the delays you can attribute to them not having (usually a GW item) in stock.

So, £5 for a phone call is very cheap (well.. unless you like dialling certain numbers I guess )

Also - the way GW have been treating the Independents I would feel a certain obligation to help support the little guy, if I were to buy anything GW.

Riquende wrote:

 Rayvon wrote:
I prefer to stick to GW, I would rather pay a few pounds extra and get it within a few days than use one of these sellers and have to wait around a month for my order.

Which ones have you tried? Wayland and Total Wargamer have both been excellent when I've ordered from them recently, my stuff turns up within days.

However I voted 'other'. I've been using Troll Trader more often than not recently. Discounted stuff and free, fast delivery.

I have tried Wayland, Total Wargamer, Gifts for geeks, Dark Sphere and Rocket Hobbies, since Mealstrom went down, all took around 2 weeks to over a month for delivery, Just not good enough for my liking im afraid, I really wish I could find a suitable alternative, as I used to use mealstrom all the time and it always came fast, although I am only down the road so to speak.

 Pacific wrote:

 Rayvon wrote:
I prefer to stick to GW, I would rather pay a few pounds extra and get it within a few days than use one of these sellers and have to wait around a month for my order.

I find its just a case of calling and finding out if they have an item in stock - the delays you can attribute to them not having (usually a GW item) in stock.

So, £5 for a phone call is very cheap (well.. unless you like dialling certain numbers I guess )

Also - the way GW have been treating the Independents I would feel a certain obligation to help support the little guy, if I were to buy anything GW.

I want to be able to order online and have it come quickly, I did feel obliged to support the little guy at first, hence why i tried using so many other discount sellers, I dont mind making a phone call, but so far I have only found Gifts for geeks actually have what I want in stock on a regular basis but then it started to take them over a fortnight to ship them 30 miles to me.
Unfortunately in my experience the little guys dont seem able to provide the service I require, so I am back to using GW again.
I can tell that plenty of folk are mad for a discount and dont mind waiting, I like quick delivery times !

Maybe it's a GW thing? The stuff I order is all Warlord, Mantic, Army Painter etc and it's all at my door in a couple of days, pretty much from any seller.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Rayvon wrote:
I really wish I could find a suitable alternative,

I'd say give Troll Trader a try, but I've just been on their site and they don't appear to deal with GW stuff. Sorry.

Riquende wrote:
Maybe it's a GW thing? The stuff I order is all Warlord, Mantic, Army Painter etc and it's all at my door in a couple of days, pretty much from any seller.

Yes I think this is quite possibly the case. Might be interesting to do some kind of survey and see what people were buying when the items were delayed?

I know I heard from one shop owner that they had ordered in x amount of 6th edition 40k - the amount they could order was strictly limited by the rep, but nevertheless they received far less than their allocation was meant to be. The end result was a lot of pissed-off customers who didn't get what they had pre-ordered. I think that has happened for a number of new GW releases in fact, at least at my local store.

If it's GW then I generally order form GW, unless I see a bargain on eBay. GW have always been reliable with great customer service.

Only other games I occasionally buy online are RPGs, and for them I use IGUK.

Miniature Market. 25% and you get points from ordering stuff.

I've always had good luck with The War Store, personally.

A lot of this is regional, of course. I'm in the US.

US member here, and my online store of choice is The War Store. I have only ever had one disappointment with them over the years: a few years ago, they stopped including the phrase "Your reinforcements have arrived!" on their shipping labels.

Seems to be a lack of US stores on your list.

I always go through ebay, I like the added security.

 Byte wrote:
Seems to be a lack of US stores on your list.

I assume the OP is asking for personal use, given the UK location and UK stores on the poll.

Wayland - My new main source of non urgent ordering.
The Troll Trader - if I am on eBay and browsing for stuff.

If I need anything right this second I'll usually go out to get it.

All of the UK based internet sellers suffer from the same issue when it comes to GW - they are only allowed to order once per week, so depending on what you order and when your order it will make a big impact on when you get it. I have tried all the sellers listed above at one point or another; sometimes they are quick, sometimes not so.

As with everything in life, there is a time/cost trade off. If you want it straight away - buy from GW and pay the full price. If you are willing and able to wait a little longer, buy from a re-seller and save a bit of money. Unfortunately, it is a rare case when you can both save money and get it immediately. I almost exclusively use Wayland now; I don't particularly mind waiting that much, they carry a lot of lines of stuff that I like and I find the new live stock levels a lot better than their old system.

It depends what you want, and what's important to you

Internet sellers are cheaper the FLGS (although you might get a discount if you are a regular or spend enough but probably not the same level as the net)

Internet sellers will get you stuff your FLGS does not carry (again your FLGS may order stuff for you, but unless their distributor carries it you'd be as well of getting it yourself)

FLGS are faster (if they have stuff in stock).

Almost all net sellers offer stuff they THINK they can get you... but if you order it can be slow, you may not get told they're waiting for stuff, you may not even be told if an item is out of production and will never arrive

If a FLGS has a limited edition you can buy it.... Online not so much, GW does it best giving compensation if they sell you a LE they end up not delivering, all you get from the rest is a sorry and a refund if you're lucky

The intenet sellers I've done a decent number of transations with (& been happy) are

Darksphere (minor issues with GW stuff but that's down to GW deliveries not them)

Trolltrader (I've bought via ebay, but they have thier own store/westore as well now)

Arcane Miniatures (I've never had problems, but i've see reports others have)

I voted gift for geeks as they for every order have exceptional delivery times, i never have to wait longer than a week for all my deliveries. I also use wayland games who are slightly slower (2 weeks max delivery time), but generally for bulk buys as they offer the biggest discounts. I also hate the constant pestering by the staff in all GW shops, the main reason i never buy anything from their stores.

 Rayvon wrote:


I have tried Wayland, Total Wargamer, Gifts for geeks, Dark Sphere and Rocket Hobbies, since Mealstrom went down, all took around 2 weeks to over a month for delivery, Just not good enough for my liking im afraid, I really wish I could find a suitable alternative, as I used to use mealstrom all the time and it always came fast, although I am only down the road so to speak.

2 weeks to a month from gift for geeks? how long ago was this? i've ordered several times from them in the past few months and wait less than a week on standard delivery, i'm happy to wait 2 days to save around £5-10, especially if you're building an army from scratch. I will agree with you on total wargamer though, absolutely dire, waited 3 weeks for a pin drill, never again!

 OrlandotheTechnicoloured wrote:
Arcane Miniatures (I've never had problems, but i've see reports others have)

Are they still going? They are hands down the worst gaming e-tailer I've ever had the misfortune of dealing with, and dishonest too (I 'won' a competition they were running years ago after they completely messed up an order I'd made for an item that was also the prize of said competition. I ended up doing well out of it with a few extra bits, but anybody else who entered that competition was shafted by them as they used the prize to placate my complaints).

I also hate the constant pestering by the staff in all GW shops, the main reason i never buy anything from their stores.

I actually don't mind it. For many years I've only ever gone in to buy paints, and when they ask what I'll be using said paint on (as they're clearly trained to do) I try to engage them in conversation about whichever system I'm currently playing/painting - Uncharted Seas, Dropzone Commander, so on. That shuts them up (one time the guy serving wasn't familiar with Epic, which was less surprising than it should have been; although he was something of an optimist as when I explained it to him he tried to sell me the same army in 28mm, citing how much 'cooler' it would be).

And people wonder why FLGS struggle.

Riquende wrote:

I also hate the constant pestering by the staff in all GW shops, the main reason i never buy anything from their stores.

I actually don't mind it. For many years I've only ever gone in to buy paints, and when they ask what I'll be using said paint on (as they're clearly trained to do) I try to engage them in conversation about whichever system I'm currently playing/painting - Uncharted Seas, Dropzone Commander, so on. That shuts them up (one time the guy serving wasn't familiar with Epic, which was less surprising than it should have been; although he was something of an optimist as when I explained it to him he tried to sell me the same army in 28mm, citing how much 'cooler' it would be).

hah, yeah i know what you mean when you mention other systems in a GW, their face's just drop. I wish in the UK near me there was a decent independent store that stocked many game systems and had plenty of tables. A fact of life of living in a rural town i suppose.

 juraigamer wrote:
And people wonder why FLGS struggle.

Well mine doesn't offer any sort of discount(all retail cost all the time) and the card players rule the roost. I understand your point, but they have to help themselves as well.

 juraigamer wrote:
And people wonder why FLGS struggle.

I wish I had a FLGS!

I prefer local stores IF they have gaming space. If they are just stores and have no gaming tables then I don't really see what they offer other than full price.

 juraigamer wrote:
And people wonder why FLGS struggle.

Many FLGS struggle because they are run horribly, and often aren't very friendly. Its worth noting 2 of the biggest US online retailers, the War Store and Miniature Market ARE brick and mortar stores, and seem to be going quite well despite offering 25% off most items.

Yes I guess like any industry the quality can vary a lot. That being said, the best ones should definitely be treasured - and the more of them there are around generally, the better for anyone who is a fan of the wargaming/miniature hobby.