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Herzlos wrote:

 Phobos wrote:

You are buying little plastic or metal dudes in a box... You either want them or you don't. I fail to see the need to have someone holding your hand for that type of purchase.

Yet you might want to see what they actually look like first (if in a blister), or have a decent read of the box, or whatever. Browsing physical goods is just nicer than browsing catalogs.

And with respect to shipping I guess I simply don't understand what kind of problem you're having or why you think having saturday delivery is so vital. I have packages delivered to my house all the time on all days of the week and it's never an issue. If nobody is home they simply leave the package on the porch and its there when I get back.

They might do that for you, and they used to do it for me too (about 10 years ago), but UK couriers usually leave a missed delivery letter and require you to arrange a re-delivery or visit the depot. Very occasionally will they leave a small box at the back door or whatever, but in my experience that happens less than 5% of the time.

And the fact that the stores use the cheapest shipping method? Who cares, its still going to get there. I buy from miniature market all the time and their free shipping is via UPS, which seems to do a great job overall.

In the UK, at least, cheapest shipping tends to mean an unreliable courier company with a depot in the middle of nowhere. I've had days wasted waiting on them hour long round trips to get to obscure depots to pick stuff up on more than one ocasion, and the novelty wears off pretty quickly.

Good Lord man, I had absolutely no idea it was like that!

I can completely understand not wanting to deal with that kind of crap and simply paying the extra and buying it local.

99% online. The only independent store around is run by a douchebag who does not stop complaining about how much he hates his clients. I buy my X-Wing stuff there since he is cheaper than the internet but that's about it.

When I didn't care for the local place I played at, I bought where things were convenient. Online for discount, other game stores when passing through Albany. Now I have a store that I love, and I only buy from them. No more online shopping for me. If they don't have it in stock, I order anyway since there's a small discount. There used to be a lot of Miniature Market orders before I moved to CT though...

I believe in pay where you play. I used to buy from the miniwargaming store 2 years ago when I started getting back into 40k (shipping time was next day for me!). More recently I've been going to my local GW and have been buying my miniatures exclusively from them.

I don't want to be TFG who walks into their locations, sits and paints all day, uses the tables and shows up with new models every week that I bought from somewhere else.

I do both. For larger orders where the discounts add up to saving me a healthy discount, I have often ordered my previous game of choice (Malifaux) from eBay sellers with high ratings, solid prices and how S&H fees.

But sometimes I just want one or two things, where the savings aren't nearly as good or I just don't want to wait 2-3 weeks for them to arrive, so I'll go grab them from the local store. This can also apply for larger orders of small/cheap things I'd like to see in person first (restocking paints), or larger/heavier items (books, for example) where there's no getting around it; S&H isn't going to be pretty on this one.

That said, I haven't bought a figure in over half a year, and probably won't for another half a year or more (waiting for Robotech mini campaign to deliver, and then go to retail, and then start shipping waves of figures I won't already have a squad or more of).

Edit: I should note that I never play in stores. Strictly at a friend's place when we get together for weekend gaming shenanigans. I try to support local shops, but it's a hard balance when I can stretch my gaming budget so much further if I'm willing to wait on delivery.

I don't play, so very infrequently am I in a store. But, any time I'm in a gaming store I will purchase something, anything. Stores open and close frequently, so I hope to do my part in keeping it open for another day...even if it is 45min+ drive and I only darken the door 3-4 times a year.

When I play in a store I buy things from the store, when there isn't a store within a 2 hour drive (currently) I buy online.

When I'm broke I don't buy at all.

I generally buy all my wargaming models online from Miniature Market. The discount is just too good to pass up. But I also pay where I play. I make the occasional wargames impulse buy at the trusty old FLGS, but I also purchase dice, comic books, and rpg stuff there as well.

I tend to buy most of my stuff online. It is a bit too far to drive to my local GW about an hour round trip and There's a good chance they won't have what I want and will insist I buy the latest White Dwarf etc. I have purchased and gamed there in the past, but I've not gone out of my way to buy things there.
The closest place that carries FoW stuff is even further, though I buy a large portion my stuff from them online.

I like to buy some not gaming specific hobby supplies and the odd random kit from a local hobby shop because they're nice and seem to like offering random discounts anyway.

Almost everything online - It's just too great a price difference and almost all TTG stuff is way overpriced for what it is.

I snag little things (paints/tools/maybe a blister here or there) from my FLGS - I don't play there or anything though, so I don't really feel any "pressure" to support it.

I've never had any of those issues with uk postal services and couriers.

There's always a box for notes or special instructions on online orders. I just put in there 'leave in summerhouse porch if no-one home', and funnily enough, deliveries are left on the summerhouse porch. I've never had to go to a courier's depot, and I order pretty much everything online.

Edit: and I live in rural Scotland, which is supposedly worst for postal services...

I buy online for pretty much everything. Being UK based, I don't play in a store so I don't ever feel any obligation to one other than as a paying customer.

As a paying customer they either have product I want at a price I am prepared to pay, or they do not. 9 times out 10 they either don't have the stuff I want, and I can almost guarantee that 9.9 times out of 10 I could get it cheaper on line.

I undestand the benefit of seeing stuff before you buy stuff if that is important to you. It tends not to be to me - I'm usually prepared to make the punt and take the risk if they are new models I haven't seen. But the reality is, the kind of models I tend to buy aren't readily available in a UK high street store anyway. Heck even GW only stock the core stuff these days. The chances of me finding that interesting obscure figure, or that new game, or whatever are pretty much non-existant as if it isn't bog standard GW (or at a push the very core or latest release for PP or Infinity).

For me the internet won the battle years ago. Which is a shame as I would love to browse an interesting store and buy something on a whim. Just doesn't happen these days.

Aside from (in my part of the UK at least) one notable exception - wargame shows (or conventions). Although even there the last couple of years the local ones have been a bit lacklustre I felt. There are some good an interesting still about, but not so many here in the North East.

Many years ago there was a decent shop 5 minutes ride from my house. I bought pretty much exclusively there, because i played pretty much exclusively there.

A few years back, that shop closed up. My friends and i took to playing at a local club at first, and later, at my house. When i did not frequent a local shop to play, i bought online exclusively.

In the last 3 years a new shop has opened up about a 40 minute drive away. We game there about half of our gaming time. I buy almost all my GW stuff from them exclusively to support them (which in fairness, is about all i spend gaming money on anymore, the sole exceptions being they don't carry the primer i use (gesso), nor the glue i like, so i get those elsewhere).


Basically, if i play at a place, i buy models and whatever else i can from them. Because if i don't, and everyone does the same thing, they won't carry the products i buy anymore, or offer space to play the products i play anymore. I don't consider it fair for them to provide a gaming space for me that the Magic players ultimately are paying for.

YMMV, ofc.

If this shop closes, and i go back to an exclusive house league, i'll go back to sourcing online.


I am also a complete "instant-gratification" whore when it comes to gaming stuff, so i don't mind paying full MSRP to get my fix if i can have it in my hands naow.

-- Haight

Online, almost exclusively. I fully believe you should support a shop you play at, but I don't play at mine. I'll buy the odd pot of overpriced Citadel paint as a matter of convenience, but as an infrequent visitor, I have no reason to feel guilt saving myself money by shopping online. Their ranges are limited, too, so online is my only option for minis beyond 40k, WFB, and Malifaux.

As a FLGS owner, I don't actually begrudge folks that come in to use my tables and don't buy their minis from me. A lot of players already have the armies they want, so they make infrequent purchases. I make enough off the incidentals like cokes, water, snacks, that it's still profitable to have them around. Besides, if I don't have people playing in the store, it's hard to convince newbies to get started in a new system. Who wants to play WHFB when only the store owner has an army?

I really try to buy from the two local-most FLGS to me.. difficult though, the selection in one has gone down rapidly, the other charges full RRP most of the time and is pretty stingy about giving even 10% off. Don't think they make it easy for themselves..

I've had enough of lost or damaged parcels in the post. If I can buy something in store now I will, either from GW or from my LGS.

I'm part of a gaming club that plays in a pub/town hall, so everything I buy is online. A local gaming store offers a 10 percent discount, however it provides no other support. It's also not exactly local, being 45 minutes or so away. I'm happy to buy everything online at discount.

As much as I've wanted to I dont think I've ever bought anything online. I've bought everything from FLGS.

I don't game so I have no interest going into a GW shop (and I am 1/2 hour from WHWorld) and being jumped on by the staff. There are a few other independent shops nearby but with very limited ranges at full RRP so there's no incentive. I did visit a shop in Leicester about a month ago and it was pleasant to see the competitors' products in person which previously I'd only ever seen online. But I'm impervious to the MUST BUY ON FIRST AVAILABLE DATE fever which seems to go round. Plus I don't have any problem with Royal Mail, though couriers can be annoying.

 oadie wrote:
Online, almost exclusively. I fully believe you should support a shop you play at, but I don't play at mine. I'll buy the odd pot of overpriced Citadel paint as a matter of convenience, but as an infrequent visitor, I have no reason to feel guilt saving myself money by shopping online. Their ranges are limited, too, so online is my only option for minis beyond 40k, WFB, and Malifaux.

This. Almost to a T.

It's really hard for me to buy stuff from the LGS, they charge GW prices with no discount, and with a little patience you can get amazing deals on used stuff. I also have no problem stripping models after I did my first batch, so that only compounds the problem(not sure if I'll ever buy new models again, please put thick coats of paint on your models and sell them for dirt cheap on ebay )

The things I'll buy at the FLGS are paints, and things from GW website only so I don't have to pay shipping.

I like to support where I play, but the store I play at is about half an hour away and during the semester I'm lucky if I make it there once a month. I try to always buy something when I'm there, since getting into X-Wing that's been good since ships are relatively cheap.

My first stop for 40k models is typically eBay to look for deals. Anything else I want (40k, X-Wing when not at the store, Munchkin variants, soon Edge of the Empire products) I get from Miniature Market.

Always online. I've never had a single issue with uk post or couriers either

I prefer to actually hold the item in my hand when buying.
It's usually only AFTER doing this that I will buy it. Even then, most of my purchases are done in person.

This alone limits the impulse buy. I can't usually see all the angles of a given product online - and one of those angles might be necessary in order for me to get it (I often see things as a "collection of bits I can use" over "x model".).

Always online, it's much cheaper. Also I never play at a Store, always with my friends at home.