Jason’s Archives: The Walmart Effect, or Why It’s Everyone’s Fault Local Gaming Sucks

[metamet]

Jason’s Archives: The Walmart Effect, or Why It’s Everyone’s Fault Local Gaming Sucks


"Jason muses on the politics (and economics) of patronizing your local gaming store, before delving into results from the SCG Invitational and Open in Los Angeles."

I always appreciate Jason's perspective, and this week's topic is a pretty important one. Thoughts?


Jason’s Archives: The Walmart Effect, or Why It’s Everyone’s Fault Local Gaming Sucks

[Mewens]

Was a little short on the Wal-Mart angle, wasn't it? Ah, well, that's OK.

I'm fortunate that I live about a mile away from a fairly large-scale distributor, so I cheat like a bastard on this end -- by dollar amount, I'm probably seeing 95%+ of my purchases at local stores. (I'm also fortunate in that I have at least four truly local, well-stocked, MtG-carrying stores nearby -- we're talking within 5 miles -- so I understand that I'm probably a bit of an outlier here.)

Still, even if you say, "the local big-boy purchases don't really count, brother," I'm around 50-50 on my local vs. them innerwebs purchases. (If it helps, I physically go to my local national online retailer's storefront to purchase the cards.)

Anyway, I get that Jason's article is more about the wheeler-dealer than guys like me, who mostly collect (or, at least, only wheel and deal on obvious money, like GP Flash). For my part, I appreciate these little guys tons more than the Internet giants. Sure, SCG will be guaranteed to have that niche foil I need, but there's a solid chance that one of the four smallish retailers near me will have it, too, and at 3/4 (or less!) of the cost. In the meantime, I'm forging connections and getting my wishlists out there; sure, that sometimes means I get held over the barrel by an unscrupulous local (most memorably, about six years ago, I stopped talking to a vendor I'd spent a few hundred dollars at; he had marked up a card by 500% of his buying price because he knew I couldn't find it elsewhere). Still, the vast majority of my experiences have been positive -- and I've managed to find some absolute gems and some great deals in the meantime.