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 (http://www.quietspeculation.com/2012/12/jasons-archives-the-walmart-effect-or-why-its-everyones-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 (http://www.quietspeculation.com/2012/12/jasons-archives-the-walmart-effect-or-why-its-everyones-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.