I don't think this question gets raised enough though I am a bit curious. As for me before the pandemic hit I've always tried to support my LGSs once every weekend though now with the quarantine I've mainly been making my purchases through TCGPlayer since the proceeds actually go towards the Local Game Store (LGS). I did manage to make a few orders from my own LGSs several weeks ago, one through their eBay store and another through their e-commerce website. One of my noteworthy purchases that I've made from one of my LGSs was a lightly played Worldly Tutor from Sixth Edition that I bought for $13.00 before it spiked to $20.00 that I picked up for my Nissa, Vastwood Seer EDH / Commander deck. Also happened to pick up a lightly played Mox Opal for $48.00 at another LGS I normally go to for another EDH / Commander deck for a friend of mine. I also ended up purchasing a Thassa, God of the Sea from the same place I ordered my Worldly Tutor before shopping on TCGPlayer and eBay for other cards I needed.
I refuse to shop on Amazon unless it's an emergency situation. Maybe with non-essential businesses across the country starting to slowly open back up perhaps we'll start to see more people sell their MTG collections at their LGSs when they weren't able to beforehand due to the businesses being closed with no buylist orders or appraisals let alone mail deliveries and curbside pickup. With the Secondary Market for Paper Magic being at a standstill right now tells me that most players are still holding onto their collections thinking that they'll be able to ride out this economic downturn. Perhaps more people have decided to abandon LGSs completely in favor of supporting flea markets and thrift stores when it comes to letting go of their MTG collections. I actually am getting a "wait and see" approach with most of the MTG community with how they're responding to the pandemic though I'm probably making this assumption through Magic YouTubers who still continue to upload content considering how few they are right now.
Private Mod Note
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America Bless Christ Jesus
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
My LGS has a rewards program. Every 100 dollars you spend there you earn 10 dollars store credit for anything in the store you wish. Spend 1000 total over time and you are given a 15% off preferred customer card good for a year. I am financially blessed/lucky enough to have earned that 15 percent off for last year. This year however is quite the different story. I've probably spent a couple of hundred there and have not been there since the shutdown. I am buying more physical cards online (for myself and my son) at this time, albeit at a lower amount. This owner has been in this community for well over 30 years. I think they will make it through but this is cutting them deep, very deep. When these obtrusive edicts are lifted I will be patronizing this establishment again. Hopefully MUCH sooner than later.
Oops, sorry and forgot to answer your question. Probably frequented about every 2 or 3 weeks, once a month at a longest stretch.
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Since the Covid-19 pandemic started, I've bought an event deck and preordered 2 of the commander decks coming out this week.
On an average week when everything is open, I'd say I spend my FNM plus a drink at least on a Friday. If I go on a Thursday to Saturday, I'll usually buy a drink each time I'm there and maybe $15-30+ during a week period.
I refuse to shop on Amazon unless it's an emergency situation.
I don't do Amazon for cards at all. I do ebay for my singles mostly at this time. A lot of ebay sellers are LGS linked and I want to keep them going as well. I order a reasonable amount from CardKingdom but have not since they have gone short staff with the closures. Every once in a blue moon I will order from ChannelFireball. I don't touch SCG, there is just something that rubs me wrong about them. I ignore TCG Player like the plague. Haven't done a dime of business with them. WM and Target get some of my WotC money as well. I really want to get back to my LGS and shift more of my purchases local. I consider myself lucky to indulge in what is a wonderful pasttime for my son and me. Many others do not have that luxury at this time. I worry about them too.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
There are people within my local community who refuse to get a part-time job to financially support their Local Game Store (LGS) because of scheduling issues with having to work during the weekends which is when they want to play. So they tend to rely on other people that do have a part-time job with weekends off to help pay for their cards, decks, and sleeves though it depends on how much disposable income is being made to help compensate for it. The people who do have part-time jobs would still need to support themselves aside from other people in their playgroup (two would be the max IMO). E-commerce has made it a whole lot easier which is why I'm a bit surprised that the Comic Book Shop that doubles as an LGS in my area hasn't expanded past their eBay Store. So it's not that these people are lazy when they're more worried about having to spend less time with their playgroup is all.
As much as I'd like to play at my LGS on Sunday or any other day of the week it's a pain since you got to make money to spend money. When people like Rudy from Alpha Investments complains about why days outside the weekend aren't as active at the Local Game Store (LGS) it's because MTG and most of it's competition is an expensive hobby that requires money to keep up with on a weekly basis. I feel it's already gotten to a point where the barrier of entry might be too expensive to keep up with compared to how "cheap" the hobby was about a couple decades ago. It might have more to do with the cost of collectibles in general becoming more expensive over a long period of time as we're just now starting to see the financial side effects from it. There's simply not enough Paper to meet the demand that Digital provides which costs less resources even though people like me hate that alternative.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
There are people within my local community who refuse to get a part-time job to financially support their Local Game Store (LGS) because of scheduling issues with having to work during the weekends which is when they want to play. So they tend to rely on other people that do have a part-time job with weekends off to help pay for their cards, decks, and sleeves though it depends on how much disposable income is being made to help compensate for it. The people who do have part-time jobs would still need to support themselves aside from other people in their playgroup (two would be the max IMO). E-commerce has made it a whole lot easier which is why I'm a bit surprised that the Comic Book Shop that doubles as an LGS in my area hasn't expanded past their eBay Store. So it's not that these people are lazy when they're more worried about having to spend less time with their playgroup is all.
As much as I'd like to play at my LGS on Sunday or any other day of the week it's a pain since you got to make money to spend money. When people like Rudy from Alpha Investments complains about why days outside the weekend aren't as active at the Local Game Store (LGS) it's because MTG and most of it's competition is an expensive hobby that requires money to keep up with on a weekly basis. I feel it's already gotten to a point where the barrier of entry might be too expensive to keep up with compared to how "cheap" the hobby was about a couple decades ago. It might have more to do with the cost of collectibles in general becoming more expensive over a long period of time as we're just now starting to see the financial side effects from it. There's simply not enough Paper to meet the demand that Digital provides which costs less resources even though people like me hate that alternative.
It's uh... hard to argue with that point. This hobby has gotten unnecessarily expensive and I place the blame squarely at the feet of predatory speculators and so-called investors. Can you tell I have a incredibly low opinion of those kind of people?
But to answer the OPs question. I have not been buying anything from my LGS... at all. It's not for lack of trying though as I've practically been trying to throw money at them every chance I get, but they're not biting.
However, as I type this, I thought to check their FB account and lo and behold, they're reopened their retail sales as of two days ago. I'll drop by their store tomorrow and see if I can throw money at them now. Does anyone think rolls of money as the potential to hurt a person?
It's uh... hard to argue with that point. This hobby has gotten unnecessarily expensive and I place the blame squarely at the feet of predatory speculators and so-called investors. Can you tell I have a incredibly low opinion of those kind of people?
But to answer the OPs question. I have not been buying anything from my LGS... at all. It's not for lack of trying though as I've practically been trying to throw money at them every chance I get, but they're not biting.
However, as I type this, I thought to check their FB account and lo and behold, they're reopened their retail sales as of two days ago. I'll drop by their store tomorrow and see if I can throw money at them now. Does anyone think rolls of money as the potential to hurt a person?
You'll probably also find predatory speculators and so-called investors in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Pokémon TCG, and other Paper Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games currently in circulation who will do anything to manipulate the Secondary Market for their own personal gain. Whether it's taking advantage of cards getting banned / restricted in said format or through buying out certain copies of a card to where the lack of copies / reprints for it ends up driving the market price for them. A lot of people hate it when I talk about accusations of insider trading especially in Magic: the Gathering because there's not enough concrete evidence to back it up. I do remember the Magic Historian on YouTube went on a tangent about it awhile ago.
When people engage in inside information, it may not be illegal in MTG and other Paper Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games but it is illegal on Wall Street and the Stock Market. It tells you their character, like If I told you whether or not If you feel safe selling a high dollar card to a person who might be racist against Asians and has 30-plus criminal convictions and accusations you'd probably decline to sell the product to that person. So you'd end up selling it cheaper to someone whose more reliable and has less of a criminal history. There was a recent article on WIRED discussing this topic called, The Stockbrokers of Magic: The Gathering Play for Keeps where Rudy from Alpha Investments declined the interview as mentioned here.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
However, as I type this, I thought to check their FB account and lo and behold, they're reopened their retail sales as of two days ago.
You must live in a redstate. Bluestate for me unfortunately and our wannabe tyrant shows no signs relinquishing control here. Funny I can stand inside the waiting area of a local restaurant for 15 minutes waiting to carry out food for Mother's Day with another 8 to 10 people but I couldn't spend 15 minutes shopping in my LGS with 5 or less people.
There are people within my local community who refuse to get a part-time job to financially support their Local Game Store (LGS) because of scheduling issues with having to work during the weekends which is when they want to play. So they tend to rely on other people that do have a part-time job with weekends off to help pay for their cards, decks, and sleeves though it depends on how much disposable income is being made to help compensate for it.
Out of curiosity are we talking high school/college aged young adults here? I played basically at the beginning (early 1994) in Grad. School and would have rather not played than tried to ask friends to give me money or cards. Granted at the time the secondary market was no where near the predatory crap fest it is now. I thought 40 bucks for a Black Lotus was too rich for my blood at the time.
Private Mod Note
():
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing since 1994: Currently MAGS (HomeBrew),Standard & Pauper (Pioneer and Modern are degenerate trash formats)
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Out of curiosity are we talking high school/college aged young adults here? I played basically at the beginning (early 1994) in Grad. School and would have rather not played than tried to ask friends to give me money or cards. Granted at the time the secondary market was no where near the predatory crap fest it is now. I thought 40 bucks for a Black Lotus was too rich for my blood at the time.
We're talking young adults in their mid to late teens and early to mid twenties. I do have a friend whose roughly the same age as me who also doesn't have a part-time job where his only mode of transportation are his parents since he has a pre-existing condition that makes it hard for him to get a drivers license. Some of my friends use Uber or carpool with other friends to get places but that's pretty much about it really.
The only time I ever carpooled was with a group of friends of mine where we were asked to help organize a card collection for a different Paper Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game while getting paid in pizza. We also got a few games in here and there while also doing some playtesting for an upcoming tournament at the time. It was for the Dragon Ball Z Trading Card Game by Panini America.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
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I refuse to shop on Amazon unless it's an emergency situation. Maybe with non-essential businesses across the country starting to slowly open back up perhaps we'll start to see more people sell their MTG collections at their LGSs when they weren't able to beforehand due to the businesses being closed with no buylist orders or appraisals let alone mail deliveries and curbside pickup. With the Secondary Market for Paper Magic being at a standstill right now tells me that most players are still holding onto their collections thinking that they'll be able to ride out this economic downturn. Perhaps more people have decided to abandon LGSs completely in favor of supporting flea markets and thrift stores when it comes to letting go of their MTG collections. I actually am getting a "wait and see" approach with most of the MTG community with how they're responding to the pandemic though I'm probably making this assumption through Magic YouTubers who still continue to upload content considering how few they are right now.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
Oops, sorry and forgot to answer your question. Probably frequented about every 2 or 3 weeks, once a month at a longest stretch.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
On an average week when everything is open, I'd say I spend my FNM plus a drink at least on a Friday. If I go on a Thursday to Saturday, I'll usually buy a drink each time I'm there and maybe $15-30+ during a week period.
I don't do Amazon for cards at all. I do ebay for my singles mostly at this time. A lot of ebay sellers are LGS linked and I want to keep them going as well. I order a reasonable amount from CardKingdom but have not since they have gone short staff with the closures. Every once in a blue moon I will order from ChannelFireball. I don't touch SCG, there is just something that rubs me wrong about them. I ignore TCG Player like the plague. Haven't done a dime of business with them. WM and Target get some of my WotC money as well. I really want to get back to my LGS and shift more of my purchases local. I consider myself lucky to indulge in what is a wonderful pasttime for my son and me. Many others do not have that luxury at this time. I worry about them too.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
As much as I'd like to play at my LGS on Sunday or any other day of the week it's a pain since you got to make money to spend money. When people like Rudy from Alpha Investments complains about why days outside the weekend aren't as active at the Local Game Store (LGS) it's because MTG and most of it's competition is an expensive hobby that requires money to keep up with on a weekly basis. I feel it's already gotten to a point where the barrier of entry might be too expensive to keep up with compared to how "cheap" the hobby was about a couple decades ago. It might have more to do with the cost of collectibles in general becoming more expensive over a long period of time as we're just now starting to see the financial side effects from it. There's simply not enough Paper to meet the demand that Digital provides which costs less resources even though people like me hate that alternative.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
It's uh... hard to argue with that point. This hobby has gotten unnecessarily expensive and I place the blame squarely at the feet of predatory speculators and so-called investors. Can you tell I have a incredibly low opinion of those kind of people?
But to answer the OPs question. I have not been buying anything from my LGS... at all. It's not for lack of trying though as I've practically been trying to throw money at them every chance I get, but they're not biting.
However, as I type this, I thought to check their FB account and lo and behold, they're reopened their retail sales as of two days ago. I'll drop by their store tomorrow and see if I can throw money at them now. Does anyone think rolls of money as the potential to hurt a person?
When people engage in inside information, it may not be illegal in MTG and other Paper Trading Card Games / Collectible Card Games but it is illegal on Wall Street and the Stock Market. It tells you their character, like If I told you whether or not If you feel safe selling a high dollar card to a person who might be racist against Asians and has 30-plus criminal convictions and accusations you'd probably decline to sell the product to that person. So you'd end up selling it cheaper to someone whose more reliable and has less of a criminal history. There was a recent article on WIRED discussing this topic called, The Stockbrokers of Magic: The Gathering Play for Keeps where Rudy from Alpha Investments declined the interview as mentioned here.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta
You must live in a redstate. Bluestate for me unfortunately and our wannabe tyrant shows no signs relinquishing control here. Funny I can stand inside the waiting area of a local restaurant for 15 minutes waiting to carry out food for Mother's Day with another 8 to 10 people but I couldn't spend 15 minutes shopping in my LGS with 5 or less people.
Out of curiosity are we talking high school/college aged young adults here? I played basically at the beginning (early 1994) in Grad. School and would have rather not played than tried to ask friends to give me money or cards. Granted at the time the secondary market was no where near the predatory crap fest it is now. I thought 40 bucks for a Black Lotus was too rich for my blood at the time.
STOP using "dude/bro" as a pejorative or insult. Grow up.
Margaret Thatcher: “The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money.”
Benjamin Franklin: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Martin Luther King Jr.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
The only time I ever carpooled was with a group of friends of mine where we were asked to help organize a card collection for a different Paper Trading Card Game / Collectible Card Game while getting paid in pizza. We also got a few games in here and there while also doing some playtesting for an upcoming tournament at the time. It was for the Dragon Ball Z Trading Card Game by Panini America.
"Restriction breeds creativity." - Sheldon Menery on EDH / Commander in Magic: The Gathering
"Cancel Culture is the real reason why everyone's not allowed to have nice things anymore." - Anonymous
"For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?" - Mark 8:36
"Most men and women will grow up to love their servitude and will never dream of revolution." - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World
"Every life decision is always a risk / reward proposition." - Sanjay Gupta