Why do you shop at Gen Con
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Posted by andrewj.rager bigfathairyguy

franknbeans wrote:
I generally buy game related stuff but not games so like promos, mats, dice, dice trays, etc. I will also buy games sometimes that aren't sold through OLGS or FLGS. Fowers games come to mind of what I bought last year. That is really all I buy from the dealer hall anymore. I stay away from the new releases for the most part. I prefer reviews to come out before I buy them. I have demo'd a bunch of games that seemed good during the demo but weren't great when you play through the whole game. I do come home with a ton of new games though but most of those are from trades or online flea markets.

I didn't even think about Promos last year, but that is something I am keeping my eye out for this year for sure. I also want to find a good reasonably priced dice tower to use for Dice Masters. Any suggestions for anyone on a good place to find the dice tower?

Posted by rhone1

Check out roll4initiative, they have a nice dice tower

Posted by qwaserity helenbb

helenbb wrote:
We generally don't shop at GenCon. It's so expensive to fly out to Indianapolis (more expensive fors us than flying across the entire country) and the hotel is not cheap either. We spend our money on airfare and hotel. Besides, since we fly, we don't have much room in our suitcases to bring things home. What we will do is look at a few things and them maybe buy online later on. We do get a number of free things (swag, tournament prizes, etc.) and I always leave a little room in our suitcases for that stuff. But rarely do we buy at GenCon. 
 I believe they have an UPS booth at Gen Con. One year at the GAMA trade show in Las Vegas I just boxed up all of the swag and mailed it to myself (for $35). It's cheaper than a check on bag and I didn't have to carry it around the airport with me.

Posted by helenbb

Thanks, qwaserity, but by the time you add on the cost of shipping a UPS box (or paying baggage fees on the plane) it's cheaper for us to get stuff online. Which is why the most we usually do is window-shop at GenCon. 

Posted by wells

Sometimes it's a brand new item that grabs your fancy. Sometimes it is something you can't normally buy, like individual pieces of Dwarven Forge sold by the pound. Some stuff is prohibitively expensive to ship, like metal Campaign Coins. And some things you just can't tell the quality of an item unless you see it, things like shirts, mats and dice vary wildly in their manufacturing.

There are also places that sell dice by the mug, or have huge tubs of pre-painted plastic miniatures you can pick through.

Posted by mbeauparland

Usually I shop for bargains or make notes for future online or local purchases, but every so often I'll stumble on something from a smaller company that doesn't have a distributor and handles their own sales. Maybe I'll see something that I want to read or play with at the con. Sometimes I'll see something from a little company that I want to support and sponsor, so I'll buy direct from them rather than hold out for a lower price online. Ultimately anything I buy at Gen Con is because it suited my capricious nature at the time....

Posted by eldrad12000

My purchases vary. When I buy art, I like buying it at GenCon, so I can meet the artist, and I enjoy browsing the items, and being able to actually pick them up and touch them. I also like buying newly released items, mostly Paizo stuff. But I really love digging through the bins of old DnD minatures, the plastic ones and then the metal ones and picking up a small bundle of them. Yeah I might be able to do it online, but there is just something about getting the items at GenCon.

Posted by truelink

For a few years my biggest purchases have been Magic cards. I only play the Commander format casually with friends. So GenCon is a good opportunity to get many old, expensive cards for low prices. So I'll spend a few hundred dollars on that -- always too much. I also like to pick up promos and pick up one board game and one souvenir.

Posted by genconkeeper

Dune the RPG..... I can not tell you how many times I kick myself for not picking that up so many years ago. Yes many games get released at Gen Con and then never see the light of day again. My rule is if I see it and want it I buy it. No regrets if I don't get it.
Randu

Posted by timjs21

I've stopped purchasing from the exhibitors at the dealers hall the past few years since they've decided that - in almost all cases - they want to charge retail pricing.  Going back about 4-5 years ago, I could always find either discounted games or  end-of-day / end-of-con specials that made it worth while to purchase at the  exhibitor hall.  Sadly those days seem to be gone.

I can still see value in purchasing at the exhibitors hall for items that are limited release, or game add-ons that are difficult to find elsewhere.  For most games though, I can save money by purchasing through Amazon or a local store back home.

Posted by garhkal

This year there's only one real purchase i am looking to make at gencon (or origins if i manage to get it cheaper there)..  A battlemat..

Posted by dradama

I have found many great deals in the hall.  The War Store had some super cheap items on that last Sunday that I picked up.  There are some expensive items like the Horus Heresy books from Forgeworld that I can save shipping on by purchasing them there.  I also like to grab extras of Con exclusives and then put them on ebay.  The last two GenCon have been funded completely by selling exclusives on ebay.   

Posted by eldrad12000

Oh yeah, I also buy GenCon shirts and swag at GenCon. I know you can buy them off the site, but I like getting them at the Con.

Posted by garhkal

Never been into the shirts..  Got way too many clothes as is.

Posted by hoppities

What about Cool Stuff Inc? Are there prices the same as the site? Or is it cheaper?

Posted by rrturner dradama

dradama wrote:
I have found many great deals in the hall.  The War Store had some super cheap items on that last Sunday that I picked up.  There are some expensive items like the Horus Heresy books from Forgeworld that I can save shipping on by purchasing them there.  I also like to grab extras of Con exclusives and then put them on ebay.  The last two GenCon have been funded completely by selling exclusives on ebay.   
What are some examples of what you've found that are 'exclusives'...Having never been, I dontknow what they might be, where to find them, etc. Any help, in finding those cool things and what they might be?

Posted by divachelle hoppities

hoppities wrote:
What about Cool Stuff Inc? Are there prices the same as the site? Or is it cheaper?
I don't shop at CSI online, but I do know that there are a large number of scratch & dent items at the CSI booth, and the deals are pretty good. I think I paid $12 for slightly dinged up copy of Sushi Go Party last year, and scored a Winter Carcassonne with a box corner crunch for $17.

Posted by soulcatcher78 rrturner

rrturner wrote:
dradama wrote:
I have found many great deals in the hall.  The War Store had some super cheap items on that last Sunday that I picked up.  There are some expensive items like the Horus Heresy books from Forgeworld that I can save shipping on by purchasing them there.  I also like to grab extras of Con exclusives and then put them on ebay.  The last two GenCon have been funded completely by selling exclusives on ebay.   
What are some examples of what you've found that are 'exclusives'...Having never been, I dontknow what they might be, where to find them, etc. Any help, in finding those cool things and what they might be?

Not sure about others but Cool Mini or Not usually has Kickstarter exclusive figures for their games (IIRC it was one per $25 spent).   The first year I bought Zombicide  from them I got enough Kickstarter exclusive figures to pay for the game once I listed them on Ebay.  Show (Kickstarter) exclusives can help fund your gaming habit if you get lucky with the market/timing.

Posted by quarex

The Auction, particularly the Auction Store, has literally the greatest deals I have ever encountered in my life ... well, sometimes.  Sometimes you end up paying too much because it is for charity or because you decide that other person OBVIOUSLY does not want the item you are bidding on enough so you just have to keep raising the price until you take it home.

But even just in one area where I search for things in the Auction (DOS-era PC games), I think every single year I have found something for $5 or less that would sell for upwards of $100 or more if you saw it on EBay or something similar.  Not to mention plenty of like 3-5 game bundles going for $10 that would sell for at least $10-20 per game normally.  People who are sick of seeing old gaming things sitting around their house are fortunately drawn to the Auction :) 

Posted by lore seeker quarex

quarex wrote:
The Auction, particularly the Auction Store, has literally the greatest deals I have ever encountered in my life ... well, sometimes.  Sometimes you end up paying too much because it is for charity or because you decide that other person OBVIOUSLY does not want the item you are bidding on enough so you just have to keep raising the price until you take it home.
But even just in one area where I search for things in the Auction (DOS-era PC games), I think every single year I have found something for $5 or less that would sell for upwards of $100 or more if you saw it on EBay or something similar.  Not to mention plenty of like 3-5 game bundles going for $10 that would sell for at least $10-20 per game normally.  People who are sick of seeing old gaming things sitting around their house are fortunately drawn to the Auction :) 

Never done the auction, but the consignment store right next to it is AWESOME! It is used book heaven, and I've found so many great things there over the years.

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