I understand supply and demand. I understand some people may buy boosters and resell them on the secondary market. I also understand that a store may want to keep some in stock so they have them for customers. If that is the case then they could limit the quantity per customer. Price gouging is not the answer.

My local store had packs for 2.99 at release. I bought a box to split with a friend. The next week, they were 4.99. I refuse to pay that price. They still had a lot of stock. Apparently people were spending that because now the store raised the price to 7.95! Who in their right mind would pay that for a randomized booster? I love the game. I don't love it that much...

I would think FFG would have a problem with this. As someone who is trying to play the game this sucks. I would rather find an empty shelf.

Okay.

This is ridiculous, there just taking advantage of there players and I would not buy a single pack

I guess at the end of the day they can do this as there is nothing stopping them. This is nothing but sad and it shows you just how much they think of their customers. Hope people remember this when there is plenty of Destiny in stock and that this store has a shelf full that will not sell because of this.

I know it has shown me what they think of their customer base and I will make note to not to shop with them as I have in the past. A sad day indeed and others will or have already followed this type of mark up and ai think the same of them as well.

This was always going to be the problem with this game, I run a store and my number one priority is to look after my customers and in return maintain a good state of the the game for the local community. We charged £87 for a full booster box but as demand started to rise we stopped selling boxes and did the following deal. Booster £3-3 Boosters £8-5 Boosters £12 we also limited it to 5 per customer. We keep boosters back and use them for organised play to coach people into events which will in turn boost numbers. Any store that puts the price of boosters to more than rrp or people that sell legendary cards for more than £15 need a slap on the wrist.

If I'm willing to spend X on a card or pack, who is anyone else to tell me I'm wrong.

MSRP is a suggestion. People are free to sell product for what they can get for it. It's how our economy works.

If you don't like it, don't participate or wait til the prices go down. We all know the prices are inflated due to low supply. If it's worth it to you, you will spend the money for the product. If it isn't you won't. Why are we continuing to beat a dead horse?

Also if you had an extra say, Vader, and someone offered you $20 and another guy offered you $70 would you sell it for $20? I'm guessing most people would not.

There is nothing wrong about any of this. You're the boss, not the store owner who sets these prices. You vote with your wallet.

Don't buy packs at those prices, and if you object to the practice of going that much higher than MSRP, feel free to not purchase other products from a store who engages in such practices, and your FLGS will be the one who's forced to adapt. On the other hand, if those packs continue to be purchased for $7.95, then that's the unfortunate real market value of them (even if it's not the value of them to you, personally) and you'll just have to be patient until this drought ends.

I agree with the capitalism outlook you are bringing forward and yes msrp is just a suggestion, however you can't say that someone will do something just because it's more money.

Myself personally there would be many factors in what I would trade/sell a vader for. If I posted one for sale for $50 there is a reason I would need that much and it would reflect what I paid to acquire it. So yes if it was up for $50 and someone offered me 70 I would probably take it. Now if I posted it for sale with no price in mind and someone from my local store offered me 20 for it I would probably take it.

Now I see why people would sell for higher every time because with this game it's easy. If I can help make this game grow in my area I will.

Personally i think that's a disgusting practice. I'd never buy at that price.

Others might. Those people are fools.

Businesses are there to make money. Fools can be easily parted from money. If they've got enough fools to compensate from lost business from non-fools then good for them.

Same way I don't hold it against certain fashion companies for charging hundreds for jeans made in the same factory as the ones I get from Asda...

It has nothing to do with being foolish. It has to do with what the value of the product is to you.

I'm a completionist and am looking to be as competitive as possible. If making sure I have a full playset makes me more competitive, then I'm going to get a full playset. That also means I'm more likely to pay more for a card I want than someone who's more casual.

With this being a local store, you should be able to express you disapproval of this practice to the owner, and how it disinclines you from buying/playing there. Then just stop going there till they change their practice, and encourage your fellow players to do the same. If a portion of their local player base stops playing there they should be inclined to reform.

48 minutes ago, Spector1331 said:

It has nothing to do with being foolish. It has to do with what the value of the product is to you.

I'm a completionist and am looking to be as competitive as possible. If making sure I have a full playset makes me more competitive, then I'm going to get a full playset. That also means I'm more likely to pay more for a card I want than someone who's more casual.

You have the right to do what you want. If you are willing to pay 7.95 for a randomized pack of cards to try to complete a set you are crazy.

I don't pop packs. It's more cash efficient to buy booster boxes/saga sets and get the singles you need.

Regardless of of how much people want to call others foolish or crazy, that doesn't change the fact you're missing the boat. If people are willing to pay $8 for a booster pack and the store is selling it's stock, then they should be selling them at that price from a business standpoint. It isn't personal, its business and the stores have a right to make a profit.

If your job pays you $50,000 a year but you only need $35,000 to live and meet your basic needs, should you sell your talents for less just because you can? No you're going the extra money more than likely. That's life.

What's funny is the eBay singles market is coming down little by little each week. Previously Vader was the top card at $40+ and now he's hovering around the high $30s. Han is down to the low $30s, and everything else is barely scraping mid-upper $20s, with some random exceptions. Surprisingly cards like Electroshock are doing better than characters like Padme and Bala-Tik.

Price gouging like this only stands to lose dedicated customers customers.

On 1/31/2017 at 6:00 AM, Spector1331 said:

MSRP is a suggestion. People are free to sell product for what they can get for it. It's how our economy works.

Yes, true. But I personally don't think that's how FLGS work. Their economy is a little different in the fact that they don't exist without DEDICATED customers. And I know you said and others said that just don't buy it and vote with our wallet. But the fact they are jacking the prices up on people that could put them out of business literally overnight if everyone stopped going there, shows no respect for those people. Yes business is business.... but we're not talking about a department store or supermarket.

There used to be a comic book store in just about every town and street corner. Now when I see one it's as if it's a museum or something. Local gaming stores are not far behind that. Most stay open a year or two and then close as soon as another one opens up. Every flocks to it, and then a new one opens and that second one closes down. Or they just close due to rent being so high and selling packs of Magic cards barely keeps the lights on. There are a few exceptions across the country but as a whole, there are less and less FLGS (in the US anyways) every year.

So the economy dictates prices just doesn't fit the FLGS model because there's more emotion and loyalty involved in keeping a store open. Once a store builds up a customer base, that's pretty much their entire source of money. There's not many stray customers that stop by to buy something and never step foot again in the store.

Almost everything sold in a FLGS is designed to be some kind of competitive play that requires you to visit often and continue to buy 'stuff' for whatever your playing.

So to spit on the few people that keeps you in a job goes way beyond "it's just the economy".

It's not really an argument about the legality of it we all understand, at least I think, that this is a perfectly legal business decision. That doesn't make that particular FLGS any less scummy for doing it. I had the opportunity to purchase a dicemasters starter back when that game was all the rage for about twenty dollars more than MSRP from a FLGS out of town. What did I do? Left it on the shelf for someone else who thought it was worth the markup. This is what you should do as well if you disagree with the practice.

Basically any FLGS that does this permanently loses my patronage.

Not to go off-topic, but if gaming stores across the country are like the ones here, they're finding new ways to stay profitable and in business outside of just games. Some gaming stores are carrying more than games, like collectibles and mainstream products for non-gamers to buy. They're also starting to carry food goods, some are like cafes and others have full menus. Instead of packs of Magic cards, they're selling $5 coffees, making bank, and getting people to hang out and game.

What this means, is that those stores can get away with selling products like this that are hot at marked up prices, because it doesn't impact them as much with such a varied portfolio.

What is the average price of rares/legendaries right now? Is that price really out of line? If they sold what they had left at MSRP, then someone should buy them out and flip those on Ebay.

The bad practice is they are doing this in their store when they can either just hoard those boxes for later or just sell them online. Gouging in store makes them look bad.

Just now, Mep said:

What is the average price of rares/legendaries right now? Is that price really out of line? If they sold what they had left at MSRP, then someone should buy them out and flip those on Ebay.

The bad practice is they are doing this in their store when they can either just hoard those boxes for later or just sell them online. Gouging in store makes them look bad.

Right now Vader is still barely above $40, but can be had for upper-$30s. Force Choke and Han are alittle less than that around the lower $30s. Everything else is hovering around the $20-$30 mark with some exceptions like Commanding Presence down to $10ish.

Single Rares can be had for around $10 or less - Jango being a slight exception at times. Electroshock is the most pricey Uncommon at around $8.