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Once again, inquiring minds want to know.

Please go by where you spend the most money over a year.

i've spent too much money on "pro painted" items!

I make a point to buy at my FLGS, though they make it difficult at times. If their staying open wasn't important to me I would happily do all my business with Neal at The Warstore.

the bulk has come from secondary markets. I'll buy from the local places if they have what I want when I need it or if theres a sale, but its getting harder to find a LGS since I keep moving around and they keep closing or dropping GW stock. I'd have to say a lot of my biggest stuff has come from secondary sources, I refuse to ever buy from GW directly again (bad experiance with their mail order, lousy prices and nowhere near a GW store). Neil gets a little as well on occassion, but if I am going online for it anyway, its still usually cheaper to buy secound hand.

I love Ebay, but it's still #2 after Neal at the Warstore. He's quick, easy, and cheap.

Could I do better on ebay? Sure, I could do better. But, in my experience, in order to do significantly better, you've really got to work hard to find great deals. When you throw in shipping costs (which are still only $3.95 for any size order at the War Store but used to be free for orders over a certain price), the deals on ebay really do require a significant amount of patience.

i also go into random GW stores and steal cases with other people mini.

before anybody complains (or calls the police) that was a joke

I don't game a lot, so when I visit the store I buy from them.

I don't shop online because virtual shopping has even more virtual
credit, it seems. By holding the product in my hands I'm more
likely to decide to stay within my budget.

Over the past two years, almost everyting has been bought through various online dealers since the one local indy doesn't cater to my miniature tastes (no historicals and no account with a distributor that does carry them). They also don't carry any Rackham miniatures because "of the children".   (read: because they are a French company). For that alone I no longer patronize them.

So, I get my Flames of War stuff, as well as any Rackham, Reaper and the very occasional GW figure/box through Neil at the WarStore. For other historicals, Grandiosity.com (WarWeb) hooks me up with Old Glory 25's , Old Glory Command Decision 15's, and Quality Casting 15's, as well as Warhammer Ancient Battles rulesets and other historical gaming accessories. Hobby supplies are procured at the local HobbyTown USA (scary), or through the GreatModels Webstore or some other scale model 'etailer.

One thing about GW figures, is even if I gamed at the LFGS, I wouldn't buy from them (much less GW direct) without a discount of somesort. Even then the prices are so absurd I rather find alternatives through other mfgrs or go through the secondary market. The last GW blister I recall buying was in a discount bin for 50% off... I still had to think about it.  

I try to support FLGS, as the one's I frequent run a lot of tournys. I still try to limit it to stores that have a 20-30% discount though. (got the Tau Codex at 30% off today)

I buy most of my stuff off eBay but mainly from the small mail order businesses that are GW official resellers. This is in the UK. Things seem to be different in the US.

Occasionally I buy stuff in GW shops because it's quick and easy.

The FLGS. They run a great store and have open gaming on Saturdays. There's no discount, but I just look at it as paying a due for good gaming space and a place to hold 10-20 40K players at any one locale. If there were no gaming space at the shop, I'd probably do more online shopping.

Another vote for the warstore.

I do like eBay too but only for painted things.

I get a lot of my minis through bartertown (hence other). Lately when I buy mini's (every blue moon) it is at the FLGS of the town I used to live in (merlyns in spokane, wa). The FLGS where I currently live has no gaming area. NO gaming area = no reason to support your business over any other.

I too make a point of buying exclusively from my FLGS whenever possible. Bitz and FW aside, the only thing I've bought elsewhere in the past year was when B&N had their "Battle of Macragge" post-sale clearance. That was just too good to pass up.

I'd happily by more stuff online, but I want to support my FLGS. They ROCK!

You guys who shop online: is it hard to not overdo it?

You guys who shop online: is it hard to not overdo it?

No, because you run out of money anyway. You just spend it on more models.

Posted By malfred on 07/31/2006 8:49 AM
You guys who shop online: is it hard to not overdo it?

Not at all, and for the same reason BigC mentions, you run out of money anyway, just this way you (usually) have more miniatures to show. This said, if I gamed regularly, or even occasionally, at a local store, I would buy through them to as way of supporting them for providing me with a free place to game. Alas, these days almost all of my gaming is done in someone's home.

Wow. I find it funny that the majority is Ind. stores. Not sure why I find that funny, but I do.

Posted By brotherskeeper74 on 07/31/2006 11:50 AM
Wow. I find it funny that the majority is Ind. stores. Not sure why I find that funny, but I do.

small, offer little in the way of table space for games, charge full price always, have sales people that jump on your back the instant you walk through the door, and they will basically kick you out if you bring in a non-GW miniature (especially if its well painted).  So will all these great things going for them (or not) is it really a supprise?

and they will basically kick you out if you bring in a non-GW miniature

You other accusations notwithstanding, I've seen a kid bring in a Panzer painted like a typical IG tank that he was proxying for a Leman Russ into a local GW and no one said anything. Just a little anecdote.

Posted By bigchris1313 on 07/31/2006 3:54 PM

and they will basically kick you out if you bring in a non-GW miniature

You other accusations notwithstanding, I've seen a kid bring in a Panzer painted like a typical IG tank that he was proxying for a Leman Russ into a local GW and no one said anything. Just a little anecdote.

Perhaps not banned, but the last time I played in a GW shop, the store manager explicitly tole me that I could not use, nor display, my non-gw figures there, which were a handfull of Reaper figs I was using for heroes, command and character figs (and hardly noticable) in my Vamp Counts army, which is otherwise composed of GW figs. I also know many people that have been asked to leave and not come back again for simply discussing competing manufacturers products when clueless customers walk in asking "do you cary historicals" and similar.

independant stores.we dont get GW stores here.and no greenstuff.
Plus ours sells warmachine stuff too so its a good deal.close and good choice of product.

i have 2 independant gamestores within 30 min of my houuse so it is kinda obvious

I like to support my main local store but the one thats 45 minutes away has gw stuff 25% off all the time! Sometimes more if the guy ringing up is a little stupid.

I've spent most of my money between a couple of large ebay bids on NIB items, and second place was through online bulk orders. I would pick up more items locally if the stroes carried more of what I want, but to wait for special order through them would take longer and be at retail vs ordering online through the Warstore. I've ended up spending more than I would have if things were at full price so my total value to GW is higher.

Do note that I live in Kansas, US and am not aware of any GW stores within a day's drive, so all I have to choose from is mostly skimpy selections at FLGS. I also have so far bought most of my stuff in bulk to have it on hand to play with while painting which I think has actually slowed down that pace since I would have to complete before buying anything new if I bought at retail price. I'm currently running an average of 60% of retail for what I have. I also get quite a bit of stuff from a friend that does online trading through Bartertown, often people will offer things I want as bonuses to his trades that he wants a little more for and he gives those to me for free. Can't beat free!

I do try to support LFGS, and if I'm in a B&N store to game, for example, I try to pick up at least a blister or a magazine or something. Also, I like the browsing quality, especially in stores that cater to my more eccentric interests.

Having said that, I'm trying something new lately: trading things away for what I want, and/or selling things off and using the paypal money exclusively to buy what I want. That means more barters/auctions/resells and online shopping (i.e. from the warstore).

I havent bought a george W mini in the last 12 months, nor a Workshop mini. But when eldar comes out I'll pick up some stuff, eldar are cool. But i'll be checking out Ebay first0r.