I wonder how Local Game Stores will be able to adapt to the USPS (United States Postal Service) potentially going out of business next month due to concerns of voter fraud / suppression with mail in voting in the upcoming U.S. Election? Since people won't be able to go to their local polling places to cast their votes / ballots due to the pandemic they're forced to do it by mail instead. The way I see this being bad for Local Game Stores is that they'll no longer be able to sell card singles online to have it delivered by mail to their customers without the orders either getting delayed or refunded. It sucks for players who don't like having to buy sealed products in order to complete their decks due to the lottery aspect and the time constraints that come with it. Remember having to wait to pull or trade for that one specific card or playset you needed for your deck before the Internet made it more convenient for you?
LGSs don't want to risk ordering old sealed products that players are wanting specific singles for in their decks because it just sits on their shelves collecting dust while the newer sealed products fly off the shelves more. It also creates a scenario where players are less inclined to buy specific card singles that these stores already have available to complete their decks due to the fact that it takes forever for someone to Buylist singles that these players are needing for their decks. So what do they do? Proxy them instead of course. Most people who sell Paper Magic singles online ship through USPS instead of FedEx which is slightly more expensive but isn't as tied to the USPS like with Amazon Prime. Even though the USPS is protected by the U.S. Constitution it can still be inactive for e-commerce sales as well as not being able to pay your monthly bills on time. Then you would have to pay your bills via e-mail address or Social Media account to your state province or government which I suppose is possible.
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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
It may contract, offer service less than 6 days a week or they may raise prices and shutter offices but it will not disappear. Someday in the future maybe. We aren't an online society yet. And if it did the other carrier services (UPS/FedEx/others) would gladly fill the void for that mailing business picking up market share.
/thread
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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."
Is this supposed to be fear-mongering? Even if they did go out of business (which is speculation to the extreme), is the USPS without competition? I mean, UPS and FedEx are out there. I hear they know how to get product from point A to point B.
If anything, the LGS might benefit from less people ordering cards online and actually going to, I don't know, maybe a local game store instead? I know some people don't have an actual local store, and the slightly higher price of shipping may make them order more in bulk instead of multiple smaller purchases, but for those with a local game store, buying their cards locally may become more attractive.
Is this supposed to be fear-mongering? Even if they did go out of business (which is speculation to the extreme), is the USPS without competition? I mean, UPS and FedEx are out there. I hear they know how to get product from point A to point B.
Sadly the USPS is partially without competition. Certainly, UPS and FedEx exist but are you aware that a lot of the time neither gets the package from point A to B. Instead they get the package from A to C (which is a location near B but not actually B) and the USPS gets it from C to B. Simply put none of the USPS competition has the infrastructure to replace them because they are in fact relying on the infrastructure themselves.
If anything, the LGS might benefit from less people ordering cards online and actually going to, I don't know, maybe a local game store instead? I know some people don't have an actual local store, and the slightly higher price of shipping may make them order more in bulk instead of multiple smaller purchases, but for those with a local game store, buying their cards locally may become more attractive.
That depends on how much inventory these Local Game Stores receive from collection sellers who as many know mostly sell online nowadays as opposed to selling directly to Local Game Stores where they're probably getting paid less due to low profit margins. These sellers know they can make more money off of their collections online than from a Local Game Store where they're unable to pay them for it without running the risk of losing revenue needed to stay in business. Their business model isn't big enough for them to give away money as prize support for Organized Play events like how ChannelFireball and Star City Games used to run their Organized Play events for Paper Magic. They could get away with it because they were big enough financially to make cash prizes work as opposed to Local Game Stores where they're stuck having to rely on prize support that isn't just cash like promos and playmats.
So right there you already have another example of class warfare in Paper Magic not just with the price of specialty products like Double Masters but also within the games' tournament structure as well. That could also be why competitive Magic nowadays relies more on the MPL than Paper Magic itself because the amount of cash that Wizards of the Coast can hand out to players competing in these competitive events far exceeds what a Local Game Store can give out because they're more financially built to reward players with cash prizes or even reward them with scholarships as well. What you have is a situation where collection sellers have to be willing to take a loss to support Local Game Stores needing to sell singles to players who want to complete their decks instead of buying nothing but sealed product where they're spending more than what they actually could've saved.
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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
I don't know how many stores in the US rely on online sales or run websites but up in Canada I don't really think many stores outside of larger markets really run much of an online store to sell from. I could just be completely wrong how often stores sell online due to the fact I rely primarily on supporting local stores, then go to Face to Face first for online orders.
Losing a primary source of your income is naturally going to be hard on your business but other channels of shipping would probably pick up where USPS cannot
Is this supposed to be fear-mongering? Even if they did go out of business (which is speculation to the extreme), is the USPS without competition? I mean, UPS and FedEx are out there. I hear they know how to get product from point A to point B.
Sadly the USPS is partially without competition. Certainly, UPS and FedEx exist but are you aware that a lot of the time neither gets the package from point A to B. Instead they get the package from A to C (which is a location near B but not actually B) and the USPS gets it from C to B. Simply put none of the USPS competition has the infrastructure to replace them because they are in fact relying on the infrastructure themselves.
Also there is the fact that UPS and Fedex (especially Fedex) greatly over charge for their services and aren't really competitive for smaller mail. At their rates, selling singles is barely worth it for cards at $10 or under
Also there is the fact that UPS and Fedex (especially Fedex) greatly over charge for their services and aren't really competitive for smaller mail. At their rates, selling singles is barely worth it for cards at $10 or under
Yep. And UPS and Fedex don't service more rural or sparse areas very well (i.e. "last mile delivery"). That's why UPS and Fedex (and Amazon) often have shipping services that transfer mail and packages to the USPS to have the USPS make the final delivery. If the USPS ceases to exist, some people won't be getting any mail or packages without paying a lot more money or be forced to go to the nearest UPS/FedEx hub to pick up stuff. In Magic: The Gathering terms, that would ruin most small businesses or sole proprietorships selling singles, since delivery costs will increase dramatically.
Also there is the fact that UPS and Fedex (especially Fedex) greatly over charge for their services and aren't really competitive for smaller mail. At their rates, selling singles is barely worth it for cards at $10 or under
Yep. And UPS and Fedex don't service more rural or sparse areas very well (i.e. "last mile delivery"). That's why UPS and Fedex (and Amazon) often have shipping services that transfer mail and packages to the USPS to have the USPS make the final delivery. If the USPS ceases to exist, some people won't be getting any mail or packages without paying a lot more money or be forced to go to the nearest UPS/FedEx hub to pick up stuff. In Magic: The Gathering terms, that would ruin most small businesses or sole proprietorships selling singles, since delivery costs will increase dramatically.
Even e-commerce itself would cease to exist from an EMP attack which would be a much worse case scenario in which these businesses wouldn't even have power or electricity to stay in business much like everyone else in brick-and-mortar retail by setting mankind back over a century or more. If you thought a global economic depression from COVID-19 was bad, combined with the economic impact of an EMP attack would cut a whole lot deeper than any recession in living memory. Question is are we more prepared to prevent this from happening than we were with the current global pandemic we're dealing with?
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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
I'm just saying that the chances of it happening nowadays is pretty high given how unstable the world is right now with increasing threats of war and endless political conflict.
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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
I'm just saying that the chances of it happening nowadays is pretty high given how unstable the world is right now with increasing threats of war and endless political conflict.
Is it, though? How high is the risk, really? Is it high enough to warrant it being a priority of discussion of how it could impact MtG e-commerce when a pandemic and attacks on the postal service are impacting MtG e-commerce right now?
It seems a smidge paranoid to me. EMP attacks are a real threat, though I'm not sure they're a realistic one. At least not insofar as this discussion is concerned. It's worrying to me that you seem to believe otherwise.
Hi! I for one rely on the USPS not being a wholly privately-owned entity, because I'm very rural. Private companies would not and will not deliver to or from my location, and as such, I need the USPS to stay around in order to engage in e-commerce with Magic. Should I get back into paper Magic (which is a real thing that may happen soon), or just plain sell the *****load of Animation Modules I have, I rather need this service. In my case, delays would go from expected to slightly more than expected. In the event of its death, I'd be ****ed.
I have not had any issues so far. I order a lot and only my sliver legion had issues. Try to make sure (especially if you're trying to grade something such as an expensive card) To get insurance. I recommend tcg player.
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LGSs don't want to risk ordering old sealed products that players are wanting specific singles for in their decks because it just sits on their shelves collecting dust while the newer sealed products fly off the shelves more. It also creates a scenario where players are less inclined to buy specific card singles that these stores already have available to complete their decks due to the fact that it takes forever for someone to Buylist singles that these players are needing for their decks. So what do they do? Proxy them instead of course. Most people who sell Paper Magic singles online ship through USPS instead of FedEx which is slightly more expensive but isn't as tied to the USPS like with Amazon Prime. Even though the USPS is protected by the U.S. Constitution it can still be inactive for e-commerce sales as well as not being able to pay your monthly bills on time. Then you would have to pay your bills via e-mail address or Social Media account to your state province or government which I suppose is possible.
"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
But if the attacks resume, I'd expect an increased reliance on for-profit mailing services with whatever increase in cost that may represent.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
It may contract, offer service less than 6 days a week or they may raise prices and shutter offices but it will not disappear. Someday in the future maybe. We aren't an online society yet. And if it did the other carrier services (UPS/FedEx/others) would gladly fill the void for that mailing business picking up market share.
/thread
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."
If anything, the LGS might benefit from less people ordering cards online and actually going to, I don't know, maybe a local game store instead? I know some people don't have an actual local store, and the slightly higher price of shipping may make them order more in bulk instead of multiple smaller purchases, but for those with a local game store, buying their cards locally may become more attractive.
2023 Average Peasant Cube|and Discussion
Because I have more decks than fit in a signature
Useful Resources:
MTGSalvation tags
EDHREC
ManabaseCrafter
So right there you already have another example of class warfare in Paper Magic not just with the price of specialty products like Double Masters but also within the games' tournament structure as well. That could also be why competitive Magic nowadays relies more on the MPL than Paper Magic itself because the amount of cash that Wizards of the Coast can hand out to players competing in these competitive events far exceeds what a Local Game Store can give out because they're more financially built to reward players with cash prizes or even reward them with scholarships as well. What you have is a situation where collection sellers have to be willing to take a loss to support Local Game Stores needing to sell singles to players who want to complete their decks instead of buying nothing but sealed product where they're spending more than what they actually could've saved.
"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
Losing a primary source of your income is naturally going to be hard on your business but other channels of shipping would probably pick up where USPS cannot
Also there is the fact that UPS and Fedex (especially Fedex) greatly over charge for their services and aren't really competitive for smaller mail. At their rates, selling singles is barely worth it for cards at $10 or under
Yep. And UPS and Fedex don't service more rural or sparse areas very well (i.e. "last mile delivery"). That's why UPS and Fedex (and Amazon) often have shipping services that transfer mail and packages to the USPS to have the USPS make the final delivery. If the USPS ceases to exist, some people won't be getting any mail or packages without paying a lot more money or be forced to go to the nearest UPS/FedEx hub to pick up stuff. In Magic: The Gathering terms, that would ruin most small businesses or sole proprietorships selling singles, since delivery costs will increase dramatically.
"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
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains
"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
Is it, though? How high is the risk, really? Is it high enough to warrant it being a priority of discussion of how it could impact MtG e-commerce when a pandemic and attacks on the postal service are impacting MtG e-commerce right now?
It seems a smidge paranoid to me. EMP attacks are a real threat, though I'm not sure they're a realistic one. At least not insofar as this discussion is concerned. It's worrying to me that you seem to believe otherwise.
Archatmos
Excellion
Fracture: Israfiel (WBR), Wujal (URG), Valedon (GUB), Amduat (BGW), Paladris (RWU)
Collision (Set Two of the Fracture Block)
Quest for the Forsaken (Set Two of the Excellion Block)
Katingal: Plane of Chains