While looking around this forum, I haven't found a place where people can leave feedback on websites or eBay sellers they have dealt with in the past to warn the rest of us or let us know who is good. Sorry if I missed it, please move this to that forum. If not, then on with the reviews!
I used to deal strictly with local card shops. And I would now too if only I didn't live over an hours trip one way from my LGS. Too bad they don't deal in singles. So the closest place to buy single cards is an hour and a half away. Being frugal, I decided to save $20 gas and the markup for a brick and mortar store and pay a couple bucks out for shipping. And if you are like me and live in the butt crack of nowhere, then we need to find the best shops!
Ok, for the beckground of my orders. Both were made Sunday evening, giving both shops an entire week to dispatch and ship my order before the weekend. Both orders were for commons, uncommons, and junk rares to play around with my friends. Nothing too heavy. I bid on eBay for rares, mythics, planeswalkers, and tap lands like everyone else.
First, I will tell you about my experience so far with blackborder.com. I found 37 cards on blackborder.com that I needed. The shipping came to $1.69 for domestic ground. Not bad for that many cards. I checked out using paypal, and the payment went to adventuresON.com I don't know if adventuresON.com runs blackborder.com or not, but I will tell you this blackborder.com is a price guide as well, and will tell you where the cheapest cards are. Kind of like progressive insurance or whatever. After making my late sunday night purchase, I received an email this morning at two minutes before noon detailing my order and telling me to check the status of my order on their website. As of this writing, 3:30 pm the following Monday, my order is listed as still being prepared for shipping. But I have gotten an email telling me to fill out a survey about their service. I will save that one for when my package arrives
Now, for StrikeZoneOnline.com. I made the same Sunday order from these guys. This time for 20 card. And when I went to check out (using paypal again) I found the shipping charges to be a little higher. Unless you chose the option which they did not recommend, which is just a stamped letter like most everyone on eBay seems to use to good affect, they were MUCH MUCH higher than anywhere else I have looked. So for 20 cards in a stamped envelope, they charged me $2.49. So I chose that... It remains to be seen if I made a mistake or not there. Hell, they even wanted a dollar or two for you to come into their store and pick your order up in person! It is worth noting that even with the higher shipping charges, they were cheaper than the other two places I was looking over all (RancoredElf since I didn't spend $20 for free shipping and CapeFearGames.com both sites were higher on average for their cards, cape fear had cheaper shipping but not enough to cover the difference in card prices) Either way, I received an email saying my order was awaiting payment from paypal. Another saying my order had been paid for and was awaiting shipping. And another, to say they were filling my order. And the last one I got was at 12:35, finally telling me my order had shipped. Points to StrikeZoneOnline for faster shipping and constant updates!
I will update this thread as my order progresses. And please, f you are doing business somewhere online and find them to be just the best place ever, share your experience with us! But please, don't just tell say "I bought from this one site it was awesome" tell us some details!
Yes, adventuresON are linked with BlackBorder, IIRC. I've dealt with them before, and they're pretty good.
That was a while ago, though. It'll be interesting to see if things have changed.
AdventuresON is located in Sacramento, CA. I used to live up there and it's a great store. I've also ordered from them in the past and things have been good.
AdventuresON is located in Sacramento, CA. I used to live up there and it's a great store. I've also ordered from them in the past and things have been good.
Carmichael CA actually, but yeah they are alright. Sometimes it takes them way to long to process and ship orders, and the "we'll find it for you" option is always a terrible option. It says 7 days to find, has never taken less than 18 days for them to find something.
Yep, you are absolutely right Uldan. My adventuresON package was shipped today at 7:35 pm. A full 31 and a half hours later compared to Strike Zone Online.
Same day shipping or even next day shipping would have made my business experience a bit more pleasent. I live near the east coast, so adventuresON probably couldnt be too much further from me lol. I am a patient man, but both stores seem to be mega-stores that do hight volume orders, and one got my order out much quicker. I will be buying from StrikeZoneOnline again and comparing them to the next guys. Rancored Elf has unlimited standard stock and free shipping on orders over $20. Maybe next I will compare Rancored Elf and Strike Zone.
Strikezone is killing it! They received my order Monday morning, and here I am Wednesday afternoon sleeving the cards. The package arrived in a bubble envelope. My cards were wrapped in celophane and sandwiched between two hard plastic card protectors. All cards are in mint condition, as listed.
adventuresON may have been a little slower, but they did give me a tracking number and for less shipping than strike zone. If the USPS brings their package as quickly as the one from strike zone, I will be playing my new deck this weekend!
That is great to know about the cape fear games discount! That will come in handy thanks a lot, I am planning to order from there this weekend. They are the only shop I found selling discount supplies like binders and sleeves, which comes in real handy when you have no LGS to go rumaging through their discount bins.
Actually, scratch that. No discount or clearance around cape fear games. There are so many companies it is hard to keep them straight.
But as for my adventuresON order, it arrived today, Saturday. 3 days later than Strike Zone. All cards were mint condition as listed. The cards were seperated into two piles, wrapped in plastic, sandwiched in thin cardboard, and wrapped in my invoice. The only complaint I have is how long it took adventureON to ship my order. Otherwise, both companies delivered just as expected.
Forgive me if I am wrong, but I don't see where you disclose what part of the country the items are being mailed to. Strikezone is in TX (Dallas?)
AdventuresON is in the CA (Bay area?)
Geographic location is a vital piece missing and not disclosed in your assessment. As well it doesn't appear that you are factoring in time zone changes nor actual distance items need to travel. This can skewer results and not present them accurately.
I've ordered from blackborder countless times in the last 10 or so years and never had any problem with them regarding card condition or shipping. Sure, the "we'll find it for you" can take longer than what they say, but I guess that is ok since even if you ask for a LP to reduce delays, you usually get a NM anyway.
Only thing I have to admit is that their inventory for older stuff (read former extended format) seems to be drying up. Not on the thing that most people want, but on bulk common/uncommons that casual players like me love to play for a good wtf reaction
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Just an FYI because it looks like you're just getting started, but any review of Strikezone is really unneeded. They are one of the largest retailers in the industry, are extremely well-known and respected, in business for probably a decade or more. They have 200,000 positive feedback on ebay, and an entire thread in these forums dedicated to them that has 6000 posts. There's nothing you can really add to this seller, as they are completely well-established within the Magic community.
Just an FYI because it looks like you're just getting started, but any review of Strikezone is really unneeded. They are one of the largest retailers in the industry, are extremely well-known and respected, in business for probably a decade or more. They have 200,000 positive feedback on ebay, and an entire thread in these forums dedicated to them that has 6000 posts. There's nothing you can really add to this seller, as they are completely well-established within the Magic community.
While it is true that they are established, and for the post part their reputation certainly speaks for itself. It is still important for the magic community here or otherwise to be updated as to how things go when dealing with the available sellers out there. While its rare to have a seller suddenly run in to a lot of issues, when they have a history of little to none, the updates help to assure people that they are still doing well, or offer up a warning if issues start to arise, such that if they do, a pattern can emerge more quickly. Personally I've never had a single issue with strike zone and look forward to dealing with them more in the future should I have a reason to do so.
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I used to deal strictly with local card shops. And I would now too if only I didn't live over an hours trip one way from my LGS. Too bad they don't deal in singles. So the closest place to buy single cards is an hour and a half away. Being frugal, I decided to save $20 gas and the markup for a brick and mortar store and pay a couple bucks out for shipping. And if you are like me and live in the butt crack of nowhere, then we need to find the best shops!
Ok, for the beckground of my orders. Both were made Sunday evening, giving both shops an entire week to dispatch and ship my order before the weekend. Both orders were for commons, uncommons, and junk rares to play around with my friends. Nothing too heavy. I bid on eBay for rares, mythics, planeswalkers, and tap lands like everyone else.
First, I will tell you about my experience so far with blackborder.com. I found 37 cards on blackborder.com that I needed. The shipping came to $1.69 for domestic ground. Not bad for that many cards. I checked out using paypal, and the payment went to adventuresON.com I don't know if adventuresON.com runs blackborder.com or not, but I will tell you this blackborder.com is a price guide as well, and will tell you where the cheapest cards are. Kind of like progressive insurance or whatever. After making my late sunday night purchase, I received an email this morning at two minutes before noon detailing my order and telling me to check the status of my order on their website. As of this writing, 3:30 pm the following Monday, my order is listed as still being prepared for shipping. But I have gotten an email telling me to fill out a survey about their service. I will save that one for when my package arrives
Now, for StrikeZoneOnline.com. I made the same Sunday order from these guys. This time for 20 card. And when I went to check out (using paypal again) I found the shipping charges to be a little higher. Unless you chose the option which they did not recommend, which is just a stamped letter like most everyone on eBay seems to use to good affect, they were MUCH MUCH higher than anywhere else I have looked. So for 20 cards in a stamped envelope, they charged me $2.49. So I chose that... It remains to be seen if I made a mistake or not there. Hell, they even wanted a dollar or two for you to come into their store and pick your order up in person! It is worth noting that even with the higher shipping charges, they were cheaper than the other two places I was looking over all (RancoredElf since I didn't spend $20 for free shipping and CapeFearGames.com both sites were higher on average for their cards, cape fear had cheaper shipping but not enough to cover the difference in card prices) Either way, I received an email saying my order was awaiting payment from paypal. Another saying my order had been paid for and was awaiting shipping. And another, to say they were filling my order. And the last one I got was at 12:35, finally telling me my order had shipped. Points to StrikeZoneOnline for faster shipping and constant updates!
I will update this thread as my order progresses. And please, f you are doing business somewhere online and find them to be just the best place ever, share your experience with us! But please, don't just tell say "I bought from this one site it was awesome" tell us some details!
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That was a while ago, though. It'll be interesting to see if things have changed.
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Carmichael CA actually, but yeah they are alright. Sometimes it takes them way to long to process and ship orders, and the "we'll find it for you" option is always a terrible option. It says 7 days to find, has never taken less than 18 days for them to find something.
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Same day shipping or even next day shipping would have made my business experience a bit more pleasent. I live near the east coast, so adventuresON probably couldnt be too much further from me lol. I am a patient man, but both stores seem to be mega-stores that do hight volume orders, and one got my order out much quicker. I will be buying from StrikeZoneOnline again and comparing them to the next guys. Rancored Elf has unlimited standard stock and free shipping on orders over $20. Maybe next I will compare Rancored Elf and Strike Zone.
Although higher in prices most likely, channelfireball and starcitygames have great stock when it comes to finding certain cards.
WGURBLands!WGURB
WGUInfectWGU
Legacy Lands Primer
Top 8 SCG Oakland 2014
Helpdesk
My Cube on CubeTutor
adventuresON may have been a little slower, but they did give me a tracking number and for less shipping than strike zone. If the USPS brings their package as quickly as the one from strike zone, I will be playing my new deck this weekend!
That is great to know about the cape fear games discount! That will come in handy thanks a lot, I am planning to order from there this weekend. They are the only shop I found selling discount supplies like binders and sleeves, which comes in real handy when you have no LGS to go rumaging through their discount bins.
But as for my adventuresON order, it arrived today, Saturday. 3 days later than Strike Zone. All cards were mint condition as listed. The cards were seperated into two piles, wrapped in plastic, sandwiched in thin cardboard, and wrapped in my invoice. The only complaint I have is how long it took adventureON to ship my order. Otherwise, both companies delivered just as expected.
AdventuresON is in the CA (Bay area?)
Geographic location is a vital piece missing and not disclosed in your assessment. As well it doesn't appear that you are factoring in time zone changes nor actual distance items need to travel. This can skewer results and not present them accurately.
Only thing I have to admit is that their inventory for older stuff (read former extended format) seems to be drying up. Not on the thing that most people want, but on bulk common/uncommons that casual players like me love to play for a good wtf reaction
While it is true that they are established, and for the post part their reputation certainly speaks for itself. It is still important for the magic community here or otherwise to be updated as to how things go when dealing with the available sellers out there. While its rare to have a seller suddenly run in to a lot of issues, when they have a history of little to none, the updates help to assure people that they are still doing well, or offer up a warning if issues start to arise, such that if they do, a pattern can emerge more quickly. Personally I've never had a single issue with strike zone and look forward to dealing with them more in the future should I have a reason to do so.