Some US Mail Order Game Dealers
I originally wrote this ten years ago. Then, on-line sales were
just starting; Adam Spielt was the best deal out there. Now, with
the rise of the Euro and ease of setting up on-line stores, the
competition has driven Adam Spielt out of the on-line business.
They'll be missed.
Funagain
Funagain Games used to be
the best source of used and import games in the US. They haven't
changed much, but nowadays used games are readily available on
EBay, and many other sources sell imports at bigger discounts
than Funagain. They still have one of the most extensive catalogues
out there, but their prices are not competitive with some of the
other dealers. They are sometimes the only folks who carry an item,
and usually offer about a 20% discount over retail.
Boulder
Boulder Games has
the best prices on newly-published games; they even offer price matching
(on newly-published games only). Their discounts run around 40%.
They use UPS Ground, but they have a drop shipper now for
the West Coast. They offer a rebate coupon for the price of shipping
if it is over $125, half back for over $75. When things have gone
wrong, they have been quick to fix them. Their stock of older games
is not as large as most of the other dealers on this list.
Others
Once in a while, I use other stores, but since I'm normally looking
to buy games just as they come out, I tend to use Boulder. Others
I have used include:
Boards & Bits,
Time Well Spent,
Thought Hammer,
Fair Play Games,
GameFest,
Game Surplus,
RC Hobbies,
and Troll and Toad.
Comparison Shopping
BoardGamePrices.com pulls
price comparisons from several dealers, including most of the above.
I did an experiment, checking the prices of 8 games I picked,
somewhat at random. I averaged the discounts by title (not by
total, so the higher priced games do not dominate) to produce the table below.
| Dealer | Discount | Shipping Cost |
|---|
| Boulder | 41.0% | Rebate over $125 |
| Boards & Bits | 38.4% | Free over $125 (Limited time) |
| Thought Hammer | 37.6% | Free over $125 |
| TrollAndToad | 37.2% | Actual |
| Time Well Spent | 36.0% | Free over $150 (Limited time) |
| Fair Play | 35.1% | Free over $125 |
| Gamefest | 35.1% | Actual |
| Game Surplus | 34.9% | Actual |
| RC Hobbies | 30.0% | Actual |
| Funagain | 18.7% | Actual |
Most of the discounts are pretty comparable. Which store to
use mostly depends on which has what you want in stock. Being
close to one helps cut shipping time, but it's not generally
more than a week from any of them.
Shipping and discount policies change. These were a snapshot
taken one morning. Shipping listed here is to the continental US.
Oct. 13, 2007