Recomend me a good online place to buy RPG stuff from.

[JoeGKushner]

I'd say avoid Buy.com unless you're sure you're getting the right product.

I tried ordering Mongoose's book of the Sea from them and they sent me Encounters and Lairs. Now I have to send it back, wait for a refund, etc... (and they shorted me a book of Eats, Shoots and Leaves in the same damn order they they claim was in the same package which is physically impossible!)

 

[KenM]

OK, I tryed to order from Discount RPG. But it says my card is invalid. Its a Visa Debit card. Not sure what I'm doing wrong. It would be nice if they had a phone number you could call to fix things, but that would make too much sense I guess. I had to hit the confirm order button twice. It said there was a problem with the card both times. I want to make sure I was not charged twice. There should not be a problem with the card.
So when the new Harry Potter book comes out in July, it will be weeks before Amazon gets it and ships it out to everyone that orders it?

 

[DaveMage]

WEEKS??????????????????? WTF?? How do they expect to have to product out when its relased?

Weeks for the mainline publishers, longer for others.

I ordered Arneson's Blackmoor setting when it came out in September - and Amazon still hasn't shipped it.

I received the World's Largest Dungeon from AEG about 10 weeks after its release - even though I had pre-ordered it.

Unless it says "Usually ships within 24 hours," expect a 1-6 month delay if you order items from small publishers through amazon. WotC products usually ship within 3 weeks after they are released.

 

[KenM]

Does anyone have a phone number for DiscountRPG? They have not responded to my email yet, I want to make sure my card has not been charged.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Does anyone have a phone number for DiscountRPG? They have not responded to my email yet, I want to make sure my card has not been charged.

I apologize if this is a stupid question, but wouldn't you have the number to the card and call them to see if you've been charged?

 

[Ricochet]

SentryBox out of Canada has been very helpful to me, although I haven't ordered yet.
http://www.sentrybox.com/

Otherwise I mostly use Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (although I am regretting having ordered Castles & Crusades now that you guys say it will take ½ a year to get it!)

 

[KenM]

I finally got the order right at discount RPG. Will they Email me once my order ships?

 

[KenM]

OK, its been a day and half since I placed my order. Still no comfermation from Discount RPG, can I expect one?

 

[soulcat]

I order off amazon every month. Mostly Wizards stuff, but also DVD's and the occassional CD. I have always been able to order stuff on or around the day of release, I have never had to wait weeks beyond the day of release for anything. This may be because I'm in the UK and use .co.uk not .com. I wouldn't wait weeks, I'd go elsewhere, who cares about discounts, book in the hand is worth more than £2-3 discount.

 

[TDRandall]

Price Owl
http://www.priceowl.com
- This place will let you search for any kind of book (not just game
books!!) and then find the best prices from a bunch of different
sources.(Amazon, Barnes and Noble, BooksAMillion, Bigger Books,
ECampus, Buy.com, Half.com, Walmart, Overstock.com, Half Price
Computer Books, Alibris, and BookCloseOuts). You can usually find
great deals on new or used (whichever your preference) game books at
as much as half off the new books! GREAT website. Only has a limited selection of the more well known game companies, though.

Thanks for the heads up about that site. I've tried BestBookBuys which gives similar results. I still end up buying most of my stuff from alldirect.com, which evidently isn't one of the distributors that these sites use in their comparison. Probably because price-wise I can almost never find another that beats them.

Let's see the bad news about alldirect
- the search tool can be hokey. There have been times that I can't find something with a title search but can with an ISBN search.
- the final page where you see all details and choose to put it in your cart doesn't have pictures. I once ordered Chaosium's last version of Cthulhu (v6?) rather than the D20 by WOTC by mistake - but it was MY fault.
- not instantaneous availability. whether it is their web updates or a stocking of their shelf update, there can be some delay between when it is available on the street and when you can actually order it.
- they don't have everything. But I have been pleasantly surprised several times to find things that I was sure they wouldn't carry.
- it's media only. Books, CDs, and I believe movies. No miniatures, if you're looking for that.
- no pre-orders available. I'd LOVE for this function to be added.

The good news
- Everything (well, that I have ever cared about) was 30% or more off, no matter how much you buy. Usually it is 38% or 40%.
- Free shipping avaialble at $99. Higher than Amazon, but my family's paper-consuming hunger easily passes that each time. (I'm just the worst of the bunch.)
- Good email/shipping support. You get a confirmation email of your order. You get a confirmation email when it ships. That email has a tracking number (if applicable) - which I check and usually find the box will be deliverd the next day. (YMMV, we are a UPS hub.)
- No problems with customer service. Actually, I think the only time I ever contacted customer service was to combine separate orders my wife and I had made into one.

I still play the multi-window game just to make sure I'm getting everything the absolute cheapest I can. Every once in a while overstock.com will have something slightly less, and then there's no denying the sometimes ridiculous Amazon prizes (for me it was Dragonomicon), but the bulk still ends up coming from Alldirect.

Hope you have as much good luck with them as I have!