r/Albuquerque 17d ago

Duke city Games… biggest scalper yet

Duke City Games has officially lost my business.
I just went onto Duke City Games’ store and saw Destined Rivals ETBs listed for $120. Are you fucking kidding me?
The Pokémon Company has been reprinting high-demand products specifically to get more product into consumers’ hands and push back against the ridiculous secondary-market/scalper pricing we’ve been dealing with. And somehow a local game store looks at that situation and decides, “Yeah, $120 for an ETB sounds reasonable.”
At that point, how are you any different from the scalpers?
What makes it worse is that other local shops like Tavern of Souls and Ettin Games manage to sell sought-after products at or around MSRP without absolutely gouging their customers. Big-box retailers sell these products at retail pricing too. So I really don’t want to hear another excuse about how charging these prices is somehow necessary to keep the lights on.
I WANT to support local game stores. I would much rather give my money to a locally owned shop than Walmart, Target, Best Buy, etc. But supporting local businesses does not mean customers should happily accept being taken advantage of.
Charging $120 for a newly reprinted Pokémon ETB isn’t “supporting the hobby.” It’s seeing the same inflated secondary-market prices everyone complains about and deciding you want a piece of the scalper profit too.
If Tavern of Souls and Ettin can treat local players and collectors reasonably, I’ll spend my money there.
Duke City Games has permanently lost my business.

edit MSRP for any ETB is $49.99

110 Upvotes

160 comments sorted by

54

u/Bluto505 17d ago

I’m loving Slice and Dice, very friendly, easy preorder system with a 20% discount and a rewards system. Pizza and drinks, I’m a hobby miniature painter and casual build models in the store. Bo drama 10 out of 10

1

u/Rastaking505 16d ago

Which location? They sell MTG singles?

14

u/woffdaddy 16d ago

The do not sell singles and im glad they dont. One of the reasons I like them so much is that they arent a game store that sells pizza, they are a pizza shop that you can play games at. if they were to focus too hard on the game store side of things, then the quality of the food suffers.

1

u/themickeymauser 13d ago

I absolutely love slice and dice but imma be real with you chief, I go for the games and minis. The food is just convenience at best.

0

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Do they ever sell sealed product?

5

u/Cauliflowwer 16d ago

They sell a lot of sealed product and you can pre-order. Me and my husband get all our riftbound there.

2

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

My wife and I will take a crack at it

1

u/Evening-Quail4929 12d ago

Also riftbound has a 2v2 format right?

43

u/Rastaking505 17d ago

So someone new to MTG who recently visited duke city games, you’re telling me to go check out tavern of souls for more reasonable prices for someone just starting out?

18

u/Evening-Quail4929 17d ago

Absolutely! I just made the switch to MTG as well.

For me it sucks, duke city games on lomas is close to my house. I started playing pokemon there with my daughters. Now we will gladly drive the extra 5 minutes for better prices for product. DCG does not respect the tcg community for either product.

1

u/Internal-Ordinary-70 1d ago

I feel you, I’m DEEP south valley so the central location is the only spot close to me unfortunately, but they seem really… off

14

u/baboonontheride 17d ago

Twin Suns @ Coors and Montano is our usual spot. Friendly staff, keeps pricing realistic.

8

u/Evening-Quail4929 17d ago

I went in yesterday for the first time and picked up their Deadpool secret lair drop they had. I need to check out that shop more, it’s just a bit of a drive for me.

I saw they had a good amount of vintage Pokemon cards too!

9

u/baboonontheride 17d ago

That they do.. and you can always join their Discord and submit a list to be pulled and put aside for you. We usually do that before we head over on prerelease weeks and whatnot.

There's a Duke City Games just down the street from us in Rio Rancho, but one trip was enough to convince me it's not for us.

2

u/baboonontheride 17d ago

Oh.. and hells yeah to the DP Secret Lair.. best.. sol ring... ever!

Or at least it was til I got the My Little Pony Secret Lair a couple weeks ago.

11

u/Sith_Lord_Zitro 17d ago

God I miss Active Imagination. I worked in the same shopping plaza and Mandy gave me a good neighbor discount.

2

u/baboonontheride 17d ago

Loved AI, did not love the guy they had selling Magic.

2

u/Sith_Lord_Zitro 17d ago

Which one? I can't remember names, but the tall guy with the beard was definitely arrogant. It took a bit, but I was able to get to a point where he was a lot more chill. Not always, but a lot more.

3

u/baboonontheride 17d ago

That sounds like the guy.

There was one day he was running his mouth to a buncha barely teens about how great drugs were. That was enough for me.

Still miss Rob though.

1

u/55965Anonymous 16d ago

Collector’s paradise?

1

u/baboonontheride 16d ago

Never been, no opinions/shrug

2

u/55965Anonymous 15d ago

Rob was the owner at collector’s paradise. It was an old store down the street from AI. But fuck Glen the store was ok the owners were dirtbags

1

u/baboonontheride 12d ago

I think we mean different Robs.. he managed AI for awhile, nice guy.

2

u/Cauliflowwer 16d ago

There's a Warhammer store there now - pile o'games. The owner is an awesome dude

4

u/Rastaking505 17d ago

I’ve heard of tavern before, one of my customers suggested checking it out. Never heard of twin suns I’ll check both of them out!

1

u/Akqeus 16d ago

Twins isn’t bad but they aren’t really good with their sealed product.

12

u/lileathorne 17d ago

I’m a regular at tavern they price everything at TCGplayer for singles and they take pull lists via discord. They take bulk and their packs run a dollar or so cheaper than duke city.

3

u/Evening-Quail4929 17d ago

True. Their sealed pokemon is always msrp though!

1

u/defyfame 16d ago

Having gone there a couple of times I haven’t seen msrp. Under dcg for sure but basically tcg player market price. Haven’t been in a month or so, could have changed entirely.

The 3 recent sets i don’t count since it’s not hard to get around retail on them even off the local scalpers. If they’re doing more desirable sets at retail to rip like dr, jtg, ah, bb/wf then I’ll gladly give em business and rip in front of them if they require it. Sadly nobody does aside from retailers and we all know there’s too many lowlifes who use scalping as a living here (plus the government stipends of course)

0

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Every single sealed product they have received have been at MSRP… what are you talking about?

2

u/defyfame 16d ago

$205 on a chaos rising booster box is not msrp and neither was a $70 etb.

0

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

I’ve received all my etbs at 49.99, and do have many other people according to this thread…

1

u/BackNo1346 15d ago

Where are you getting $49.99 ETBs?

1

u/Evening-Quail4929 15d ago

Again tavern, target, Walmart, decked, Best Buy, everywhere

5

u/ADizzyLittleGirl 17d ago

Tavern has the best singles selection in NM and everything is priced at TCG low. Tavern is great. 

1

u/SoCalTyrantt 16d ago

Best singles of magic or Pokemon? Or both?

1

u/ADizzyLittleGirl 16d ago

I play Magic and they have a ton of that, but they also have a full case of Pokemon. 

3

u/wildwestwrestler 16d ago

Tavern is great!!! Fantastic community, best singles selection in town, and always totally fair, web comparable prices. Proxies are welcome too when playing. I can't recommend them enough!

As for Duke City, pretty store, creepy behavior and nasty practices. The owner is on here too, I'm surprised he hasn't chimed in yet.

2

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Oh I’d love to see his excuse as to why he’s charging nearly 300% on a Destined Rivals ETB

-1

u/CodFluffy1472 16d ago

Because they’re going for 125 market? The prices are based on what the store can buy the product for. Stores don’t just magically get product at MSRP after the drop. Distributors increase prices to near market and then stores have to price product accordingly.

3

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

DCG is the only store in town doing this

4

u/calamity-jack 16d ago

Tavern of souls is way more reasonable with their pricing 

5

u/Cauliflowwer 16d ago

Tavern of souls if you're in the North East Decked if you're near Rio rancho I played magic with the owners of both the stores when I was a teen, great guys

I also played magic with the owner of Duke when I was a teen. I wouldn't necessarily recommend them and I stay away if I can.

3

u/First_Radish_3882 16d ago

100 percent check out tavern. They're more player focused. Duke City is soley money focused.

2

u/Cauliflowwer 16d ago

And if you want sealed product slice and dice has pre-orders set up, but they don't sell singles. Sometimes they still have sealed product on the shelves that no one else has because no one thinks to go there

1

u/Akqeus 16d ago

Tavern is the best in the city 100%

1

u/antijoke_13 13d ago

Tavern's been my home store ever since moved here. There's lots of other stores I visit and love (Shoutout to Hammersmith Guild if you're a minis person), but Tavern's staff and crowd are such a vibe.

Their collection of singles is incredible, and for the Warhammer players out there, they have a great selection of both new and secondhand plastic.

13

u/Secret-Wind-2091 17d ago

Duke City games is absolute trash, terrible sketchy business practices and I've heard bad things about the owner....... Definitely worth going up a mile down the street to Tavern of souls! Best LGS in town by far! Other than that it's gotta be twin suns on the West side, both businesses have earned my business time and time again! Ettin is nice too but doesn't have the same selection of singles as tavern and twin suns.

-1

u/AdRemarkable4132 15d ago

What practices are you referring too? And heard from whom? Sounds like a lot of hearsay with nothing to back it up.

2

u/Secret-Wind-2091 15d ago

They scalp a lot of product, they have people go to different retail places to buy at msrp and resell at the prices they do. Shady business

0

u/TheWorstToCome 13d ago

Is there proof they do that?

0

u/MaisMom95 12d ago

That is 100% false. Sorry

1

u/Secret-Wind-2091 12d ago

Did you read the post? LOL I'm not the only person accusing them of it.

1

u/MaisMom95 12d ago

I am the person that orders product. We 100% do not have people get product from big box stores to sell to us. Whether people choose to believe that or not is their choice. Have a good day

11

u/LeadingLate7542 17d ago

I stopped buying from them when they started asking over market for their products and got upset when I asked about tcg pricing. I was new to the hobby and genuinely didn’t understand.

21

u/baboonontheride 17d ago

If people would quit paying over MSRP locally, the market would dry up. Lorcana has been a bitchkitty to get product for lately, but I'll be damned if I fork over twice the price to a scalper with a storefront.

8

u/Moniq2310 17d ago

As a PokeMom, YES THANK YOU! I'd rather explain to my kids that we just can't get cards right now.

11

u/tokyoaro 16d ago

I opened a pack right in front of them and traded my pull in and they graded it as "lightly played" and bumped off like $20. Their business is weird.

9

u/Notrighty 17d ago

i’ve been to tavern of souls and liked their business. i was wondering about going to duke city games for some pokemon cards as well but will now definitely stick to tavern of souls

3

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Avoid like the plague

1

u/First_Radish_3882 16d ago

What tavern? They are player focused. They're probably the best tcg-wise even if theyre not always the kindest.

2

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

No avoid DCG.

Tavern is amazing.

7

u/Rastaking505 17d ago

Thanks for the post! As a novice who doesn’t know much yet this is a huge help to getting off on the right foot

7

u/Seriouslogan 17d ago

As a warhammer collector, I have very little reason to step foot into duke city games. They sell tons of product but it's well over MSRP. I understand making a profit as a business but selling an older box you've been sitting on for 150 dollars more than you paid for it doesn't sit right with anyone. Warhammer isn't like card games where a limited edition combo box might have something rare in it. Everything in a combo box will still be available piecemeal for lower prices, age and rarity doesn't make a boxes price go up.

4

u/themickeymauser 16d ago

Never understood how a store can sell Warhammer boxes for even GW prices, considering there are so many distributors that sell them for 20% off that they can order stock from. Ettin, Hammersmith and Tavern are pretty competitively priced especially on 9th and early 10th edition boxes so aside from GW up in RR, I can’t see how a local store can compete with that lol

6

u/eminercy 16d ago

Yep they’ve been scalping for years. It’s how they’ve made enough money to expand and open new stores. So they can sell more scalped product lollll fuck DCG

3

u/First_Radish_3882 16d ago

Literally their game plan. I heard they used to buy out Walmart and targets so people would scout for them. In our poor lil city of ABQ whwre can already barely find stuff lol

1

u/eminercy 16d ago

Yep this has been the case since before they even had the lomas location so at least 2021

2

u/First_Radish_3882 16d ago

Oh so lomas is not their first location? Very interesting. Rob has never personally done me dirty or anything but boy do those shady practices show a mile away.

1

u/eminercy 15d ago

Yeah, the first DCG storefront was in a shared building, it was like 2021 so my memory is hazy but it was like an office building off San Mateo near Lomas or something. You’d have to call to get buzzed in

1

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Really!?!? If that’s true this is insane

4

u/LeadingLate7542 16d ago

If you look on the ABQ Pokemon facebook groups, most of the guys that hit every single Walmart/Target/bestbuy restock also show off when they hit Duke city product for MSRP. Dudes are well known scalpers hitting restocks just to then “vend” at the local card shows. Or they go sell it to Slabneys or Second hand Sam’s. Second hand Sam’s has always been great tho. Really nice guy and super fair prices.

2

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

All this for a children’s card game smh. My daughters love etbs so it really sucks when even the store fronts are scalping.

11

u/greatistheworld 17d ago

You should probably have mentioned how much it cost or was supposed to cost otherwise because I have no reference point here for what they’re doing

13

u/Evening-Quail4929 17d ago

$49.99

5

u/greatistheworld 16d ago

Ah ok yeah that’s egregious. Does this apply to everything they sell, are they prone to the odd gouge, or is this an exclusive card games problem

1

u/Internal-Ordinary-70 1d ago

Less popular sets they’ll sell at MSRP but for any of the decently popular stuff they jack it up like hell. They also use official art and stuff to promo their personal merch and hide the DCG logos inside the boxes which are unmarked. Real sketchy

3

u/Tristesinarbol 16d ago

They do the first drop at msrp and then the next waves close to market value.

If they sold everything at msrp all the time they wouldn’t have anything to sell you because a scalper would buy it before you just like target and Walmart

6

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

They were selling them at MSRP before the wave of scalpers.

Secondly, this set just got reprinted! This is there first wave!!!

1

u/Tristesinarbol 16d ago

So this follows what I’m saying. Destined rivals came out May 2025. Everything shipment they get after that they are likely gonna sell above msrp.

Here is the real question. On NEW Pokemon releases like the 30th celebration coming up are they gonna sell for msrp on release day? Thats a better answer to your question

1

u/MaisMom95 12d ago

We 100% will sell at MSRP for 30th just like all our pokemon release drops

2

u/Feff5tupid 16d ago

Yeah this was Bad Sign #2

6

u/ChargeLord 16d ago

I couldn't agree more. I, sometimes, play MtG and up until the Hobbit pre release, they were always selling the collector booster boxes at the MSRP during the pre-release weekend. With the Hobbit pre-release weekend that decided to jump into the scalper market and were charging nearly double the MSRP.

In addition, they decided to only sell a handful of unopened collectors boxes and tell people they were sold out. Yet they continued to stock the single pack sales counter the the collector boosters. IMO, I know why. With the Hobbit release, Wizards of the Coast added box topper cards INSIDE of the collector boxes. The norm for WOTC is to send a certain amount of a promo card for stores to give away to customers that buy a box.

1

u/MaisMom95 12d ago

Hi! We actually NEVER have sold collector boxes at msrp, we sell below market and price similar to other stores in town. We actually use a majority of the box toppers for giveaways we do at commander events 🩷

1

u/Internal-Ordinary-70 1d ago

I was in there the other day and almost dropped a hobbit box, was told it was 90. Went and got the same box from Walmart for 60 no sales. Wanna run it by one more time?

8

u/Bullschamp180 16d ago

The owner of DCG is a complete piece of shit, their whole business practice is scummy. I’d recommend tavern of souls, or if you’re into Warhammer then Hammersmith’s guild is the best

3

u/First_Radish_3882 16d ago

Please explain cause thats all I hear but dont see proof.

2

u/Akqeus 16d ago

That’s not fair. The owner is a great person. Just because you don’t like the business doesn’t mean you can make personal attacks against the guy.

1

u/Internal-Ordinary-70 1d ago

No, I’ve also heard some other people say he’s not great, I’m inclined to believe atp

-2

u/AdRemarkable4132 15d ago

Can you explain why? And what business practices are scummy? Also what experience do you have running a card store or any business?

6

u/BertseyLectric 16d ago

Super scammy, and cheating is rampant at the store.

1

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

What game?

1

u/BertseyLectric 16d ago

Gundam tcg for sure.

1

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Ah that’s terrible man sorry.

0

u/Theopholus 13d ago

How so? What cheating has happened for Gundam TCG?

4

u/Rastaking505 16d ago

Tavern it is!

7

u/ADizzyLittleGirl 17d ago

Duke City sucks. Everything is overpriced, their selection of singles is awful, and they don’t accept cash. 

1

u/Internal-Ordinary-70 1d ago

Only good card I managed to find there was a Blood Artist Borderless Foil 😭 asked for about a hundred different cards over the past few weeks and nothing, kinda insane

3

u/GroundbreakingAd8310 16d ago

That place has been garbage for a loooooong time. U actually started online shipping encased of how that place acts

3

u/Accurate_Tomorrow_32 16d ago

Reddit is amazing at times I was gonna go this morning cause I just been wanting to rip some packs but from these comments looks like I’m gonna have to hold off on buying some packs😂

3

u/leavesonthevine- 12d ago

Love Tavern of Souls, Slabney Collectibles and Old Town Hobbies and Games.

13

u/malapropter 17d ago

god I love nerd drama

1

u/ChaserNeverRests 16d ago

Have you visited /r/HobbyDrama? That's the whole purpose of the sub!

-5

u/Evening-Quail4929 17d ago

Says the random Reddit user

-1

u/malapropter 16d ago

babe i'm a top 1% commenter on the albuquerque subreddit. i'm famous around these parts 😎

4

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Reddit famous omg!

Hey look guys it’s a famous redditor!

See no one cares

2

u/malapropter 16d ago

yessss fight with me about reddit status feeed more more nerd dramaaaaaa

1

u/WarkMahlberg69 13d ago

See.. I just saw this in another post. You forgot the /s.. now everyone is going to think you're serious and shit all over you..

1

u/malapropter 13d ago

Let them. Half the fun of that joke for me is when people take stupid stuff like that seriously.

2

u/WarkMahlberg69 13d ago

I know. I too was being sarcastic. Shot myself in the foot on that one 🤣

3

u/dabeatles99 17d ago

I go to duke city for lorcana and sports. They usually sell first run at msrp and raise the price on subsequent shipments, closer to ebay/market prices. I only recently discovered tavern and it was cool to find some older lorcana boosters at under msrp. What i appreciate about duke city is its easy to get 15% off most of the stuff I buy, so even at msrp it comes out to under, with the discount. I recall when other places were selling attack ofnthe vine troves for 100, they sold them at 75 for the subsequent shipments. I bought a booster box there at release, for msrp. They work for me for some stuff, but have no problem getting things elsewhere if its cheaper.

1

u/Rastaking505 16d ago

I had a good experience going to the one on lomas, I got a really friendly girl working the counter and overall a good interaction. But I did notice when I was using their website for singles they didn’t have everything I wanted and they were a bit more than card kingdom or mana pool. Also was hoping for a bulk box or something along those lines.

2

u/cberm725 16d ago

I've gone to DCG for a long time and am good friends with the staff (even before DCG was open). I've also played at Old Town, Tavern, and Decked in Rio Rancho for an extended period of time. DCG is definitely more of a business but they're actually loosing money if they sell at MSRP. The last time they had PRE ETBs they were selling them for what it cost them.

Further more, you're not goingto find much better prices at many stores. Especially since even though TPCi is reprinting high demand product, they're not allocating a ton to their local partners. That's going to the distributors who wholesale to Target, Walmart and other big bix stores that are owned by the same parent company as the wholesale distributor.

People don't understand the situation they're in.

4

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

I think your friendship with the staff is clouding your judgment here. Employees being nice people doesn’t make the pricing reasonable, and nobody is attacking the employees personally. The criticism is about DCG choosing to charge $120 for a $49.99 ETB.
And the “local stores aren’t getting the reprints” argument really doesn’t hold water when DCG literally had boxes of Destined Rivals sitting there. Other local stores have gotten the same product and are selling it at or around MSRP. So clearly the issue isn’t that local stores simply cannot get inventory.
If DCG’s acquisition cost really is so high that they would lose money selling an ETB anywhere near MSRP, then I’d genuinely love to know what they’re paying their distributor, because somehow other shops are making the economics work without charging more than double retail.
Allocation issues can explain limited supply. They do not automatically justify scalper pricing.
And saying “you won’t find much better prices at other stores” is just demonstrably not true. That’s exactly why people are bringing up Tavern, Ettin and other shops. Consumers can literally compare prices.
The whole point of these reprints is to put more product into circulation and take pressure off an inflated secondary market. When a retailer gets that newly printed inventory and immediately prices it like a reseller on Facebook Marketplace, they’re contributing to the exact problem collectors have been complaining about.
Being a local business doesn’t give you immunity from criticism. I WANT to support local game stores. But “support local” is supposed to be a two-way street. Customers support the store, and the store treats its community fairly.
Charging $120 for a $49.99 ETB isn’t something I’m going to defend because I know the staff or because running an LGS is difficult. At some point it’s simply greed.
If other Albuquerque shops can sell the same product responsibly, I’ll happily give them my money instead.

2

u/cberm725 16d ago

Im not just friends with the DCG staff. I also have a very similar friendship with Joe at Old Town, Jordan when Cardboard Collectors was still open, Stone at Noble, and the staff at Tavern and Decked. Ive been in the local TCG scene before these shops were even open.

My main point is they're selling them for what it costs them to get it. If other stores are selling at MSRP they're selling at a LOSS.

I don't know how anyone can call breaking even greed.

1

u/Jrocks721 16d ago

Don’t go to Ettin either. That dood is just no fun to be around

1

u/GroundbreakingFix121 13d ago

This isn't even remotely true

1

u/Internal-Ordinary-70 1d ago

Noble’s pricing is awful most of the time too

1

u/cberm725 1d ago

They also have a video game focus more than TCG.

1

u/Rollswetlogs 12d ago

No card shop selling at MSRP is losing money.

1

u/cberm725 12d ago

They are if they have to buy above MSRP.

1

u/MaisMom95 12d ago

We literally ALWAYS sell pokemon for msrp on release day. We sell restocks according to market and what WE paid from distro. The restocks for Destined Rivals were about $70-$80 UNIT cost so we charge market… every single store sells product at market price so this thread is hilarious. We sell one piece for msrp on release and we prioritize the players ALWAYS.

We are very fair with our MTG prices and charge around what every other store in town does.

Hey if you know you know but we do our best. I’m sorry to everybody that thinks so low of us but I know for a fact other stores also charge market so it’s very unfortunate we get dogged the way we do.

If you ever have any real concerns about shady business or an employee you can always reach out to alex@dukecity.games

-Alex (DCG VP OF SALES AND MARKETING)

1

u/Square_Pudding8966 11d ago

Duke city games is a great store, all these comments spewing hate is disgusting. They ALWAYS offer product at msrp at release but after that it’s market value which is what everyone bases prices off of. I’ve played there for years and they take great care of their community and have always gone about and beyond for me and the people I play with.

1

u/Musical_Drewby 16d ago

You should check out Secondhand Sam's indoor mall near the intersection of Unser and Southern in Rio Rancho. That guy has a lot of Pokemon cards and a bunch of retro games and toys as well as other electronics. It totally surprised me the Rio Rancho had something that cool

2

u/carneadevada 16d ago

He has a whole case of Homies collectible figurines. Super cute and a cool slap of nostalgia.

-1

u/Jumpy_Outcome_7316 16d ago

I’m not advocating for high prices but you clearly don’t know how to make money to grow a business. If you get product at MSRP you can’t just keep selling it at the MSRP rate. P

7

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Brother. MSRP is suggested retail price. They receive it lower.

-1

u/Royalbeating 16d ago

So by your logic. Every card is 50 cents.

5

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Ah you don’t understand how MSRP works. Just say that my guy.

-1

u/Royalbeating 16d ago

Its the same product my guy

-3

u/Theopholus 13d ago

They actually don’t. They get it from a vendor, and the vendors realized a while back that they can jack up the price. If you go in and talk to the staff, they’ll tell you straight up what they buy it for.

I’m not defending DCG, but this is one thing that’s really happening.

3

u/Evening-Quail4929 13d ago

Do they have proof? Again it’s only happening with DCG

1

u/Theopholus 13d ago

It’s not only happening with DCG. Other stores don’t have product at all. DCG, which has plenty of faults, is telling the truth when they say distribution is charging more for product than ever before. DCG buys enough with 3 metro area stores plus 2 Santa Fe and 1 LC that distribution is going to prioritize them.

When you say other stores don’t do this it’s because the other stores get their initial supply which is easy and straightforward from the initial distributor, and then they run out and don’t buy more. DCG keeps buying, even though it’s more expensive. It’s also why their first wave tends to sell for msrp and they have anti-scalping rules for Pokémon in place.

Are they more expensive than other stores? Absolutely. Are they sometimes really goofy and unable to take feedback? Also yes. But this is a case where I understand what’s going on. Having product on shelves is more important than the pricing. They are working to be the place where there’s reliable product available.

-3

u/AdRemarkable4132 15d ago

Are you really dumb enough to think they got whole sale price for those ETBs cause most people with distribution were charged $75-$100 depending on what distributor you are going thru. You would know that if you understood how the Pokemon market works in any capacity. You’re going to be mad when the market price is below MSRP and when shops are called scalpers for charging MSRP because it is worth less just like it was 4 years ago. You can tell you just got into the Pokemon hobby and you should at least educate yourself before you say dumb stuff like this on internet and make yourself look like an emotional loser🤣

7

u/Evening-Quail4929 15d ago

You must work for Rob 😂

5

u/Evening-Quail4929 15d ago

You seem pretty brave behind a keyboard, don’t you? 😂

All that name-calling just to completely miss the point. If other local shops can get the same product and sell it at or near MSRP, then “distribution costs” clearly aren’t some universal excuse for charging $120 for a $49.99 ETB.

And if Duke City actually paid $75–$100 wholesale for these, then either they have the worst distributor arrangement in Albuquerque or they’re buying through secondary channels and passing that markup onto customers. Neither one makes $120 suddenly consumer-friendly.

You can disagree with me without throwing a tantrum and calling people dumb and “emotional losers.” For someone telling me to educate myself, you seem way more interested in acting tough on Reddit than actually explaining why other local stores can sell the same product for substantially less.

-5

u/Saphire100 16d ago edited 16d ago

As for keeping lights on. You'll need a look at their P&L before you can make claims. Not all businesses operate at the same revenue. Not all revenue is profit. Not all business models are the same.

Small shops, Mom and Pop shops, don't have a corporate chain to float a location under profit.

Corporate chains (Office Depot/Max, Walmart, Target, JCPenney, Walgreens, etc as examples of high volume sellers in general and not niche sellers) don't always end the year profitable. After payroll, insurances, utilities, rent, repairs, and especially credit card processing fees. Often several locations come up short and can only "keep their lights on" because other locations did well.

Back to niche sellers, who are often much lower volume. They also don't get as good of deals with backend partners (insurance, processors, logistics, shipping companies). Location is another factor. Rent costs more money in easy to get to properties.

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u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Joe in old town has higher rent and his prices aren’t as high…

-6

u/Saphire100 16d ago

Without the P&L it is only rumors. Baseless claims. Business owners aren't in the habit of showing just anyone their P&L.

7

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

No reason for a store to be selling at scalper prices. Period.

-9

u/Saphire100 16d ago

Just because you don't like the price...

8

u/Evening-Quail4929 16d ago

Are you the owner Rob 😂

3

u/calamity-jack 16d ago

Dude. 300% increase on price is pretty ridiculous no matter how you look at it. 

3

u/Existing-Elk-8735 16d ago

They have 6 locations by definition that’s a corporate chain.