Contest: What are you looking for from a Magic Store? Tell us and we'll reward you
We want to know so much that we will give you 10% off just for your thoughts!
Please share with us what the most important thing is for you when buying magic. And don't just say price ;)
Everyone wants the best deal and pay the least for the coolest illusion but realistically if the market prices are too low, magician's won't invent anything any longer and share (sell) nothing and we are all worse off. So as long as it is a fair deal, what is the most important thing to you when buying magic.
Everyone who shares his thoughts here will get a 10% discount coupon to Wizard Headquarters.
To qualify, please share 2 things about your idea:
1. What is most important to you (meaning makes you come back)?
2. How can a magic store achieve this?
Excluded Suggestions: 'lowest price' and any suggestion already made.
Visit WizardHQ.com.and try our Instant Magic Video Streams (starting at $5)
Views: 17
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Jones on -
1.) Wide selection *in stock*. I like being able to find everything I need in one order. That means (with apologies to the site I'm one) carrying more than just Murphy's. Pretty much everyone carries Murphy's. I want to see items from smaller artists as well. Examples are Theory 11, Paper Crane, and even some illusion makers.
Sometimes a shop has a huge selection, which I like, but often things are on backorder for months on end. That's the second part of this. If it's on your website, tell me if it's in stock or not and give me your best guess as to when it will be in. Most higher end ecommerce solutions will let you do this.
2.) Fast shipping. I know that magic takes years to perfect, but dang it my human nature wants gratification once I hand over my credit card digits. That's one of the cool things about digital downloads. Pretty much for everything else, fast shipping is just a matter of doing it. I also like being sent a tracking number once the item ships if one is available.
3.) Good customer service. Please have a phone number I can call and answer your e-mails within 24 hours. I just dropped $500 with a dealer about a week ago. Part of my order supposedly shipped, but he has yet to respond to my e-mail about it and he doesn't have a phone number on his website I can call.
4.) Please don't SPAM my e-mail unless you actually have something to say. Once or twice a month to let me know what's new is cool. Twice a week is not cool.
5.) This is the biggest one. Be honest. If you're selling me your demo unit, please tell me that so I can act accordingly. My first experience with a magic shop 13 years ago sold me a demo "floating match" where all but two of the strings were broke. I broke the other two trying to get the card out of the package. I paid full price. I've only ever been truly "screwed" by one other (very well known) shop since then (and it was on a BIG purchase). Last inventory showed I've purchased around $123,000 of magic.
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Permalink Reply by Wizard Headquarters on -
Thank you for your detailed submission. We really appreciate it! Please accept my friend request so I can send you your 10% discount coupon for www.wizardhq.com.
I wanted to let you know that we seem meet most of your criteria already:
On 1. Our product pages show what is in stock and what is on out of stock/pre-orderOur website has aside from Murphy's about 150 non-Murphy items at this point incl. Theory 11, Steve Fearson and Fun Inc. We are always looking for additional items to add but did have some not so good experiences with smaller producers so we are careful. It is however hard to get solid dates on availability once items are out of stock but we always get a date when people place a pre-order or inquire. If you are interested in any particular producers, let us know and we will take a look at them to see if that make sense for us.
On 2. We have instant streaming products and instant downloads, we ship within 1 business day and ground shipping is always free
On 3. 1-800-540-0238 :) If we ever don't pick up, we will call or email back within 24 hours latest usually the same day. We always let you know what shipped and what hasn't and do provide USPS confirmation number the day of shipping
On 4. I guess we are in the middle here. We have so many relases each week that our newsletter goes out once a week. In 5 years we only had 2 occasions we we actully sent a 2nd one in one week for a special announcement. So we have restraint :)
On 5. Give us a try with your discount. We don't sell any used items and any defect you might ever see would be a faulty unit from a manufacturer (lately Yigal Mesika kept us busy with his corroded Tarantula batteries). We do however resolve every issue with replacements or refunds as we have 30 day return guarantee on anything below $200 (above $200 is exchange only for defects).
Magical Regards
Ralf
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Permalink Reply by Matthew Jones on
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Glad to hear that! I'd never heard of you until coming to this site. Next time I'm in the market to add to my collection I'll have to make use of that discount! (Friend Request Accepted BTW)
It should be obvious, but I just want to reiterate that the points I made were a general answer to your questions. I wasn't relating anything to you specifically. I think we're on the same page but I wanted to clarify for anyone else reading this thread.
I dig the website. Easy to navigate and clean.
I get what you're saying about the "reliability" of smaller suppliers. Your reputation is attached to what you sell. If they can't deliver in one way or another, it reflects on you.
Free ground shipping? That's nice. That's one thing I forgot to mention before. I like knowing how much shipping is going to be up front. I don't like surprises on the back end. (I once paid $50 to get an Axtell Turkey shipped to me. Surprise!). Free ground shipping is definitely cool.
I don't mind getting e-mails about new products. I guess I should have re-worded that a little. It's not so much the frequency of e-mail that bugs me so much as it is whether or not it's relevant. This is a pet peeve of mine as a whole that goes way beyond magic shops. I purchased a $4 pair of goofy sun glasses for my act at a party store, somehow ended up on their list, and got 2-3 emails A DAY from them. I've unsubscribed three times and they still won't go away!
Sorry if I went on too long. I tend to be verbose ;-). I'll definitely keep you in mind! I actually purchased a "Psypher" today. Since you didn't have it I purchased from Paper Crane direct. I'll keep checking back though for other stuff. I've got my eye on the "Nail Writer Anthology" but don't have much reading time right now!
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Permalink Reply by Mike Kmiec on -
Aside from what Matthew has said about honesty and customer service (I've had some incredibly poor honesty and customer service from some big online operations), the one thing that is most important to me is building the relationship with the shop.
This is much easier in the brick-and-mortar world - you go in, look at certain items, and the more you return, you get to know who's working, and they get to know you. From this comes recommendation, information sharing, knowledge building. Out of that, for me, comes loyalty. I'll gladly pay more for an item if I know who I'm buying from because they know me.
How to achieve this in the online world? Well, something like MMC helps in this respect. There are heaps of dealers here, but it's rare that I feel like just a dollar sign to them. This relationship building is core to magic, probably because there are a select few who engage in it. This means we have to look after each other.
I know retail is primarily a commodity business, and it can be difficult to build relationships in the best of circumstances. Probably even more so online. I'm reminded, though, of a Māori proverb:
He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tangata! He tangata! He tangata!
What is the most important thing in the world? It is people! It is people! It is people!
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Permalink Reply by Peter Campbell-Wells on -
1). Good product knowledge. And a willingness to discuss the pros and cons of effects with serious customers. Buying props and effects online is all too often a gamble. I want to know reset requirements, angle issues, and how well it stands up to repeat viewings in a mix and mingle environment (does it rely on a single force card/number/whatever that can't be changed?).
2). Accurate indicaions of stock availability. Too often I've ordered products from well-established online stores, only to find that they don't have stock and their suppliers are out too. This is especially an annoyance when ordering consumables and supplies.
3). Realistic shipping prices and quick despatch.
4). Video demos that show the whole routine - not just audience reactions, and that don't conveniently edit out the dirty work.
5). Uncensored customer ratings and reviews.
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Permalink Reply by zack davis on -
The whole expierience basicly just making the buyer feel like he can trust the employees and to feel safe in a way.
how a dealer can do this: by just being themselves and stop trying to act like the stereotype of a magician put out there by the public
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Permalink Reply by nick mckenna on -
1 how helpfull / nice the staff are
2 hire popple that are nice and know about magic
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Permalink Reply by Wizard Headquarters on
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Thank you for your comments. It looks like your feedback was also already covered in previous comments and viewed as important by others. Thank you for being part of Murphy's Magic Community
Magical Regards
Ralf
nick mckenna said:1 how helpfull / nice the staff are
2 hire popple that are nice and know about magic
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