Where to get Board Games at reasonable prices?

L[Deactivated] on 31/05/2014 - 18:03

Hi all, I've spent the last few days trawling through Amazon/Ebay and a half dozen sites situated in Australia. All of these sites either:
1) Have cheap prices, but ridiculous shipping costs from USA (Amazon in some cases where it isn't fulfilled by Amazon),
2) Have cheap prices, but won't ship to Australia (Amazon again in some cases!),
3) Have high prices and located in Australia (Good Games, All About Games etc)
4) No stock

I did manage to find some good prices on Book Depository using a US VPN to get Battlestar Galactica + 3 expansions for $160 delivered. Also found a lot of Risk games (Starcraft/Mass Effect etc) on Amazon at good prices. Amazon again was the best for Eclipse. The only problem is the third party sellers normally charge obscene shipping or don't ship at all for Amazon.

Does anyone know of any good shops in Australia, or overseas stores that ship at reasonable rates? In particular I'm looking for:
1) the Civilization board games with the two expansions,
2) Eminent Domain and its one expansion
3) Dominion possibly

Thanks for any help

Find Me A Bargain

Comments

  • lord henry on 31/05/2014 - 18:31
    +1

    I'm afraid eBay and amazon have always been the cheapest in my experience even when factoring in shipping.

    Remember that board games are actually really cheap when you factor in how many hours you get from them.

    Remember to check us and UK amazon.

  • bc on 31/05/2014 - 18:37

    I haven't checked stock for the above, however if they have them, Milsims in VIC and Games Empire in NSW are usually the cheapest. Their shipping rates are reasonable too. Good luck, Brett.

  • [Deactivated] on 31/05/2014 - 20:26

    Thank you both, checked Amazon UK and the prices were even higher than the US prices (let alone after shipping). Milsims was a little bit disappointing, but Games Empire is a gem! Thank you for pointing that one out, just a shame they are out of stock for one of the games I am looking to pick up.

  • mskeggs on 31/05/2014 - 23:18

    There are some non genuine or Chinese issue games on eBay from time to time. I got the ticket to ride card game for about $11. I got a copy of power grid for $20 at a market in Hong Kong, after being unable to justify the high prices at home and online.
    And occasionally one of the reshippers run a special, that is how I got Agricola from a cheap US seller on Amazon.

  • [Deactivated] on 01/06/2014 - 19:45

    Games Empire got my order, sent them an email and received a personalised reply (weekend!) that covered off what I needed to know. Prices were on par with other stores, but customer service got them the sale.

    Thanks everyone. Hopefully I get lucky with a cheap reshipper or the fake games on eBay in future!

  • R1ngSt1nger on 04/06/2014 - 17:43

    Checkout http://www.ozgameshop.com

    They're based in the UK, and do free delivery if you order $50 or more of goods. They stock plenty of board games.

    Have shopped from them many times successfully.

    Delivery can take around two weeks, but you can pay $5 or something for a speedier delivery.

  • mcsmark on 05/06/2014 - 01:22

    Hey Boney. Bit late but here are some other good places:

    Joe Dodgey's Dice and Games - Free shipping over $200

    Games Paradise - Free shipping over $125. Currently have 20% off sale till 30th June. However they have the worst customer service ever (refer to the FB abuse during xmas sales).

    Cheap Games - [UK based] - Free shipping over $50 i believe. Website is tricky (i actually dont know how to browse their boardgames other than using the search bar at the top).

    CardHaus Games - [USA based] - the only USA based game company that doesn't seem to charge $50+ shipping, providing u keep the weight under a certain amount. Great if you want the latest games.

    Not a store but a great source for games:
    Kickstarter: Tabletop games filter applied - Almost all indie boardgames now appear in Kickstarter first before they hit the shops (months later, maybe years?). Great if you dont mind the wait. You can get exclusive items for funding their projects etc.

  • mcsmark on 05/06/2014 - 01:31

    Just remembered another one. This is probably poor behavior tho, feel free to judge.

    Mightyape - [NZ Based] - $5 flat rate shipping. Terrible prices, BUT have a price match system on any item.

    I usually price match against some stores, particularly Advent Games (which have great prices on certain items, but terrible shipping). Mightyape have never turned me down on a price match so far, and from memory they usually beat the price by a bit too.

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