UK card enthusiasts, any decent card shops ?

[Guest]

[RoscoLabri]

Hello all! I'm from the south of England, and have dabbled in Decipher Star Wars CCG cards for a couple of years using ebay mostly.

What with C&tCF coming out, as well as The Sopranos (big thankyou to this site for alerting this new series to me, you honestly would not believe how big a fan I am of this program) I thought I may bend some peoples ears and find out where you buy cards from.

I've always imported stuff from the US, been very lucky so far on import tax etc etc, but surely it's wrong that you can buy something in another country ie the US, pay the shipping fee and still pay less then you would if you bought the goods from our own country (I'm not really complaining, as we get things cheaper by doing this but still...silly UK  )

So yeah, where was I...oh yeah, who can recommend various places in the UK to buy cards, card boxes/cases/binders etc that won't cost me the price of a house ? 

Thanks

p.s Anyone got a mint chocolate candy prop ? Sorry, I couldn't resist   

[Nienna]

First of all - Welcome to the Yak Shack Roscoe - good to see you here and I hope you enjoy the Forum!

You've hit the nail on the head with your observation re: the cost of shipping cards/boxes/cases from the US being cheaper than buying from UK sellers.
I would suppose the UK sellers would have to pass on a proportion of the cost of actually importing these items into the UK in the first instance (shipping fees, Customs/Import Duty), but you're right ... we do appear to pay a high price here in the UK don't we?
If I could afford to do it, then I would LOVE to 'Buy British' but as it stands at the moment, then it's not very likely I'll be able to ...
Not strictly the on same subject, but the same is true for the card cases/toploader/storage boxes for the cards too - hardly anyone seems to stock a good range of Ultra Pro/Pro Mold/Pro Select archival-safe items here in the UK and very few sellers from the US are prepared to ship them here either. I can understand this though as a case of 40 PC-18 4 screwdown holders weighs a LOT and from what I remember, I paid more to ship them than I did for things themselves! Stupid really ...
I'm not sure whether Mount Pleasant Customs Office have tightened up on what they will and won't allow to pass through their doors unchallenged. There has been talk of them clamping down and levying the Duty payable on ALL items coming into the UK and I'm not sure when this will happen - so 'Constant Vigilance' is needed and good co-operation from your foreign sellers is a must if you want to continue to pay the minimum on Import Tax!

Recommending places to buy cards here in the UK is down to personal preference and experiences with that particular seller, so it's difficult to be fair and impartial - for example, I might have had no problems dealing with 'X' but someone else might not have found them to be very good for whatever reason.
It also depends on which card sets you're collecting, as some sellers I've dealt with will only stock certain sets - I haven't bought any cards from either set you mention so I've no idea who to mention in particular, sorry!
Now if it was LOTR or Harry Potter cards then it would be a different story!

[Roz]

If we are talking solid shops, then no not really. I found some LOTR TTT packs in Ottakars and I've seen lots of packs of trading cards in Forbidden planet, but as for being internationally competitive on price there's not a chance!

However, there are sometimes periods I go through when parcels go missing, and things arrive in terrible condition that I vow never to buy from abroad again

[LikORish-Spider]

If we are talking solid shops, then no not really. I found some LOTR TTT packs in Ottakars and I've seen lots of packs of trading cards in Forbidden planet, but as for being internationally competitive on price there's not a chance!

However, there are sometimes periods I go through when parcels go missing, and things arrive in terrible condition that I vow never to buy from abroad again

Speaking of going missing, Roz, did you get those few Cards Inc. cards that I sent you?

[Anna]

Speaking of going missing, Roz, did you get those few Cards Inc. cards that I sent you?

That reminds me, Roz, did you ever get the Cards Inc. ones I sent you awhile back?

[Roz]

Looks like I've been ignoring my Cards Inc arrivals

Yes Anna thank you - no not yet John

Thanks to both though