Updated 15th January 2006

We'll soon have another means of submitting orders, one by which you can hold an order, and keep track of any orders you have.  Keep on eye on this page for updates on this! 

At this time, send an email, for ordering from us (see Main Page for news of the store's operations).  We intend soon that shopping-cart facilities will be available for buying many of the store's items, as part of an upgrade on the website.

All our prices are in Australian Dollars, and current exchange rates are around 1.33 Australian Dollars for one US Dollar, so take 3/4 of the prices shown to get the approximate US Dollar price.  The GST (a value-added tax in Australia since mid-2000) on Australian goods doesn’t apply to those goods purchased overseas (take 10% off the price, if ordering from and delivery to overseas).

Postage/freight we charge at cost, and must, if the payment was by credit card, be by a tracked method (usually as insured), to minimise credit card fraud.  For that reason, we must send goods to a street address, and they must be signed for as delivered.  If you pay by direct credit, Western Union, or other than by credit card (sorry, we don't yet have such as PayPal), then insurance is an option for you.

We’ve been trading-in goods from customers since 1978 (originally as retail store "Simulations"), and so have always had a large amount of unusual and out-of-print stock, especially in board and role-playing games and earlier computer/console games. We're told that we have the largest ranges of such items (RPGs, boardgames, computer games) in Australia.

We have pages of various goods listed, and we’re trying to update these more often. We’re trying to provide "current" lists more often; "current" means that it was that when it was compiled, not necessarily right now, so, while items on the lists are likely to be in stock, some may not be when you access the lists, and there may be others in stock which haven’t been listed yet.

The lists are partly to show the types and enormous range of goods we have, and it’s best to ask for items you’re wanting but which are not listed (as we may have them, anyway); if you’re wanting us to continue looking for specific items we don’t have, ask for them to be added to our "wanted" list.

For our secondhand items, we often have more than one of the same item, but we usually list the item just once, to shorten the list. If you contact us regarding an item, we’ll let you know what’s available in that item, as regards differing condition and prices.

For currently-available items, we’re guided on price by those recommended by distributors.

For unlisted items, we have to try to figure out relevant prices, given what "intrinsic" values the items have, and what’s happening in the marketplace. We also have to base prices partly on our experience in the field (since 1978), including current sales and availability, and partly on the prices we see on the ‘Net and elsewhere. We realise that we’re never going to satisfy everyone on prices - it’s a little like those ever-popular surveys "Do you think that CDs (or fuel/electricity/houses/etc.) are too expensive?", for which there’s always, amazingly, a positive response.

We do review and adjust prices, but this isn’t always done as often as we’d like. It gets done more often on items when we have to consider putting out replacement (or secondhand) stock for sale. We can always look at prices you might care to offer on goods but, if you get no response, especially if they’re ridiculously low offers, you’ll know you haven’t succeeded.

We’ve always been a games and hobby store, and our products and service have been aimed at that market. Thus, talking about board and role-playing games especially, but computer/console games to a lesser extent, we’d tried to keep secondhand prices to being based on original selling prices, in the interest of gamers, as what we had had circulated mainly around the local market for many years, and this policy worked for those years. We began finding, though, that we were being "raided" for our goods, initially by visitors from overseas, who found many unusual items at our store which were difficult to find in their own countries, and then, with growing ‘Net usage, others locally (including gamers) who wanted to sell these goods on the ‘Net for profit, rather than for their own use. Reluctantly, we’ve had to revise our policy to have prices which are more in line with what’s available out there. 

Trading-in goods to us

Those in the local market are familiar with our trade-in policy. We’d like to encourage more trade-ins from those around Australia (and possibly elsewhere), and we’ve been trying to work out ways to lessen the trauma of sending off goods to us. Although we do have visitors from other parts of Australia bringing us goods, that’s not always possible, we realise.  However, we have had goods sent from overseas to us (usually sea-mail takes some 8-10 weeks to us).

We usually offer store-credit for goods traded-in to our store. That may not suit someone selling us goods from outside our area, we realise, so we’ll offer a credit price and a cash price, and you can take some (or all) of one and some (or none) of the other.

If we can’t offer a satisfactory price to you on goods which are all 100% in condition and contents, we’ll send your goods back to you at our cost (contact us first).

Some of the prices on out-of-print items are "odd" (collectible status), and we really don’t know, even with our experience, what price we’ll actually get for them in the changing marketplace.  We adopted a means of changing prices for such items, although we're not in a position, currently, to run that system.

Relating mainly to board and role-playing items, as mentioned before, we’ve been involved in this trade for more than since 1978, and have catered mainly to gamers in that time, rather than collectors (and they may sometimes be the same, we realise). Since 1991, we’ve shrink-wrapped all items, partly so they didn’t get damaged from handling in the store, and partly to keep all component items together. We’ve tried to recycle as much as that wrap as possible, to keep the use of plastics to a minimum; some collectors specify that they want only items which have "factory" wrapping and, in Australia at least, almost all items have been re-wrapped by distributors, usually to remove "factory" advertising and often to insert their own. Almost all items will have a very small label affixed to the goods somewhere not too noticeable, for our security system. 

A few other notes:

On secondhand goods, we do continue the policy of affixing the small shop-labels. Goods are also graded on general condition (and priced accordingly). To the best of our abilities and experience, any missing (or extra) components are also noted on the items. If you’re wanting a particular version of an item, or want to make sure a certain component is included, please specify that in any enquiry to us. Terms we use for grading general condition (mainly developed for gamers, rather than collectors):

• fair (usually with a percentage below "average"): less than average, somewhat worn.
• average (or no grading): some obvious usage, but nowhere near falling apart or tatty.
• near mint: better than average, but less than mint.
• mint: almost like new and generally unmarked.
• mint+: books have hardly been opened, but not quite 'as new', either.
• as new: basically just that, as we often have goods which were bought with some (game) plan in mind which didn't ever eventuate (e.g. "the group didn't want to play it").
• Note that refinements of "average" and "near mint" ("average +" and "near mint +" are also used, as partway to the next grading).
• General condition means that a box might be in near-new condition and the contents not (or vice versa) to earn an item the general condition of e.g. "Mint" - it’s an overall condition grading.
• New items may have had a little shop wear, less likely from our own store, but more likely if it’s stock which has been returned to a distributor from another store and sold to us, or stock which has been sold to us from another store (e.g. when going out of business). The vast majority of new items don’t have any such wear.