thatguywhojuggles
Graduate Poster
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2002
- Messages
- 1,335
Are all the magicians in the world secretly working together to pull off the biggest illusion in the world--the vanishing of Magic Shops everywhere?
But seriously. Since magic shops have started to discover they can make more sales online with less overhead than having an actual shop and having to keep the hours of a shopkeeper, magic shops are becoming a rare thing to find. I'm lucky, lately if I can find a magic section in a hobby or toy store.
What was wonderful about going into a magic shop was seeing the products performed by the shop keeper. They could make a 4 dollar gimick produce tricks you thought for sure was worth at least a hundred dollars. Of course, sometimes you would spend 40 bucks on a trick and realize that the materials needed to make what you just purchased, couldn't cost more than $1.50. But it was still nice. Plus once you bought the trick, they would teach you how to do it--a wonderful thing considering written instructions on magic tricks are usually written so poorly they are hard to understand.
The online magic shops have tried to replace the shopkeeper by adding videos that demonstrate the trick. I was just on one of those sites, and by watching each video enough times, I can figure out how the tricks work. The most recent one I figured out was called "Passing Through." It is a nice looking trick, but now that I have figured out how it works, I am unlikely to spend the money on the gimick.
Negative side of Online shops
-no one to teach you the trick
-random people can watch the videos online over and over until the figure it out--those are the jerks who show up at your performance and start telling the audience out-loud how the trick is done.
-not all tricks have their demo videos yet. So you would be purchasing them by just a written description.
-People like me might watch the videos online over and over until they figure it out, then if design and construction is simple enough they can build it themselves.
Positive side of Online shops:
-I can figure out how tricks work by watching them over and over online. If it is simple in design and construction, I can make my own.
-Larger inventory
-Customer reviews help A LOT.
But seriously. Since magic shops have started to discover they can make more sales online with less overhead than having an actual shop and having to keep the hours of a shopkeeper, magic shops are becoming a rare thing to find. I'm lucky, lately if I can find a magic section in a hobby or toy store.
What was wonderful about going into a magic shop was seeing the products performed by the shop keeper. They could make a 4 dollar gimick produce tricks you thought for sure was worth at least a hundred dollars. Of course, sometimes you would spend 40 bucks on a trick and realize that the materials needed to make what you just purchased, couldn't cost more than $1.50. But it was still nice. Plus once you bought the trick, they would teach you how to do it--a wonderful thing considering written instructions on magic tricks are usually written so poorly they are hard to understand.
The online magic shops have tried to replace the shopkeeper by adding videos that demonstrate the trick. I was just on one of those sites, and by watching each video enough times, I can figure out how the tricks work. The most recent one I figured out was called "Passing Through." It is a nice looking trick, but now that I have figured out how it works, I am unlikely to spend the money on the gimick.
Negative side of Online shops
-no one to teach you the trick
-random people can watch the videos online over and over until the figure it out--those are the jerks who show up at your performance and start telling the audience out-loud how the trick is done.
-not all tricks have their demo videos yet. So you would be purchasing them by just a written description.
-People like me might watch the videos online over and over until they figure it out, then if design and construction is simple enough they can build it themselves.
Positive side of Online shops:
-I can figure out how tricks work by watching them over and over online. If it is simple in design and construction, I can make my own.
-Larger inventory
-Customer reviews help A LOT.
