Mad Alpaca Games Davis — Local services in Davis

I went here and asked about preorders for the new Pokemon set prismatic evolutions. One of the workers told me that there was a preorder list and that I may be added to it. On the day of the release, I called to check in and another employee told me the preorder list was only an “interest list”. Due to the overwhelming amount of interest and also due to the distributor shorting everyone they decided to scrap the pre order idea and just sell it to people on a first come first serve basis… for scalper prices.

They were asking $130 for a product that is currently in print for $50 MSRP. It’s so difficult to support your LGS instead of buying products from big box stores when they pull stuff like this. I probably won’t be coming here any more to buy pokemon products or singles. Other stores like Ultimate Spice in Sac had a more fair system where they sold the set for MSRP if you only bought one of each product and unsealed it there.

Edit: To reply to the owner,

To say that I've never been to your store in the past and assume that I have only come in for this set is blatantly false. I've bought sealed product at your store in the past before this set was released. I could have definitely bought this set somewhere closer to home. And if you could've just sent out an email earlier with quick message about your process for a high demand product like this, I probably would've looked elsewhere without posting this review.

I understand the tcgplayer pricing and the card market. To say that your prices were much better than tcgplayer pricing on release day is definitely a stretch when the mean price on tcpglayer that day is around $120. You can call it market price or whatever you want, but when you mark up a product by over 100% MSRP that is newly released, especially when you get it from a distributor, is scalping. I'm not surprised you sold out that day, it would be hard not to in a hobby full of whales and people with poor impulse control. But for us non-whales who were in this hobby before the hype, it's not justifiable to pay this much for this set especially if it's still in print.

I'm glad your "loyal" customers got a deal, but to alienate new customers just because they haven't shopped there isn't a good business model, especially for a small shop like yours. And if your cardshop needs to mark up new products over 100% MSRP to stay in business, that also isn't a very good business model to begin with. I'll stay loyal to the real ones like ATA, Tim at Goldstar or Brian at USG who were fair to everyone, and you can stay mad Mad...

Been to the place a handful of times in my month or so of being into Warhammer, and I got to say this store has everything! Firstly, amazing stock of products and fantastic ordering system for things not in store! Secondly, amazing community that has been super friendly and helpful to me as a newcomer to both Warhammer and Mad Alpaca! They also have a great discord server for easy talking to the staff and community to allow for questions, news, pre-orders, and more! Thirdly, AMAZING staff, talking about you Marina and Alex! Marina has been an excellent help regarding paints and modeling tips (such as yesterday regarding base decoration!) and has helped me on a handful of occasions picking out paints and the works! Alex has been a blast to talk to and has helped me pick out some stuff along with being an amazing teacher during the Warhammer Learn to Play events, where I have been slowly learning the game better and better as I have played at the store. All in all, the store has everything one could need and every reason to support them! I plan to stick with them as my location to play and chat but to also continue buying from as my provider of stuff I need for my newfound hobby!...

I’d been to the Mad Alpca in Fairfield so I was happy to hear that they were opening another location in Davis. Good location near downtown with abundant parking, attentive and knowledgeable staff that actually plays games, and a good amount of playing space.

Probably the best store in the Sac metro for actually calling you when your preorder stuff comes in!

My only complaint, and it’s very minor, is that this location doesn’t stock Monument Pro-Acryl paints, though the Fairfield one does and they’re happy to shuttle them (and anything else that’s in stock at their other location) from that store if you ask. Though I guess in retrospect the lack of availability to impulse buy has probably saved me a...