We have started a Patreon!
Join the eclectic games Patreon!
Wait.. What?
We have launched a Patreon to give ongoing benefits to our regulars (cheaper tickets, early announcements, etc.), manage preorders, and help support the store amid ever-increasing costs and overheads that come with running a bricks-and-mortar shop with over a dozen events each week.
Why?
Because Patreon is the most suitable way we have found so far to offer systemic benefits to our long-term and regular customers who are invested in eclectic games' continued success, it lets us recognise support, reward customer loyalty, and manage some items and processes that have become a significant headache in terms of staff time and effort. We've been running eclectic games and our communities for over 20 years, and this will further help secure our future.
What is Patreon?
Patreon is a subscription-based membership platform used by creators, artists, organisations, and small businesses like eclectic games to create extra content or unique access. Subscribers are called Patrons, and memberships recur monthly. Patreon was founded in 2013, has over 8 million users, and has a robust platform, which is why we chose it.
What does this mean for me? Do I have to subscribe?
No!
For the vast majority of people, the experience of coming to our store or events will not change. We will still be open seven days a week and still run our events. Patreon offers a more premium experience for people who are already firmly invested in supporting the store and want guaranteed preorders and early access to news and events that may sell out quickly.
If you're a Pokemon, Lorcana, or One Piece Player or Collector, this gives you guaranteed access to products at launch for RRP.
For non-subscribers, we will be operating a Lottery to Buy. More details in the 'How will you allocate products?' section below!
What do I get for subscribing?
You can see each tier in detail over on the eclectic games Patreon, but here's a quick overview:
Pricing on Patreon appears lower initially, as VAT is added during the checkout process.
Tier 1: Because you like us! - £3/month:
- Keep the Staff in Snacks!
- Warm and fuzzy feelings by helping a local store stay afloat!
Tier 2: Engaged Gamer - £6/month:
- £1 off most event tickets! Exclusions apply to Sealed, Draft, and Pack Rush events. See the T&Cs below for more information.
- Early announcements and information.
- Patreon-exclusive Discord channel
Tier 3: TCG Player Preorder (split into each TCG) - cost varies per game:
- Everything in the 'Engaged Gamer' tier plus:
- Guaranteed preorder at RRP of one of each SKU for the game you select: Pokemon or Lorcana.
- Free event tickets for the game you select! See below for restrictions.
- Exclusive early notifications for new events for that game
- Please note: TCG Preorder tiers have limits on the number of subscriptions. You can only subscribe to 1 game at a time. We have to impose limits to guarantee products!
- These are the current different tier 3 TCG Player Preorder choices:
- Pokemon (5 slots) - £30 which includes four event tickets (Thursday Locals and Friday's Pokemon after-school club).
- Lorcana (8 slots) - £25 which includes 2 Monday Night Pack Rush event tickets.
Tier 4: TCG Collector Preorder (split into each TCG) - £15/month:
- Everything in the 'Engaged Gamer' tier plus:
- Guaranteed preorder at RRP of one of each SKU for the game you select: Pokemon, Lorcana, One Piece.
- Exclusive early notifications for new events for that game
- Please note: TCG Preorder tiers have limits on the number of subscriptions. You can only subscribe to 1 game at a time. We have to impose limits to guarantee products!
- These are the current different tier 4 TCG Collector Preorder choices:
- Pokemon (25 slots)
- Lorcana (8 slots)
- One Piece (6 slots)
Tier 5: The Board Gamer - £25/month:
- Everything in the 'Engaged Gamer' tier plus:
- Attend our Monday & Friday board games for FREE!
- Please note: There are limits on how many people can have this tier at any given time!
So how do I preorder something?
If you would like to preorder Magic: The Gathering, Star Wars Unlimited, Riftbound, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Arkham Horror, board games, RPGs, dice, and other items: nothing has changed. Contact the shop by email or in person as usual. This may change in the future if these ranges become more scarce and the employee overhead increases.
If you would like to preorder products for Pokemon, Lorcana, or One Piece please follow these steps:
- Sign up for the eclectic games Patreon with the tier of the trading card game you would like to preorder. You can subscribe to only one game at a time. The TCG Player Preorder tier 3 includes free event tickets for that game!
- If you have been subscribed for 2+ months or met the initial qualifying conditions on launch, we will contact you when we receive our initial allocation numbers to let you know what we'll be getting. At this point, you can also let us know if you'd like to skip this release. Please note that if you stop your subscription for any reason, you'll need to wait three (3) months and for there to be a free slot in either Tier 3TCG Player Preorder or Tier 4 TCG Collector Preorder to be reconsidered for preorders.
- You consent to:
- Collect all products from our store in Reading, UK. We will never ship preorder TCG products.
- Staff splitting the shrink wrap on the products in front of you when you come to collect them. If there is no shrink wrap, we'll open the boxes.
- Collect the items within two weeks of their release or contact us to arrange online payment for us to hold it for longer. You will still need to pick them up in-store.
- Paying RRP for products at launch - the cost of subscribing to a TCG Preorder tier does not count as a deposit.
- When we receive the product delivery, we will put one of each SKU aside for you and notify you. You then have two weeks to purchase it at RRP before we return it to stock. Note: we can arrange for online payment if you contact us.
Does this mean I can't preorder anything without being a Patron?
If you want to preorder Pokemon, Lorcana, or One Piece: No, but:
- If you want guaranteed product at launch on lines with limited availability, then YES, you have to subscribe to our Patreon in either the TCG Player Preorder Tier 3 or the TCG Collector Preorder Tier 4.
- We will offer a randomised Lottery to Buy for non-subscribers.
Yes, you will need to be subscribed in tier 3 or tier 4 of the TCG for 2+ months.
If you want to preorder anything else: No, continue to email the store or speak to us in person!
How will you allocate products?
When we get our initial allocation numbers for a release from one of the TCGs we're running Patreon tiers for, we will split the stock into several tranches:
- Initial priority will be our usual reservation of stock for Organised Play events and prizing, as we already have been doing. These items never see the shop floor.
- Second priority will be product allocated to a fixed number of slots for Patreon subscribers, sold at RRP. These vary per TCG. Patreon subscribers will still have purchasing limits of usually 1-per item, such as 1 ETB or 1 Trove.
- Then we'll offer a tranche to a randomised Lottery to Buy. This will be at the shop floor rate and we make no guarantees about stock availability.
- Lastly, we will always endeavour to have some stock left over for general sales on launch, but that will depend on how much stock we are allowed to purchase by distribution. Patrons will be able to purchase more product on top of their preorders. There may be limits in place per customer per day.
The other differences will be how we price the stock we are selling. Patrons will have a guaranteed ability to purchase one of each SKU at RRP on release. Stock placed on general sale outside the Patreon tranche will be priced at whatever we determine is best for the store. as we already have been doing!
I have an ongoing ticket with you to automatically preorder some TCG lines. Do I need to do anything?
Yes. You will need to subscribe to the TCG Player Preorder Tier 3 or TCG Collector Preorder Tier 4 if you want guaranteed product at launch on lines with limited availability. After we have allocated available product to prizing and weekly play, then Patrons, we will run a randomised Lottery to Buy. This will be at the shop floor rate and we make no guarantees about stock availability.
We will contact all ticket holders this week to explain.
The current state of TCG preorders is making us cry (this is a bit of a longer explanation!).
Although we've run "Expression of Interest" forms quite successfully in the past, this tool no longer suits a number of the lines we stock or the number of releases for each.
When we started using them, they helped us gauge how much product to order from distribution. Now we get a fixed allocation of the various lines at launch, sometimes arriving in multiple waves, and we can expect them all to sell out very fast unless some kind of curb or limit is put in place.
Nowadays restocks are rare and unpredictable. The staff overhead of running the lottery-to-buy, notifications, reminders, and exceptions has become completely unmanageable when dealing with hot items where we have upwards of 550 people who want to buy 48 items.
The lines initially affected by this are Pokemon, Lorcana, and One Piece. We may apply this to other TCG lines we stock in the future.
IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND TERMS & CONDITIONS
You must be subscribed for 2+ months to qualify for a preorder.
Patrons must have been continuously subscribed to Patreon at TCG Player Preorder tier 3 or TCG Collector Preorder tier 4 for two months before the relevant release. If a Patreon subscriber drops their tier 3 or tier 4 subscription, they will not be allowed to resubscribe at tier 3 or tier 4 for six months and must be subscribed for two months before they can preorder another release. We will hold a waiting list of people subscribed to the Patreon at a lower tier who are interested in a TCG Preorder tier 3 or tier 4 slot when it becomes available, and will 'promote' from there.
The £1 event ticket discounts DO NOT apply to Sealed Events, Prereleases, Drafts, Pack Rush, Core Premiers, or similar.
This is because of how VAT works on those events.
Standard weekly events, such as Nexus Night or Commander, Standard, Weekly Locals, and more, will be discounted..
Full list of discounted events:
- Monday Board Games
- Monday Go Club
- Monday Casual TCGs
- Monday Yu-Gi-Oh! Genesys
- Tuesday Star Wars Unlimited Casual Play
- Tuesday Miniature Gaming
- Wednesday MTG Commander
- Wednesday Riftbound Nexus Night
- Thursday Yu-Gi-Oh! Locals
- Thursday Pokemon Casuals
- Friday Pokemon After-School Club
- Friday Board Games
- Friday MTG Constructed: Modern, Pauper, Standard Showdown, Standard
- Saturday ALL-Day Board Games
- All Constructed TCG events, such as Pokemon League Challenges and Cups, Star Wars Unlimited Store Showdowns, Lorcana Store Championships, Riftbound Summoner Skirmish, etc
- Pokemon VGC and Go events
- RPG Events
- Megagames
The Board Gamer tier doesn't qualify for Saturday or other special board game events.
Only Monday and Friday evenings are included. We will endeavour to notify you as far in advance as possible if an event is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances. Generally, our board game evenings run every Monday and Friday, except for stocktake (twice a year) and potentially Christmas closures.
If you've subscribed with any of the Tier 4 TCG Player Preorders you will need to let us know which events you'll want to attend in advance
We will reserve your slots on the weekly events. Patrons on those tiers will have a custom link to let us know about their attendance at least two hours before the event starts or we'll release the held spaces to general sale.
Can I subscribe with more than one account?
Good question! Short answer: no.
Longer answer: we'd probably find out when you come to pick it up. But if you send a partner, friend, or guinea pig, we wouldn't know, but we will take action and ban you when we find out. This also applies if you make a new account to skirt the six-month rule.
If there is a legitimate reason you're making a new Patreon account to subscribe, such as in case of a loss of access or an unrecoverable password, you will need to let us know proactively in advance.
Why can't I preorder more than one TCG? I like shiny cardboard!
Our aim has always been to get products into as many different hands as possible so that everyone gets the joy of opening and playing. That hasn't changed. We also know from many releases over the years that there isn't much overlap in preorders across different TCG types!
Why is there no all-in-one tier?
Looking at our regular event attendees, very few people attend board games and TCG events regularly together, so we don't think it makes sense to add that at this stage!
Will I definitely get my products?
Yes, subject to them arriving with us! Should products be sent in multiple waves, we will notify subscribers with likely arrival dates. You will still be guaranteed product.
We reserve the right to amend and update the costs of the Patreon tiers and these Terms & Conditions at any time and will endeavour to give as much notice as possible.
Should we change the costs of the Patreon tiers, you will receive at least 31 days' notice. This is also part of the Patreon T&Cs: "Existing members in the tier are automatically notified when the price of their membership changes. The notification includes details about when the new price will take effect. All renewals for the next 31 days will be at the old price, so existing members aren’t charged the new price straight away. Your members will receive an email informing them that their tier price will change after 31 days and that their next bill will reflect the new price."
I want to cancel my subscription!
Patreon makes managing your subscribtion very easy! Please log into your Patreon account and cancel it there. You will still be subscribed until your current period ends. Please note that you need to be subscribed 2+ months to be considered for the tier 3 TCG Preorder to be valid and will not be allowed to resubscribe at tier 3 for six months.
Can I get a refund?
Please only subscribe to our Patreon at any tier if you are absolutely sure and you believe you can meet the expectations. Refunds issued will be at our discretion and via the Patreon platform. There will be no cash refunds in-store.
How do I get the £1 ticket discount?
For in-store sales: Mention that you're a Patreon subscriber and we'll apply the discount.
For website sales: You will receive a unique voucher code to use on your orders. Please note: This code is not transferrable and can only be used for tickets for you. If you are buying multiple tickets at once, please do so over multiple transactions and only use the discount on your own ticket.
Why isn't there a One Piece Player Preorder tier?
We're currently not running any One Piece events as there hasn't been sufficient demand so far. If you would like to see One Piece events, please arrange yourselves to come to our Monday Night Casual TCG evenings so we see that there's demand!
Why is it showing as more on my app?
Please subscribe via the Patreon website, as the iPhone app levies additional fees.
Why am I being charged VAT?
This is something that Patreon has to collect to comply with UK laws. "Value-Added Tax (VAT) is a tax assessed on the value added to goods and services – including digital products. It’s charged as a percentage of a price (e.g. a £1.00 membership with 23% VAT will have a final cost of £1.23). In jurisdictions where Patreon is legally required to collect VAT or similar types of tax, Patreon calculates, collects and remits that tax on applicable payments."
We keep the right to refuse to sell to any business.
We do not sell to other business who are resellers and will take appropriate action if we become aware of it.
We require ID when you pick up your products.
In line with ensuring that Patrons are only subscribed once, we will require ID at pickup.