As magicians, we love to buy magic tricks as soon as they are released. Large super market style magic shops aim to offer the widest range of magic, as soon as it’s released.
Each day, the What’s New Section gets another batch of magic books, DVD’s and magic tricks to tempt you. How you react to that, is very important to your development as a magician.
We asked magician Alan Rorrison to give some advice to magicians that will help them improve their magic. Alan wanted to talk about buying magic tricks that you don’t need, and we think it’s very good advice:
Do you buy Magic tricks like Pokemon?
You don’t have to catch them all! It’s OK to collect magic, but that’s not going to make your magic better. Jumping from the latest new magic trick to the latest magic book, then over to the new Blackpool Magic Convention releases, just distracts you from serious practice.
Don’t buy magic tricks on impulse
When you decide to buy magic tricks, make it because they will fit your style and your act. Because it’s new, can be a terrible reason to choose any magic tricks. Be selective, and pick your magic tricks with care and put thought into it. If the only reason you are interested in buying a magic trick is to know it’s secret, it’s nothing more than a puzzle to you.
Buy magic tricks that are right for you
The best magic shops keep a huge back catalog. That’s not an easy thing for magic shops to do. Older tricks get forgotten and don’t sell in great numbers. Shop space is expensive, so small hobby dealers tend to only stock what’s new and ‘hot’ and clear their inventories once the hype is over.
6 ways to save a lot of money when you buy magic tricks:
1) Back Catalogs
Find a magic shop that keeps a large back catalogue. Magic shops that keep all the old tricks allow you to have it all to choose from.
2) Adverts hiding as magic product reviews
Seek out reviews that don’t have a sales agenda. It’s pretty easy to spot when a magic tricks review is really an advert or infomercial for the dealer selling it. Seek out reviews for older products that are tried and tested and not being reviewed just prior to an exclusive launch or after a magic dealer has bulk purchased stock.
3) Search in the right places.
Search magic shop websites by price, name or style, NOT by the date the magic tricks were added to the catalogue.
4) Two questions to ask yourself when you buy magic tricks:
Ask yourself: Is this the type of magic effect I would like to perform? If the answer is yes, ask yourself: Is this the best possible version that has ever been created?
5) What’s the magic shops priority?
Email or phone the magic shop to ask the dealers opinion before you buy magic tricks. They want a happy long term relationship with you as a customer much more than they want to make a one time sale. Good magic shops are staffed full time by professional working magicians and are told to give customers their real honest opinions of the tricks they stock.
6) Advice from outside the project
Seek out the opinion of magic dealers that don’t have a vested interest in the magic tricks they stock. There is nothing wrong with wanting to buy magic tricks from manufacturers, but make sure you get a second opinion. Creators of magic tricks love their work and are, quite rightly proud of it. You can get valuable advice from talking to magic creators, but also consult magicians that are not so close to the project, and can discuss the alternatives with you.
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