Choosing Good Magic Dealers – Magic Supermarkets

There are many magic dealers that choose to present a huge range of magic tricks, without any vetting or limited selection. Like Amazon, they offer the whole market of magic and allow you to choose which magic tricks that you feel are right for you.

Advantages of supermarket magic dealers

Better range. – You are presented with the full range of magic tricks that have been released from around the world. If you need a specific item, you get a wide selection of products to choose from.

Less bias. – Supermarket magic shops may have less product bias than curated magic shops. They stock almost every find of item, with many versions. The magic dealers don't need to push you to one specific product over another one.

Less relationship promotion. – Supermarket magic dealers stock items from thousands of magic creators, so they try to promote their creations equally. This means that you won’t be pushed to a particular magic trick, just because the magic dealers are friends with the creator of the trick.

Lower Prices. – With a larger stock and bigger buying power, non curated magic dealers can use economy of scale to reduce costs and in turn prices. Cheaper versions of a particular magic trick are often available, so if you are on a budget for your magic, this may give you better alternatives.

Opinion. – You are not getting the magic dealers preferences imposed on your choice. The supermarket magic shop presents everything and allows you full choice.

Older and less popular tricks are stocked. – Supermarket magic shops try to stock as many magic tricks as possible, regardless of their popularity. Older classics and magic tricks with small markets maintain a place on their shelves, as well as the latest releases.

Disadvantages of the supermarket magic dealers

You get the good and the bad presented to you. – Supermarket magic shops stock everything, without the magic dealers opinions playing a part. When shopping at a magic supermarket, you need to research the choices you make more carefully.

Too much choice. – It can be confusing and stressful deciding which version of a magic trick to choose. It’s important that larger magic shops offer great customer service and the ability to get expert advice from the magic dealers.

Slower delivery. – Very large magic dealers may have to warehouse some stock, and will not be able to dispatch every item the same day. Good magic shops usually keep the most popular magic tricks apart, to dispatch right away, but for less popular items, an extra day or so shipping is not uncommon. For example; The Merchant of Magic keeps around 5000 items in stock at their magic shop. The remaining 15,000 less popular items have to be warehoused, so take an extra 1-2 days shipping. God magic shops will always let you know the shipping times for a magic trick on the product page and at the checkout when you order.

Using a supermarket style magic shop can be a great way to find out about everything there is available to magicians. Magic dealers with a huge choice and less bias mean you get more options. The down side is that the quality of the magic tricks offered is not vetted. Customer reviews and testimonials should be consulted to make sure you pick the best items for your act and within the price range that suits you.

It’s important to make sure that the magic dealers you use, also have an advice service, staffed by working magicians that can give you advice. As the supermarket magic shops have fewer attachments to any one manufacturer, you will usually get much more honest advice and unbiased opinions.

Choosing Magic Dealers – Curated Range of Magic Tricks

Picking a Magic Dealer – Problems and Benefits of a Curated Range of Magic Tricks

by Merchant of Magic 1 Comment

A magic dealer may hand pick a small range of magic tricks. This called a curated range.
The magic dealer advertises that they only choose magic tricks that get great feedback and are of a high standard.

Advantages of picking a magic dealers with a curated magic shop:

The benefit of curated magic dealers is that you are only presented with items the magic dealer feels that you will like. Your expectation for quality of the products is higher.

Trust – You develop trust in the magic dealer and respect the magic dealers opinion of the magic tricks that you should learn.

Easier selection – Less choice makes choosing which item to buy much easier. If you are in the market for a change bag, being presented with 45 different versions can be time consuming and stressful. Curated magic shops narrow down the choice for you.

Disadvantages of picking a magic dealer with a curated magic shop:

1) The selection of the shop will be targeted to one style of magician, so may exclude excellent magic tricks, simply because they don’t fit the customer persona that the magic dealer is targeting.

2) The range can suffer from commercial bias: When choosing magic tricks to promote some magic dealers may not choose items simply because of their quality. Often other reasons play just as much a part in the magic dealers range:

Own Products – Promoting their own magic tricks above other products
Profit Margins – The magic dealers may choose items that have a higher profit margin even though the magic tricks may not be of the best quality.
Exclusivity deals – A deal may be made to give the magic dealer an exclusive on a magic trick in return for high profile on the website.
Relationships with the magic trick creators – A magic dealer may promote a friends magic range, regardless of the quality of the magic tricks.
Stocking costs – Smaller items that are cheaper to post may get preference over large items that have a greater storage and postage cost.
Product turnover speeds – Magic dealers may highlight products due to their popularity. Unusual and slow selling items will tend to be dropped from the range. A focus on the latest exciting new release can often develop as the dealer struggles to bring in sufficient turnover from a small range.

As the range is often limited to a specific theme of magic, You can experience a ‘search bubble’. A search bubble happens when you are presented with a range of magic tricks on a particular theme and return repeatedly to that magic dealer. Over time, you they are only presented with choices that confirm and reinforce that theme, so your exposure to magic becomes more and more limited.

Higher prices – A smaller range means that the magic dealer will have fewer products making up the majority of their turnover. The magic dealers don’t benefit as much from economy of scale. This can cause prices to be higher or additional customer support services to minimal.Using a curated magic dealer can be an excellent choice providing that you trust the magic dealer and are sure that their opinions on good magic, match your own. Being aware of the commercial bias in the selection offered by curated magic dealers is important, to ensure that you choose the best magic tricks to invest your time and energy learning.

Choosing a Magic Dealer – Magic Supermarkets

Buying Magic tricks Without Regret

Smoke from Your Hands Magic Tricks – Pure Smoke Vs. SSS Which is Best?

by Merchant of Magic 11 Comments

Creating magic smoke from your hands has become very popular for magicians over the last couple of years. It’s popularity was boosted by Dynamo Magician Impossible producing magic smoke on his TV Series.

The most popular methods for producing magic smoke from your hands are:

Pure Smoke By Ellusionist and Sleeveless Silent Smoke (SSS) By Shin Lim

Deciding which device is better depends on several factors. We looked at the following areas to compare Pure Smoke with SSS to see which is best:

Easy of use
Practicality
Set up
Durability
Price

Ease of use.

Pure Smoke by Ellusionist: Pure smoke is a contained unit, designed to produce magic smoke and deliver it to your hand when required. The device has to be worn, and as such requires that you use a jacket or coat to hide the workings. It’s ready to go, the moment the package arrives to you. You will need to use regular batteries to power Pure smoke, and these can run out quite quickly with everyday use. Pure smoke uses specially made cartridges that contain the Vegetable Glycerin liquid. You simply need to plug in a cartridge, put on the device, turn it on and you are ready to go.

SSS By Shin Lim: SSS requires you to put together the device yourself. However, this is very easy, and once done, you are ready to go. Shin Lim teaches several different magic tricks and ideas on the SSS DVD included. Some of these require additional materials. Once constructed, SSS is very easy to use device. The battery is rechargeable via USB. You don’t need special cartridges, and you can refill the unit cheaply with VG liquid obtainable easily from many sources.

Practicality.

Pure Smoke by Ellusionist: This is, in our opinion, a more polished product. It’s a ‘switch on and go’ magic smoke from hands device that is very easy to use. Because it uses regular batteries, it does have the disadvantage of having a large motor unit to hide.

The motor also makes a hum. Although this is not a problem at all during working situations, it can be off putting for beginners or magicians who perform in very quiet locations.

You need to wear a jacket or coat with sleeves to hide the working.

Pure smoke was created specifically to produce smoke from a magicians hands, and as such it is the most practice of the two devices for magicians walking around performing strolling close-up magic. For adapting to use in other places than your hands, it’s less practical than SSS.

SSS By Shin Lim: SSS is very customizable. As the battery unit is tiny, there is much less to hide. Because you can take the device apart, it can be set up in lots of different ways.

The selling point for SSS is the ability to produce magic smoke from places other than your hands. This is a real advantage. Many magicians are looking for a way to produce magic smoke from objects, tables or close up mats, and due to the adaptability of SSS, it is a clear winner over Pure Smoke for this.

Set Up.

Pure Smoke by Ellusionist: Put it on, switch it on and you are ready to make magic smoke from your hands whenever you want. It’s ready to go right from the box and includes some cartridges to get you started right away.

SSS By Shin Lim: SSS comes as a DVD and a small gimmick. You need to buy a few very common and cheap additional parts to set it up. This can be a real pain if your excited about the product arriving and then have to go shopping all over again.

Once you have constructed your device, which is very easy to do and requires no technical knowledge, the device requires very little set up before producing magic smoke.

You will need to ensure the battery is fully charged (or simply pick up some spares), and you will need to top up the device with VG liquid.

Set up becomes more of an issue when you want to produce magic smoke from other places than your hands. Each type of routine requires it’s own set up.

Durability

Pure Smoke by Ellusionist: This uses it’s own atomiser (The heat element that burns the VG Liquid to produce magic smoke) The original version was none user serviceable and many magic dealers reported reliability issues with both the atomiser burning out or the motor unit failing. Some users report that their device does now make very much magic smoke when activated.

Ellusionists’ customer care is excellent and faulty units were replaced very quickly. The new version (V2 onwards) has a replaceable atomiser. The unit will fail over time as the atomisers burn out, so replacement parts may need to be ordered quite often with everyday use.

SSS By Shin Lim: SSS is totally user serviceable very cheaply. If the atomiser fails, you can just click on a new one, and these can be purchased very cheaply from many stores online. The batteries used in SSS tend on average to be good for up to 300 charges, but again can be replaced at very little cost.

For reliability SSS, scores over Pure Smoke as the device can quite easily be throw away and replaced cheaply and easily.

Price.

Pure smoke costs considerably more than SSS. The extra cost is justifiable for a fully set up, polished and professional magic smoke creator and the backup and customer care available are excellent. But compared to the more DIY SSS, price may be an issue for hobbyist magicians. SSS produces magic smoke in much the same way, and is more adaptable, but if you don’t like having to go shopping for parts once a new magic trick arrives, the premium for Pure Smoke may be attractive.

What’s most important to you:

Pure Smoke:

I want this to work the moment I get my device.
I want to use normal batteries.
99% of the time I will be performing magic tricks strolling.
I need to set this up quickly at my gigs.
It’s a gift, so I like products to come in attractive packaging.

SSS:

I’m on a budget.
I want to do more than make magic smoke appear from my hands.
I like to be able to replace all the parts easily.
I prefer to do this sleeveless.
I would like to be taught a range of other uses for magic smoke.
I want cheap and easy refills.
I need this to be almost silent.

Do you already own a device? What do you think of it? Share your thoughts in the comments section below:

There are many magic dealers that choose to present a huge range of magic tricks, without any vetting or limited selection. Like Amazon, they offer the whole market of magic and allow you to choose which magic tricks that you feel are right for you.

Advantages of supermarket magic dealers

Disadvantages of the supermarket magic dealers

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