Purchasing decks - do most people order?

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 05 Jun 2005, and now archived in the Forum Library.

Kitch	05 Jun 2005
Pretty self-explanatory. When I scout around Perth bookstores they don't seem to stock a very wide range of decks. What kind of other stores generally sell tarot in Australia? Or do most people buy online? Also, for those that buy online, did you order your first deck online too?

innermoo	05 Jun 2005
HI Kitch I combine buying online and in bookstores... although at the moment purse is very tightly shut! I have REvelations on my wishlist at amazon and I shall be buying that next. I tend to see decks I like, either on here or via other board's recommendations and then look them up, if i like the images I order online. But I generally always HAVE to buy a deck whenever I am in a new age shop, (maybe thats why mr innermoo steers me away from them?) and then I go on intuition as its rare to be able to have a flick through. So far I have always preferred the ones I have researched and bought online to the ones I have chosen in a shop, apart from my first ever deck and there was no such thing as the internet in those days! ;)

HearthCricket	05 Jun 2005
I'm not from Australia, but hope to be a bit helpful. I buy about 50% of my decks via Amazon, online, and the other 50% at our local Borders Bookstore, because they have a nice selection, I have a discount, and they keep them under lock and key, behind a glass door, so they are always in great shape. We used to have a New Age store, just down the street, but that closed in January. They had a very small selection of tarot, and often the boxes were damaged. So much for them! My first deck was a Christmas present from my parents-they got it at a local bookstore. My first deck, that I picked out, was from another New Age store that had sample decks, so you could sit down, have a cup of tea/coffee and look through the entire deck before buying one. That is when I bought the Sacred Rose Tarot. That was 20 years ago, and they have moved closer to the city, but still do it that way, which I think is fantastic. However, I rarely get over there now, so I really depend on this website to see the cards before I order them. And the thread to links of sites that show the entire deck. Reading other people's remarks and reviews have been invaluable to me, too. Happy buying! I plan to pick some up, today, myself!

Moonbow*	05 Jun 2005
I buy from my local shop and on-line. As I'm in the UK I use Amazon UK, Playingcardsales and Alida mostly. I have also used Tarot Garden in the US. I also like to support my local metaphysical shop, if they aren't too much dearer than on-line. BUT.... lets not forget that at the top of each forum there is a link to on-line sites which also help to support Aeclectic (our favourtie site :))

Citrin	05 Jun 2005
I buy my decks in a new age kind of store close to my school. They have quite a lot of different ones, and even though they're not exactly cheap they're not as expensive as online or some bookstores. I recently won an auction at tradera (like e-bay), so that will be my first deck that I haven't bought in real life, so to speak. :)

Kitch	05 Jun 2005
innermoo wrote: So far I have always preferred the ones I have researched and bought online to the ones I have chosen in a shop, apart from my first ever deck and there was no such thing as the internet in those days! Hah yes, that slipped my mind - computers are integrated with my life nowadays... It's hard to believe the internet's such a recent phenomenon. HearthCricket wrote: However, I rarely get over there now, so I really depend on this website to see the cards before I order them. And the thread to links of sites that show the entire deck. Do you find that you need to see the whole deck when buying, or is this just a preference?

Alta	05 Jun 2005
I like to buy locally and support the merchants, but really now I have either bought or mentally rejected most readily-available decks. So, now I order on-line. My first two decks were purchased in stores.

tao51	05 Jun 2005
but, as Marion related, they do not always handle the decks that I seek. I order online form my favorite place--Tarot Garden. I usually pre-order the decks that I want. I am so happy that I found them.

WolfSpirit	05 Jun 2005
I bought my first deck in a local bookshop - it was the Rider-Waite. The shop has a few other decks now as well but not many. I like buying in a shop, there are various shops in town that sell a few decks but the choice is very limited. So I started buyin on-line, both for decks and books, and that works ok too. I also bought a few decks while on holiday and day trips to other towns - I like checking out bookstores and metaphysical shops so I sometimes find decks that way :)

mrowcat	05 Jun 2005
I got all of mine at a local shop - The Dancing Moon. They have an okay selection of tarot and oracle decks, but I still wish I had the gumption to suggest they expand their selection a little more.

Annabelle	05 Jun 2005
Well, I didn't buy my first deck online because the internet wasn't really around back then :). But these days I buy a lot of decks online, because a lot of the decks I want aren't available in local stores. I make a point of buying decks locally when I can, but I buy the majority of my decks from eBay, Amazon, Tarot Garden, and Overstock. I also buy (or trade for) quite a few of them here at Aeclectic, through the Tarot Trading forum.

Gerbear	05 Jun 2005
I too, started my collection way before the Internet existed. Then it was a matter of finding esoteric bookstores. Now, one can get decks from many places online, and from many countries. However, if an OOP deck hits your fancy, your options narrow to ebay and Tarot garden for the most part. The many privately issued decks are best acquired directly from the artist.

Fudugazi	05 Jun 2005
Both, but more often online. I stock up on English-language material when I'm in England, otherwise it's much more expensive here to buy English-language goods, even when I can find them. So I tend to buy French or German language (still quite pricey) tarot material from the local esosteric shops, to support them (as well as other goods like incense and crystals).

SunChariot	05 Jun 2005
I've bought all my decks online. I have 15 now. Usually at amazon (either amazon.ca or amazon.com) and a few at Tarot Garden. I find they each have a way larger selection than any store could have. Besides that I just happed to prefer to shop online whenever I can.:-) Bar

Vadella	05 Jun 2005
I buy mine from Books-a-million [locally] or amazon [online].

Kath	06 Jun 2005
I buy most of my decks from local bookshops. Most metaphysical bookshops will order decks and books in for you. Some of the larger chain stores, like Angus and Robertson and Borders will order decks in too (check out their websites). I don’t think I’ve ordered online from overseas, as the postage makes it an expensive exercise. Also, ebay is a good place to look.

Emeraldgirl	07 Jun 2005
Hi, As another aussie I know how hard it can be to get decks around here. I am lucky in that I work really close to 2 great shops but still it can be hard. I use Amazon a lot for my orders as they are usually a lot cheaper than our stores especially for a deck and book set. Also Jeanette at tarotgarden is great and she has super fast and reliable shipping. Hope this helps a bit :)

Kitch	07 Jun 2005
Emeraldgirl wrote: I use Amazon a lot for my orders as they are usually a lot cheaper than our stores especially for a deck and book set. Do you usually purchase the accompanying book when buying a set (if sold separately)? Also, if someone could give me a brief rundown on how well books translate between different decks it would be appreciated. For example, are there heavily varied meanings of cards between decks? Or is the interpretation generally universal and the book is bought for a review of the artist's concepts?

Sophie-David	08 Jun 2005
Hi Kitch Yes, I always buy a deck with its book if its available that way. Some of the books have almost been a waste of money but I don't like to feel that I might be missing something. I'm interested in the artist's intention and creative process, in symbology which I may have missed, in the stories behind the cards in themed decks, and in the author's guidance for divination and meditation. However, I often find the accompanying book's divination interpretations quite irritating and narrow - my standard guide has become Mary Greer's The Complete Book of Tarot Reversals. I would say that there are moderate shifts of meaning between decks which come out in both the cards themselves as well as in the accompanying books. I like to think of all the decks of the RWS family as being dialects of the same language. The reader develops an overall understanding of the language of Tarot based on study and experience, but each deck brings its own interesting flavour and focus to a reading. I do not have a local Tarot store, the nearest one is two hours away by road and has an owner with an attitude (gee, I'm really sorry I'm not a woman like the rest of your customers, I'll try not to disturb you again). At the 2-1/2 hour mark is a very nice store where I have bought Tarot bags. But for decks both stores are a lot more expensive compared to Amazon.ca, at least 50% more. This means I can often buy the deck plus book combination at Amazon for the price of the deck only in one of the regional stores. Besides the large price differential, there is no opportunity to look at the cards themselves in the shops since they are in sealed packages, so I can actually find out a lot more about them via the Internet. I bought all of my current eleven decks online. Most of these have been from Amazon.ca, but some were from Chapters.ca, my OOP Tarot for Cats was bought used from the USA through Amazon.com, and Blue Moon Tarot was bought directly from the artist. Cheers - David

The Purchasing decks - do most people order? thread was originally posted on 05 Jun 2005 in the Tarot Decks board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Tarot Decks, or read more archived threads.