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More Magic
In my experience, Hocus Pocus offers a great selection and prompt service and delivery. I once ordered a fairly large illusion that arrived the next day, without overnight delivery charges. I was astounded. Unfortunately, the prop arrived broken but after contacting the company, they took care of me right away.

It turns out that an employee was driving a large shipment to Las Vegas so he swung down to LA to my home to accept the broken item and allow me to examine its replacement.


I don't know if I was particularly lucky or if this is the way that Hocus-Pocus treats all of its customers. But I was impressed.

If you're going to shop at Hocus Pocus, be sure to become a member (it's free) to obtain the lower pricing. The firm also has percentage-off sales that are worth waiting for-sometimes up to 20% off on most items.

Magic Warehouse usually has the lowest prices. I've always received excellent service and prompt shipment on the many items that I've ordered through this company. There are also some deals in the company's "sale" and used DVD sections.

Hank Lee's Magic Factory
The last vendor that I have purchased from is Hank Lee’s Magic Factory. I've always experienced excellent service and prompt shipment, but had a few instances that are worth mentioning.

When I was looking for a bubble effect a few years back, I found the hand-drawn picture on the Hank Lee site to be very misleading. I wrote a "Junk Drawer" story on this one. This product is no longer offered, but you don't want to rely on the cartoon picture to get an idea of what the prop looks like.

I’ve noticed that newer products on the site now have real pictures so I hope that this isn’t a problem in the future.

I once had a faulty item arrive from Hank Lee's Magic Factory. This was not the fault of Hank Lee, but due to shoddy workmanship and lack of quality control on the part of the manufacturer, Bazar De Magia. I wrote a "Junk Drawer" story about my bad experience with "Watch & Wear." On the plus side, Hank Lee was very prompt in shipping me a replacement item. I was impressed with the way that he resolved the problem.

In another instance, I ordered an item that was back-ordered, which took months to arrive. I was alerted to the fact that the item was being ordered, but I wasn't prepared for such a long wait.

If you purchase from Hank Lee, be sure to wait for the percentage-off sales, the highest of which is 25% off-a significant amount that often results in the lowest price for a prop.

Shopping Safely on the Web
For a guide to safely shopping on the internet, click here.

Again, if you have an internet shopping experience, positive or negative, please post them in this thread on our magic forum.