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Post by yuushalinsky on May 29, 2017 11:24:51 GMT -5
A great Nominochi from a buying perspective. I impulse-purchased a cosplay LOL
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Post by StarDustFragments on May 29, 2017 12:57:51 GMT -5
It's my first time to be part of AN Nominoichi, and I only need one word to describe my experience >>> #astounding lolz I will be back next year for sure Thank you so much for you hard work on organizing the event! :3
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sucktacular
Gotta post them all!
I like Death Note. Maybe a bit too much.
Posts: 74
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Post by sucktacular on May 29, 2017 15:00:40 GMT -5
Pros: Great deals, in fact it's my favorite event at Anime North! Wide selection of new and old, I find the dealers room is lacking certain series because they're simply out of date or out-of-print, and here you can find plenty of old figures and merch! There are plenty of sellers, so you never know what you'll find and at what price! The reservations, I would probably not shop at the Nomi if I couldn't reserve items ahead of time. I find the reservations an asset to how Nomi runs and works. It helps me get pumped for Anime North ahead of time, and it helps me get the exact items I'm looking for! Not as hot this year too, though that could have been the weather.
Cons: Way too crowded to shop. It was the same issue last year and the year before, it is near impossible to shop because people are huddled in front of tables not moving. I've seen people not even shopping, just standing there with their friends having a chat, so I end up spending more than 30 minutes of the first hour of Nomi waiting to pick up my reservations because people are just hanging out in front of tables. It's incredibly frustrating and I felt really bad for sellers as I would just have to walk away without looking at their table because customers were just taking up so much room unnecessarily. As well, because of this, it's IMPOSSIBLE to see table numbers! I spent so much time wandering around trying to count out which table number was which and figuring out where a half table started and ended. It was the most frustrating part of the whole experience, honestly. Some people were pretty smart about it and posted signs high up with their table number, but 9-times-out-of-10 I had no idea where I was because someone was standing right at the sign. Some people didn't even have a number on their table?
Suggestions: I don't know if this is even feasible or fair, but if there was some way to make it so those with reservations could pop in first, I think it would solve a LOT of issues. Especially with the stories of items being stolen when the seller get distracted trying to help another customer. Maybe don't let us do additional shopping, just pick up our items and back into line. I would honestly be okay with going in first to pick up my reservations, then being put to the back of the line with everyone else if I wanted to go back in when the doors open to the general public. Some sort of system to accommodate those that know what they want so they can get in and get out.
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Post by yuushalinsky on May 29, 2017 16:41:54 GMT -5
Pros: Great deals, in fact it's my favorite event at Anime North! Wide selection of new and old, I find the dealers room is lacking certain series because they're simply out of date or out-of-print, and here you can find plenty of old figures and merch! There are plenty of sellers, so you never know what you'll find and at what price! The reservations, I would probably not shop at the Nomi if I couldn't reserve items ahead of time. I find the reservations an asset to how Nomi runs and works. It helps me get pumped for Anime North ahead of time, and it helps me get the exact items I'm looking for! Not as hot this year too, though that could have been the weather. Cons: Way too crowded to shop. It was the same issue last year and the year before, it is near impossible to shop because people are huddled in front of tables not moving. I've seen people not even shopping, just standing there with their friends having a chat, so I end up spending more than 30 minutes of the first hour of Nomi waiting to pick up my reservations because people are just hanging out in front of tables. It's incredibly frustrating and I felt really bad for sellers as I would just have to walk away without looking at their table because customers were just taking up so much room unnecessarily. As well, because of this, it's IMPOSSIBLE to see table numbers! I spent so much time wandering around trying to count out which table number was which and figuring out where a half table started and ended. It was the most frustrating part of the whole experience, honestly. Some people were pretty smart about it and posted signs high up with their table number, but 9-times-out-of-10 I had no idea where I was because someone was standing right at the sign. Some people didn't even have a number on their table? Suggestions: I don't know if this is even feasible or fair, but if there was some way to make it so those with reservations could pop in first, I think it would solve a LOT of issues. Especially with the stories of items being stolen when the seller get distracted trying to help another customer. Maybe don't let us do additional shopping, just pick up our items and back into line. I would honestly be okay with going in first to pick up my reservations, then being put to the back of the line with everyone else if I wanted to go back in when the doors open to the general public. Some sort of system to accommodate those that know what they want so they can get in and get out. To expand on this pretty much. Perhaps a policy that the sellers should be able to ask the buyers to leave if they haven't bought anything would be prudent. However, the selection is often better for niche goods.
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Post by Istoria on May 29, 2017 17:16:05 GMT -5
I was one of the returning sellers, this year being the third.
This year has been the most pleasant of all as: 1. It was definitely more spacious not only for the entire room but also in terms of how tables were placed, more room to enter behind the tables, compared to previous years. 2. More pleasant and cool, nice AC! (previous years felt like being in a SAUNA with constant need to fan and hydrate) 3. Seller entrance has been placed well so that we won't be wandering in the main TCC halls not know where to go with huge luggage to carry, like previous years.
However, I should also add that this year has been the most peculiar year of all. Never I had any experience in previous years that made me suspect of items being stolen or didn't get the item that I expected when buying stuff off from other seller. By seeing that there were other cases of robbery, this further strengthens my suspicion.
I had a little keychain figurine that included little flower charm with it and although I was sure that it didn't sell off from my table, when I came back to the hotel later that night I noticed the said figurine missing, only the little flower charm that was connected with it remaining with loosened chain. This means someone actually INTENTIONALLY broke it apart and took without paying.
Moreover, I purchased a 3DS game (Nintendogs+cats) by the last 30 min of the Nomi. It was packaged in the box but I didn't give it a 'open-check' at the scene, and it was not until I actually opened up the box to see the actual game cartridge missing. I couldn't remember the table number so there was little I could do about that. It was even more upsetting since the seller gave me a deal with the price for it being last minute purchase.
Maybe I should also include how I had one item missing from the bunch that I reserved before the Nomi, but as I trust the seller I believe this issue would be solved very soon.
Anyway, the problems listed above were the very first in my three-year experience with Nomi. These problems are very upsetting, and I am hoping something could be done to either compensate or prevent this in future.
Apart from those mishaps, I definitely enjoyed this year's Nomi like the previous ones. Great work was done by the staffs, thank you very much for making this happen every year!
ps. Someone purchased a mini Zelda figure from my table but apparently forgot to take its base. If you see this, send me PM so we could arrange something for future.
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Post by kittyjordz on May 29, 2017 17:53:03 GMT -5
This year had A LOT of theft reports at the nomi. Hurts my soul. It makes me sad that there are those in the community who lower themselves to stealing from fellow con goers at what equates to essentially a giant garage sale. Most of the items on my table minus the 3ds I was selling were under 25$ including figures games etc and yet still people felt the urge to steal. It bites. Even when I was working my friend's booth in the dealer hall we never had a case of theft in 5 years.... its very disheartening. The only saving grace is from those years of selling in the dealers hall I have learned to keep high value items at my side and at all times. I don't know if it's plausible but would a security person be possible for next year or am I having a pipe dream? Even a volunteer who walks about and simply keeps an eye out would due us a huge solid. Just my two cents but as I said this year takes the cake the space was awesome and I came out fresh as a daisy not covered in sweat seeing everyone's happy faces with their purchases makes it all worthwhile mind you I may not have enough left to come back next year though lol.
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Post by kotoshin on May 29, 2017 19:59:24 GMT -5
However, I should also add that this year has been the most peculiar year of all. Never I had any experience in previous years that made me suspect of items being stolen or didn't get the item that I expected when buying stuff off from other seller. By seeing that there were other cases of robbery, this further strengthens my suspicion. I hope whoever you got the game from sees this and get in contact with you - they may have just forgot to pack it. I had the semi-opposite experience - I reserved a lot from one of my favourite sellers and had inquired on several more items after reservations closed. I went back to my table to check all my items as it was getting busy, and found that not only do I have EVERYTHING I paid for, but also all the items I asked about but decided ultimately to pass on XD; Before it got busy I ran back to return the stock - inventory can be hard to keep track of with all the small gashapon/charms! That said, I'm so sorry to hear about the broken charm. It's also not just the con, but just the other day at one of my local eb games I frequent I was wondering why just a plain black furball was Zelda BotW merchandise keychain - until I saw a whole bunch of others behind WITH the metallic charms. Reported it to the store clerk right away. It's actually easier to keep track of stuff this year for me as I shared a table with a friend who wasn't able to get one of his own. While there was less space to display, there was also less to focus on - I also somehow managed to do the best of all my years here!
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Post by straywind on May 30, 2017 11:53:49 GMT -5
Wow. I'm shocked to hear that there were quite a few items stolen this year from various sellers. In all my years of selling, only one thing was ever stolen from my table (a cheap chibi Futurama figure that my friend Adrien was selling about 2 Nomis ago). Things went pretty smoothly this year for me. My friend took video of her journey to my table about an hour or so into the Nomi. It was literally a wall of people that she fought through. My table (N117) was in the furthest column from the buyer entrance and I can barely remember seeing it crowded on our end. I definitely feel like my area struggled with foot traffic and that impacted my sales. I was kind of concerned when I was packing up, but I still sold fairly well this year and that was a pleasant surprise. I can't really complain about that given that the crushing crowds would make it hard to keep an eye on things. It was also so much cooler in the venue this year which was great. I definitely need to figure out a better way to organize the area behind my table. This was the first year that I couldn't arrange my stuff so that I could pull out my chair despite packing my stuff the same way as last year. I had to stand for the entire Nominoichi. The whole area behind my table to the end of our row was a bottleneck of luggage and boxes so it was super hard to get out. It felt like we had less space behind the tables this year, but I might just have been imagining it. I wish we could get another foot or something of space to work with just because it became quite difficult to store and properly sort through holds. It might just be my poor organization though. My poor table neighbour had an accident so she was late setting up so it's understandable that things were a bit chaotic. You can't really plan for things like that. In general I don't have complaints. I was happy with how it went. I do wish the TCC had curb cuts to make it easier to get carts and suitcases into the building, but its not something that can change unless the con brings in temporary ramps. The parking near the dealer's room loading zone was perfect for shuttling things into the Congress Centre so I appreciated that. The building closing announcements definitely put a damper on last minute sales. It really was pretty dead in the last hour. I was super ready to make some deals, but nobody was around to sell to. XD Oh well, there is always eBay in the meantime and the Nomi again next year to look forward to. (^_^)
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Post by nerdie4u on May 30, 2017 12:11:46 GMT -5
hello this was my 2nd year doing the nom and I say it was very very good this year. lots of space and easy to get to. The only thing I wish was done differently is that on my first year I was able to have my friends come with just to drop off my stuff at the table since I had so much then they left right away. This year they were told they had to stand to side where I had to keep going back and forth since I was at far table. I just hope next year they will be allowed to just quickly help and drop my stuff off then leave again like they did first year. other than that it went very smoothly.
edit: the announcements about something closing a lot of people thought we were and started to leave and I even saw some sellers packing up.
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Post by neosaturn on May 30, 2017 13:34:30 GMT -5
Overall!! I am very pleased and happy with Nominoichi this year The room was good and getting it was fast for me. The only concern would be ensuring that there is ramp, that strange gap can be dangerous. also if we are keeping this location again it would be good suggestions that sellers park at the radison because that makes transporting good a lot easier. I may participate again but that depends if I am willing to part with some items
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Post by averagebox on May 31, 2017 1:28:55 GMT -5
This was my second year selling at Nomi and overall I have to say it was definitely a huge improvement over last year and I really enjoyed it!
Pros: - Having an indoor waiting area was perfect (especially with rain warnings) - Much more spacious Nomi and selling area - Air ventilation was great/room was cooled unlike previous years where it was unbearable.
Cons: - The announcement near the end that everyone was talking about had confused me as well. Because of this announcement I packed up a bit earlier than I needed too as I had thought Nomi was done as well. - I think having a sooner set up time would be more beneficial as an hour didn't seemed to be pushing it close. - The small ramp near the entrance was hard to get over and forced me to have to empty my trolly and reload it once I got over the ramp.
Overall though, it was an amazing experience and I can't wait to sell again next year!
PS. Thanks again to Kotoshin for sharing her table with me. I was late to table reservations this year as it had completely slipped my mind since I was swamped with exams at the time. Her sharing a table was the best thing I could have ever asked and I can't wait to see you again next year!
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Post by kotoshin on May 31, 2017 6:34:42 GMT -5
PS. Thanks again to Kotoshin for sharing her table with me. I was late to table reservations this year as it had completely slipped my mind since I was swamped with exams at the time. Her sharing a table was the best thing I could have ever asked and I can't wait to see you again next year! You're welcome, you're a great table partner - BTW did you ever find your bravely default Collector's Edition extras? XDDDD
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Post by leafari on Jun 1, 2017 15:15:27 GMT -5
Let me first of all say, thank you to all of the volunteers and staff who worked to make this Nominoichi possible. They were absolutely fantastic for the most part, much more so than in previous years, and they deserve a big round of applause! Now, let's get into the good and bad: The atmosphere change was greatly needed, and I think everyone liked the cooler, just-as-spacious Hall C. Please think of continuing to have it there in the future! :0 I actually didn't notice there was a water station until I unintentionally passed by it while a friend and I were looking for the bathroom. It was a good decision that likely helped a whole lot, but maybe it should be made a bit more clear? Maybe even putting it on the Nominoichi map would be a better idea for the future? I showed up really, really late to the line (with about 15 minutes until opening, at the point where the line had looped from the doors, to around the building at the back of the lot, and back again), and I actually wasn't late to pick up my reserves at all, even though I had a decent amount of them (14-ish?) all scattered about. So, thanks again to the staff for their diligence. I didn't have trouble with the crowds, either. They weren't hard to navigate, and the lot of the people in them were surprisingly nice to me! I kept dropping my change all over the floor, and people I'd never met before would often have the courtesy to help me pick it up and return it. I was very grateful, and somewhat surprised by that. Canadian kindness, I suppose? :< My only trouble with the crowds is the thought of people stealing from tables, which isn't uncommon, but it's striking to hear about it in such great numbers. A decent amount of people on here have claimed to have been stolen from, which is absolutely terrible. :C I'm not sure if security can help because of the crowds, but if there is any way they could, I think the sellers would all appreciate it. For sellers, all I can suggest is that when selling more valuable items, keep them closer to your end of the table to avoid having larger, more expensive goods stolen. I always see people talking about the problem of not being able to see table numbers, but I know that's something that really can't be helped. Being able to see table numbers relies both on the buyers being aware and staying out of the way of the sign (which can be difficult in this hustle-bustle setting), and the sellers making sure their signs can be seen, either by making a clear view path for it, or crafting a sign to put above them or on their table for people to more clearly see. (like that one table with the Pokéstop sign; you, sir, are awesome! :3) I feel this behavior should be encouraged to sellers in future Nominoichis, and would stop the table number problem from happening so often. Having staff around for this might be helpful, but I think it might just hinder possible buyers and encourage them to look elsewhere. But that's just my opinion. :0 I see people talking about the announcement for Nomi's closing, and I think I actually know why this happened. I actually thought Nominoichi closed at 10PM in the beginning, but when I went back to check my guidebook today, I noticed I only saw the "10PM" thing beside the box, and connected it into meaning "This is when Nomi closes." and not "Nomi is still going on until the next box, which is when it closes." I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's basically just the time layout of the guidebook kind of screwed up my sense of time, and maybe the people who made the announcement made the same mistake? Who knows, but maybe fixing the times to either say 10:00PM - 10:30PM or putting the times at where the boxes end/begin in the guidebook could prevent this problem? I hope this is making sense... ;u; I'll make a diagram of what I'm trying to say here if anyone wants a proper explanation... Someone suggested moving Nominoichi to Saturday, and I personally think that though this might seem like a good idea on paper, it's a not-so-good idea in practice. The Fridays seem to be hectic enough for the sellers as it is, so moving it to the busiest day/night of the con would just make it pounds more harder on them. But if it's a matter of getting more business, I don't think we need to change the day to do that. If anything, I think the thing that takes a lot of the business away from Nomi on Friday is the Drag Show, which opens at the exact same time, and ends an hour and a half before Nomi does. (this also happened last year, by the way) This wouldn't be so bad, if the Holiday Inn East wasn't what felt like a million miles away from the TCC, practically discouraging anybody from going back in a rush just to get to Nomi. Don't get me wrong, I love the Drag Show; it's awesome, and I love going! But if it was moved to a different time in the day, or maybe to a closer place, I think there'd be a lot more business in Nomi, at least during the last little while, if that's what people want. Lastly, people sold me bootlegs in Nomi. I didn't realize until I was out of Nomi and I checked my items, and that's honestly my bad. I should've thought a bit harder about my purchases before making them at these tables, because I'd even asked them about whether or not they were bootlegs, and they would not give me straight answers. I remember quite a few tables and what they looked like, but only a handful of the numbers. Personally, I don't mind so much that they're bootlegs, because I like just putting them out for my own display purposes, and not for the purpose of reselling them, but when my time eventually comes to sell at Nomi and I can't sell them off, it's going to be somewhat disappointing, since it's where I bought them in the first place. Thankfully, they weren't horridly expensive or being paraded around like they were the real thing. (which should've had my sirens going off, but I honestly was distracted by the new setting in too much of a good way to let it bother me) If any of the staff wants to know these table numbers/sellers for the future, don't hesitate to get into contact with me, and I will gladly oblige. Thank you to all the people, both staff and seller, who participated, and thanks to all the people I made reserves with. You've made me very happy, and I hope we can talk and do business again soon! Have a nice summer, and I'll see you all next year!
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Post by The Chris McKenna on Jun 1, 2017 20:07:13 GMT -5
First of all I want to extend our thanks to everyone who has taken the time to leave comments. Although we can't always implement every idea, we do read and consider them all. It is through your feedback that many positive changes in the Nominoichi have happened in the past, and I hope we can continue to work together to make it an even better event in the future! Now on to some specific points: - We liked Hall C. I believe the consensus both on our side and yours is that Hall C worked better than Hall A. I'm not sure where we'll be next year (those details are not decided and involve other factors) but the separate entrance to the sellers area and enough space for the buyers line both seem to work better in Hall C.
- The announcements were confusing, and in my opinion, overused. This was the first year we had them and by next year there will be a specific script to read to better clarify that while most of the TCC may be closed at 10:00, the Nominoichi and the front panel rooms are open later than that.
- We will likely be staying on Friday night. Moving to Saturday would be very difficult to manage for us and many of our sellers have said they prefer a Friday night event to better raise some money for the weekend.
- After reading all the posts and threads it appears that there were at least four items that are assumed to be stolen. This is not a huge number, but is it one that we do take seriously. However, at no point did any seller come to us at the staff tables to report any missing or stolen items. Anime North has several police officers on site at all times, and we are willing to work with you and them to properly report any stolen merchandise, but you have to tell us about it at the Nominoichi.
- Likewise, we did not receive any reports of bootlegs being sold, or of sellers offering damaged items during the Nominoichi. These are problems that we want to work to fix, but you have to tell us when they happen. If you know of any table that was violating the rules please send us an email or PM with the table number.
- The largest problem that we had, running the event, was the number of sellers who wanted to bring in "helpers" who were not included on the sellers list. I really thought we had clearly said that would not be permitted yet I'm not sure if everyone bothered to read the rules, or if they did and it was somehow still unclear.
... and that's where we are now. If you have any further reports about the event we'd love to hear them. Should you have any more questions or comments please let us know. Thanks for your continued interest in the Nominoichi, and we hope to see al of you back at the Nominoichi XIII next year!
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Post by xDream3 on Jun 2, 2017 1:11:59 GMT -5
I don't really have much complaints for this year, I liked the hall we were in because it was differently nicer and near the middle of the event was when they allowed in/out access from the other parts of TCC. I do agree that there should be a time frame where guests who have reserved could pick up their reserves, however I do not think this is should be during setup because that would be we would be given less then 3.5hrs to sell all our goods. But then again ... if sellers are organized enough and would be interested in, perhaps buyers could find them while they are lining up outside the door (before 5PM) and pick up their reserves then? I am not sure how this would work...
Going back to the suggestion of having buyers who have reserves to come in, pick up and than leave. From personal experience, it is extremely hard for security/staff at the doors to figure out who has a reserve and who doesn't and even then the seller may not even be at the table yet or prepared for pick-ups.
I also agree that the announcements were a bit overused, a script would be nice because the Friday announcer would say that the TCC except for Nominoichi + front rooms would close in 30mins, while the next announcement would be the TCC would closed in 15-30mins. I was slightly confused myself near the end and saw some guests heading for the doors. Try possibly having the announcer encourage guests to either leave the building and head to the Nominoichi area/front room instead of just saying the TCC would be closing in 30mins?
Also, the only thing I have to say about us as sellers being able to report goods that were stolen/broken but not paid for immediately to the staff would be that regardless on which row we were in, it was extremely hard to get in and out from behind the tables. I remember trying to carefully step over boxes and suitcases just to get out from behind the table during the time it was starting to die down around 9:30PM.
Overall, it was a good experience, I had no problems with theft or anything and what I did have a problem with I dealt with it when I could. I will be back again next year (if accepted).
Thank you!
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