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Can Hobby Stores Make Their Saving Throw?
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<blockquote data-quote="pickin_grinnin" data-source="post: 7720482" data-attributes="member: 6697674"><p>Every business should have good customer service, whether they are brick-and-mortar or online. </p><p></p><p>What I'm saying is that local game stores have the opportunity to provide a free service to their customers via Free RPG Day that helps them stand out from online sellers. It's something they can do that differentiates them.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm 50 years old. I have been playing rpgs and going to local comic and games stores since the late 70s. Game and comic stores were notorious for having bad service even back then, unfortunately.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That's nothing new. Prices rise and fall all the time, and sometimes new business models come along that really change the equation. It has been that way throughout history. Customers still want good service.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yes, of course it does. That's the nature of brick and mortar retail, and always has been.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Yep, that's the modern day conundrum. The business models are changing, and continue to do so. </p><p></p><p>There are a lot of reasons that Amazon can charge less for things. That's not the point, though.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I remember when Bezos first started Amazon, working out of a tiny office and mostly drop-shipping to his customers. I started doing corporate Internet development somewhere around 1992, right from the very beginning. I was doing GOPHER pages (then HTML ones) for a bookstore chain at the time. They ended up falling behind Amazon due to some really bad business decisions on their part and never recovered. I have watched - and developed applications and websites for - ecommerce since it was possible to do such, starting with the book market. </p><p></p><p>These days I live within a 30 minute drive of several Amazon warehouses, and have a lot of friends who work for them, in various capacities. I have worked in both new and used bookstores at various points, as well. Amazon as a whole is problematic in a lot of ways, and it's a wonder that those warehouses work at all, but that's not really pertinent here. If there's one thing I understand intimately, it's the processes, tradeoffs, and realities of ecommerce and the difficulties brick and mortar stores have competing. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Of course I want my products at the lowest price. Most rpg hobbyists also do. Most people in general do. I still expect good customer service, though, which Amazon and the other online vendors I use generally provide.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I would not complain about paying to play in someone else's space, if that was something I did (I don't). I definitely don't whine when I'm in places where there aren't game stores. I'm surprised that so many have survived at all.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>That has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Again, the quality of the product and what I pay for it are different things. There is the real price to produce and print the book. Above that is the wholesale price, where the people who made the book get their profit. If I pay wholesale price or more, the people who make the books get their profit. The difference between what Amazon sells a book for and the wholesale price is Amazon's profit. The profit a game store makes is the difference between wholesale and whatever they sell the book for in their store. MSRP - manufacturer's SUGGESTED retail price - is generally the max they can set the price in the store and still be able to sell the item. Bookstores and comic shops were pricing certain things below MSRP long before the World Wide Web came along.</p><p></p><p>The actual percent difference between wholesale prices and MSRP varies from publisher to publisher. It's a very narrow margin on some books (ex. university publications) and a larger one on mass market stuff. In the end, though, game stores determine their own profit on each book they sell by deciding whether they'll take the full difference between wholesale and MSRP or something less than that. They have to balance the price by how many copies they are likely to sell and how long the book will take up shelf space before being sold. It can be a delicate balancing act.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>You're mixing two completely different things.</p><p></p><p>The ability to attract industry talent (game designers, writers, artists, etc.) and the ability of a local game store to stay open are two entirely different things. The state of game stores does not heavily influence industry talent, or quality of the products these days. In fact, most games never even make it to the shelves of game stores. They get sold online.</p><p></p><p>The customer service that a game company provides it's customers (getting product out on time, keeping promises about future publications, etc.) is an entirely different type of customer service than we're talking about with vendors. The type of customer service you expect from online vendors is even slightly different (though similar) to what you should expect from brick and mortar stores. Online vendors have to provide inexpensive, quick shipping, for example. Brick and mortar ones have to provide open hours, services at the register, etc. They all need to be friendly, honest, and easy to work with.</p><p></p><p>The fate of rpgs, their ongoing development, the quality of the products, their prices, and the talent they attract is in no way tied to the continued existence of local game stores. It was at one time, but most rpg book purchases are done online these days. You can get D&D and Pathfinder in Barnes and Noble and regular game stores, but even those are sold more often online.</p><p></p><p>The big point here - which ties back into my comment about Free RPG Day - is that people who want to be able to continue to run local game stores have to find ways to offer things that online sellers can't. If they can't do that, more and more of them will go under. It isn't wise for anyone to open a new game store these days. They're slowly dying out, as have other types of business throughout history. They don't need to be "saved" - they need to sink or swim. Free RPG Day is something they can offer than the online vendors don't. So is offering table space, for free or for rent. Food and drinks, tournaments, etc. are also things that online vendors can't offer. Some have come up with some really unique value-added services. If they don't do at least some of those things, they are just hastening their demise.</p><p></p><p>Though I feel sorry for struggling businesses, there is no guarantee that any particular one will sink or swim. That's almost entirely up to the decisions the game store owners make. When markets change, businesses have to change with them. Those that can't - or won't - end up closing. That's how commerce works, and how it has always worked.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="pickin_grinnin, post: 7720482, member: 6697674"] Every business should have good customer service, whether they are brick-and-mortar or online. What I'm saying is that local game stores have the opportunity to provide a free service to their customers via Free RPG Day that helps them stand out from online sellers. It's something they can do that differentiates them. I'm 50 years old. I have been playing rpgs and going to local comic and games stores since the late 70s. Game and comic stores were notorious for having bad service even back then, unfortunately. That's nothing new. Prices rise and fall all the time, and sometimes new business models come along that really change the equation. It has been that way throughout history. Customers still want good service. Yes, of course it does. That's the nature of brick and mortar retail, and always has been. Yep, that's the modern day conundrum. The business models are changing, and continue to do so. There are a lot of reasons that Amazon can charge less for things. That's not the point, though. I remember when Bezos first started Amazon, working out of a tiny office and mostly drop-shipping to his customers. I started doing corporate Internet development somewhere around 1992, right from the very beginning. I was doing GOPHER pages (then HTML ones) for a bookstore chain at the time. They ended up falling behind Amazon due to some really bad business decisions on their part and never recovered. I have watched - and developed applications and websites for - ecommerce since it was possible to do such, starting with the book market. These days I live within a 30 minute drive of several Amazon warehouses, and have a lot of friends who work for them, in various capacities. I have worked in both new and used bookstores at various points, as well. Amazon as a whole is problematic in a lot of ways, and it's a wonder that those warehouses work at all, but that's not really pertinent here. If there's one thing I understand intimately, it's the processes, tradeoffs, and realities of ecommerce and the difficulties brick and mortar stores have competing. Of course I want my products at the lowest price. Most rpg hobbyists also do. Most people in general do. I still expect good customer service, though, which Amazon and the other online vendors I use generally provide. I would not complain about paying to play in someone else's space, if that was something I did (I don't). I definitely don't whine when I'm in places where there aren't game stores. I'm surprised that so many have survived at all. That has absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. Again, the quality of the product and what I pay for it are different things. There is the real price to produce and print the book. Above that is the wholesale price, where the people who made the book get their profit. If I pay wholesale price or more, the people who make the books get their profit. The difference between what Amazon sells a book for and the wholesale price is Amazon's profit. The profit a game store makes is the difference between wholesale and whatever they sell the book for in their store. MSRP - manufacturer's SUGGESTED retail price - is generally the max they can set the price in the store and still be able to sell the item. Bookstores and comic shops were pricing certain things below MSRP long before the World Wide Web came along. The actual percent difference between wholesale prices and MSRP varies from publisher to publisher. It's a very narrow margin on some books (ex. university publications) and a larger one on mass market stuff. In the end, though, game stores determine their own profit on each book they sell by deciding whether they'll take the full difference between wholesale and MSRP or something less than that. They have to balance the price by how many copies they are likely to sell and how long the book will take up shelf space before being sold. It can be a delicate balancing act. You're mixing two completely different things. The ability to attract industry talent (game designers, writers, artists, etc.) and the ability of a local game store to stay open are two entirely different things. The state of game stores does not heavily influence industry talent, or quality of the products these days. In fact, most games never even make it to the shelves of game stores. They get sold online. The customer service that a game company provides it's customers (getting product out on time, keeping promises about future publications, etc.) is an entirely different type of customer service than we're talking about with vendors. The type of customer service you expect from online vendors is even slightly different (though similar) to what you should expect from brick and mortar stores. Online vendors have to provide inexpensive, quick shipping, for example. Brick and mortar ones have to provide open hours, services at the register, etc. They all need to be friendly, honest, and easy to work with. The fate of rpgs, their ongoing development, the quality of the products, their prices, and the talent they attract is in no way tied to the continued existence of local game stores. It was at one time, but most rpg book purchases are done online these days. You can get D&D and Pathfinder in Barnes and Noble and regular game stores, but even those are sold more often online. The big point here - which ties back into my comment about Free RPG Day - is that people who want to be able to continue to run local game stores have to find ways to offer things that online sellers can't. If they can't do that, more and more of them will go under. It isn't wise for anyone to open a new game store these days. They're slowly dying out, as have other types of business throughout history. They don't need to be "saved" - they need to sink or swim. Free RPG Day is something they can offer than the online vendors don't. So is offering table space, for free or for rent. Food and drinks, tournaments, etc. are also things that online vendors can't offer. Some have come up with some really unique value-added services. If they don't do at least some of those things, they are just hastening their demise. Though I feel sorry for struggling businesses, there is no guarantee that any particular one will sink or swim. That's almost entirely up to the decisions the game store owners make. When markets change, businesses have to change with them. Those that can't - or won't - end up closing. That's how commerce works, and how it has always worked. [/QUOTE]
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