Free RPG Day - good idea, or bad?

[thalmin]

I wasn't in position all day to see what went when, but the C&C giveaways were all gone by early afternoon. For the record, the dice were first to go, the Gamemastery books second, and I don't know after that. I don't want to embarrass anyone so I won't say what is still left over.

 

[Glyfair]

For the record, the dice were first to go, the Gamemastery books second, and I don't know after that. I don't want to embarrass anyone so I won't say what is still left over.

At the first, smaller store (actually a book store/comic store/new age store/gaming store) the dice were gone when I arrived about 2 hours after opening. Changeling was down to one copy (which disappeared fast). I arrived at the other store just before closing and most of what was left was the black & white pamphlet products (in fact, I took nothing from this store), I think one copy of 4 products was all that was left (although I believe they mentioned having some stuff behind the counter, but that might have been the employees choices that they were willing to let me ahve).

 

[thalmin]

My employees and I refrained from taking anything until after closing. We got nothing.
I wanted a die, they were gone in 10 minutes. Gamemastery lasted half an hour.

 

[Wingnut]

Free RPG Day was a success for our store, especially for our sales in Goodman Games. We sold close to 30 Goodman modules, mostly DCC, but we sold through about half a dozen Wicked Fantasy Factories as well! There was nice activity in C&C, in fact it was an all around good saturday for us.
I am sorry we had to limit everyone to just one pick on the freebies, but at the end of the day there were only a few pieces remaining (several customers passed on these and went away empty handed).

Curt,

Glad to hear the day went well...the dice were a "thank you" to the stores though...in the end, if you need more, contact Chessex, they can make you a whole bunch...though not for free.

Best,
Aldo

 

[scourger]

Good idea. It got me into a store I hadn't been in for almost 3 years. Turns out they're selling more games now. I bought a new book and will probbaly follow-up with more purchases of modules from one of the freebie companies.

 

[thalmin]

Curt,

Glad to hear the day went well...the dice were a "thank you" to the stores though...in the end, if you need more, contact Chessex, they can make you a whole bunch...though not for free.

Best,
Aldo

Had I known, with only 85 items, counting the dice, I still would have left them as freebies. They were picked up by some very long term customers (the first 2 customers have been coming in for about 25 years. They ARE Games Plus.)
And Aldo, thanks for putting this together. Let's do it again next year.

 

[Wingnut]

Had I known, with only 85 items, counting the dice, I still would have left them as freebies. They were picked up by some very long term customers (the first 2 customers have been coming in for about 25 years. They ARE Games Plus.)
And Aldo, thanks for putting this together. Let's do it again next year.

Curt,

You're definitely getting the event next year...and I already know how I am going to fix the lack of items problem for you guys...just like I know that retailers will most likely buy two boxes instead of one to cover the traffic!

Best,
Aldo

 

[Ghostwind]

The event went over quite well at our store. By the end of the night we had given everything away except a couple of copies of the Mongoose Runequest printout. We didn't have record sales, but it was a good day. We're in for next year again.

 

[Mystaros]

I have posted the tale of adventure and woe wrought by my players during my Free RPG Day demo on Gaming Report:

http://www.gamingreport.com

Please feel free to comment on your own Free RPG Day experiences there, as well.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Games Plus in Mount Prospect, IL is participating and I will be helping by running the Paizo adventure, Hollow's Last Hope by Jason Bulmahn and F Wesley Schneider. For those who might not know, it is the first level run up to the Pathfinder series they have in the works. It looks like a real winner!

Just to be clear Mark, Hollow's Last Hope is actually a prequel for Paizo's GameMastery Module series and not the Pathfinder series. I'm sure that they will still kick ass though.

Olaf the Stout