Gamers vs Companies

[DracoSuave]

I enthusiasticly support the local brick-and-mortars for one -very- important reason. Self-interest.

Amazon is only interested in moving books, and they are very good at it. When one's sole concern is the moving of books then Amazon is a great place to go.

However, I am not buying books solely to read them. I intend on using them to further my enjoyment of a hobby, and a hobby that necessitates the participation of others in order to be enjoyable.

The local stores have a vested interest in furthering the hobby. More players means more revenue. I want my local store to make me a sales pitch, to try to sell me into enjoyable games, because it means that store knows that it's life is directly affected by the health of my hobby.

Also, gaming stores are usually owned and operated by enthusiasts, people who -love- the game themselves, so they have a double interest and a passion for the game. They'll have nights when you can gather with other enthusiasts and increase your appreciation for the game. Broaden your horizons.

The health of the hobby requires people introducing the game to new people. Brick and Mortar stores are one of those people at the forefront of this effort. My local store gives me updates on what is coming out, will order anything I want, and is run by a really cool dude who loves games. So he gets my money, because I want his store to thrive.

 

[Silverblade The Ench]

mark
I tried, same problem oh well.

 

[Mark]

mark
I tried, same problem oh well.

It's a American Civil War take on the same concept where an old soldier returns to the deep south and the ladies of the plantation are glad to see his shining face. Should he overstay his welcome, he encourages them to merely tap the old carpetbagger on the head and he will move on.

 

[Lord Xtheth]

I used to have a FLGS, at this flgs I would get books and MAGIC at cost, and the guy would order whatever I wanted and it would be there "next week".
The owners of that flgs fired that guy... and the store went out of buisness months later. (Months of not getting ANY income as opposed to getting lower income). So that went away.

The guy who got fired took me to a new FLGS. There I eventually got discounts, magic at cost, and was generally happy... Until the owner pissed me off by making a bad call at an "Incident" that happened. On a side note, 2 weeks after the guy pissed me off, the store shut down... (I'm not a conspiracy theorist or anything, but I like telling people I was directly responcible).

Now I have a significantly lower paying job, and haven't been able to support a 3rd FLGS because of lower amounts of disposable income. I realy don't feel like getting to know another store full of people... and they are very overpriced. (damn canadian pasos).

So I go through Amazon. They give me a discount (basically), they have stock all the time, I get my stuff in a week, I don't need to know new people and chances are they are not going out of buisness any time soon.

This is why I don't support my FLGS at the moment.

 

[jonshaft]

Does anyone here know execs at Wal-Mart? They could compete with Amazon and get WotC to make inexpensive versions of their books, maybe by printing more words on each page, using lower quality paper, and getting rid of those pesky illustrations. Everyone lives near a Wal-Mart, and if you don't, wait a year.

 

[Hawkwind]

Amazon are the the rpg equilivant of walmart and tescos and have and will do the same to small shops that dont offer very good service as tescos and walmart have done to thousands of small shops.i feel guilty about using them as i know they both treat their suppliers and workers like . Like file sharing its one of the economic facts of life today that keeps prices down. I am suprised to hear from Morrus that there is not a games shop in southampton any more as there used to be two and i am suprised how treebore finds the time to do all that price comparison stuff start a business raise a family post on half a dozen boards and game regularly !

 

[Maggan]

I used to have a FLGS, at this flgs I would get books and MAGIC at cost, and the guy would order whatever I wanted and it would be there "next week".
The owners of that flgs fired that guy

Wow. I would have fired his ass as well.

If by "at cost" you mean that the store made no profit at all from the sales. It doesn't matter if they got some money back from you, they didn't make any more of it. They might as well have put the money in a cookie jar for all the good it would do them.

/M