Support Your FLGS

[Fenris-77]

A good FLGS is a joy forever. The two that were my other home during my teen years were formative for me.

 

[Jd Smith1]

I would like to support my local store, but I only buy pdfs, and those very infrequently.

 

[MGibster]

We have a pretty good game store here in Little Rock with a decent selection of board games, miniatures, card games, and some RPGs. The RPG section is rather anemic and utterly dominated by D&D and Pathfinder. I can't hold that against them as I expect anything other than Pathfinder and D&D tends to stay on shelves for a long, long time. One of the reasons I choose to support my local game store is because they offer a place for people to game. (You know, in the Before Times.) It's great having a place where I can meet new people and play new games and I think it's great for the hobby as a whole.

A few years back I purchased the Space Hulk board game for, shoot, something like $150. A few days later I returned to the store for board game night and saw that it was on sale for $100. Cursing my bad luck but not being at all mad about it I carried on with my life. The next time I made a purchase I was surprised when the clerk told me I had a $50 credit and whether or not I wanted to use it. I declined at the time thinking someone made an error and the next time I was in I spoke with the manager about it. They saw that I had made the purchase just a few days before it was going on sale and they decided to credit me.

 

[Thondor]

I would like to support my local store, but I only buy pdfs, and those very infrequently.

As mentioned, right now even our PDF sales have 20% go to support a FLGS (we are limiting it to Canadian local game stores, because that is the area we focus on for retailers.)

In another thread you and I were discussing some of XPRs Advanced Adventures line, if you do pick one or two up, I will happily earmark the 20% for a FLGS that I know used to carry XPRs stuff in print back when that was an option.

@MGibster that sounds like an awesome store, thanks for sharing.

 

[Jd Smith1]

As mentioned, right now even our PDF sales have 20% go to support a FLGS (we are limiting it to Canadian local game stores, because that is the area we focus on for retailers.)

In another thread you and I were discussing some of XPRs Advanced Adventures line, if you do pick one or two up, I will happily earmark the 20% for a FLGS that I know used to carry XPRs stuff in print back when that was an option.

I have no pdf purchases planned. I've got more gaming material on hand than I'll use in the next twelve months, or more. These days I don't buy RPG stuff unless I'm likely to use it.

 

[Thondor]

I have started recording some "unboxing" videos for some of the titles on the marketplace. Perhaps you'll find one to your liking.

 

[Thondor]

Just an update to add:

Ship to Store returns! With our January promotion ended, you can once again use our ship to store option to have RPG books delivered at discounted shipping to your local Canadian game store. Your friendly local retailer receives a 10% credit on all ship-to-store sales, and gets to see RPG products they may not have otherwise. This option is visible on check-out and lists the current stores we work with in your province. (We're always looking to add more too!)
See all our print titles at Print RPGs

In addition, for a short time, you can designate any Canadian FLGS to receive a 5% affiliate bonus on all sales (including PDF sales), just indicate the store on checkout. I'm going to edit the opening post to add this info.

I hope folks will continue to discuss FLGS and suggest ways to support them in this thread.

Meanwhile, I’ve provided some details for FLGS and potential publishers over in this thread in the Promotion/Press forum, and plan to add product details their semi-regularly.

 

[Dire Bare]

Every time I've been to a local gamestore in the last couple of years I've had a very mediocre experience. I'm really not fond of Amazon, but its convenience, speed and lack of trouble far outweights what the local game stores have offered me.

My latest issues was last summer. The Advanced Player's Guide for Pathfinder 2E was announced like three months in advance. I go to my local game store, I ask them to put one copy aside from me and I confirm with them the date it'll release.

Comes release date, I phone them and they tell me they haven't had any news from their distributor and have no idea when the books will come in. I phone every week for four weeks, and they just can't tell me. I even went to another store a little while away and they had the same issue (my guess is that they had the same distributor).

Six weeks after the release of the book, I get phoned and told that they have the book in store. I get there, and the only thing they have is the deluxe edition. I had clearly said I wanted the regular edition but they tell me they only have deluxe editions. I ask them to phone me when they get them.

Four weeks later, I still am without a phone call and I stop at the game store to buy a cheap hourglass and I see the book on the shelves. I ask the owner why I wasn't noticed and I'm being told that they probably checked out my reservation when I came for the deluxe edition and didn't reinstate it when I asked to be notified for the regular edition.

As opposed, one of my coworkers received the book on the date of release with Amazon.

I like the idea of encouraging local game stores, but right now the gap is too big in term of pricing, convenience, service and speed. I have no advantages in any way to shop there. Most books are almost 20% pricier than on Amazon.

This sort of thing is a GOOD reason not to support your local FLGS . . . .

But of course, how well your local game store is managed varies wildly, like any business. I've had experiences just like yours @TheAlkaizer, and I'll shop at Amazon or another online retailer before going back.

I'm lucky that I now have at least one good okay FLGS in my area that has a nice, large and clean gaming area, and do a pretty good job of ordering product for me.

However, their employees have the same problem that game-store employees often have . . . . they pay attention to their favorite games, and ignore the rest. If you want to ask about something outside of their wheelhouse, they shrug and act like you're odd for asking. Ask them about their favorite game, or worse, a game they dislike . . . you can't get them to shut up. I do all my research online, and I walk in knowing exactly what I want, I don't rely on the FLGS staff to learn about upcoming games I might want to purchase. And if I really want something on release day, or something special like a limited edition . . . . I order online, as I don't trust them fully not to screw up my order.