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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 980114" data-attributes="member: 1457">No. Dirt stores live and die by monetizing limited shelf space and moving inventory. Carrying obsolete product is a recipe for disaster.Example:You have $10 to spend on inventory, 10 units of shelf space, and your rent costs $10 per month. Each unit of inventory costs $1 and you sell it for $2 (making a $1 profit). You have to sell 10 units every month in order to be able to pay your rent. Any item that you buy but don't sell to customers represents "frozen" money: the money you spent on the item can't be used to pay your rent, but the rent is still due. So, say you bought 1 unit of 3E on the chance that someone might want obsolete product, and 9 units of other gaming product. That means that the unit of 3E is taking one of your 10 retail shelf spaces, a space that could have been used for something with a higher chance of selling. And if that one unit of 3E doesn't sell, you won't be able to make your rent payment and your store goes out of business. The penalty isn't worth the reward; it's much safer to just stock 3.5--you know that it *will* sell, and it'll sell relatively quickly. A wise dirt store strategy is to stock items that many customers want, items with high margins, or items that sell quickly (like 3.5 or collectable games). An unwise strategy is to stock items that are obsolete or slow moving (like 3E or any but the most popular individually-packaged unpainted lead miniatures).An online store, of course, has unlimited "shelf space", and can virtually stock inventory by ordering or drop-shipping from a distributor *after* an order is placed.For example, Amazon.com has stock (virtual or otherwise) on all three 3E core rulebooks. You can order any of the three core rulebooks and have it shipped to your very door in 24 hours. Or you can order a used book from one of the many Used sellers. Or, heck, you can even order the 2nd Edition player's handbook and have it shipped to your door in 1-2 days.Dirt stores know that online stores exist. The wise ones let online stores handle the back catalog/obscure products, and instead try to get sales on new/high demand/high velocity items.-zPS: for those of you that *are* converting to 3.5, you can try to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/833858/" target="_blank">sell your old books</a> on Amazon.</blockquote>

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