4e & Internet Sales
- Thread starter Shroomy
- Start date
Ktulu
First Post
There are (were) two game stores in my town, along with a borders book store.
Game Store I sells mainly coins/cards/paintball stuff, and has a back wall for some game material. They usually stock 1-3 copies of a book (which go quickly), never have any sales, and mark up their prices an average of $2.
Game Store II (now out of business) stocked even less than GSI above, frequently ran out of, or didn't have on order, items I wanted. There were never any sales, and their debit machine charged a fee of $1 to use.
Borders stocks 3-4 copies of every book has preorders, frequently has a 25-30% off coupon available to card members. Unfortunately, they usually don't get the book on time (if you preorder, you often get it a week after the books out) and are bad about restocking. Buying minis is a bigger gamble than usual, as many have been opened and pocketed.
Amazon: Ships to my office, has preorders with often a 20-40$ markdown, I can buy used or new, and the idea of out of stock is almost impossible.
I primarily shop at Amazon, though borders get's my money on things that I'm not sure on until reading.
Game Store I sells mainly coins/cards/paintball stuff, and has a back wall for some game material. They usually stock 1-3 copies of a book (which go quickly), never have any sales, and mark up their prices an average of $2.
Game Store II (now out of business) stocked even less than GSI above, frequently ran out of, or didn't have on order, items I wanted. There were never any sales, and their debit machine charged a fee of $1 to use.
Borders stocks 3-4 copies of every book has preorders, frequently has a 25-30% off coupon available to card members. Unfortunately, they usually don't get the book on time (if you preorder, you often get it a week after the books out) and are bad about restocking. Buying minis is a bigger gamble than usual, as many have been opened and pocketed.
Amazon: Ships to my office, has preorders with often a 20-40$ markdown, I can buy used or new, and the idea of out of stock is almost impossible.
I primarily shop at Amazon, though borders get's my money on things that I'm not sure on until reading.
thecasualoblivion
First Post
I've bought a few things online, like the FRCS, H3 Pyramid of Shadows, all of the 3rd party stuff I own, and all of my cases of D&D minis. So I said 25% or so.
For the most part though, I shop at a local Waldenbooks who consistently put the D&D books on shelves 4-5 days prior to the official launch. It doesn't help that my FLGS has a crappy distributor who can't be relied upon to deliver things on time. I'm willing to pay full price to support my FLGS, but I'm not willing to wait.
For the most part though, I shop at a local Waldenbooks who consistently put the D&D books on shelves 4-5 days prior to the official launch. It doesn't help that my FLGS has a crappy distributor who can't be relied upon to deliver things on time. I'm willing to pay full price to support my FLGS, but I'm not willing to wait.
Daniel D. Fox
Explorer
I illegally downloaded them in order to preview them, then purchased one boxed set on Amazon and four PHBs; one for each player in my group.
No nearby game stores where I live, so I guy everything on line or at cons.
Shemeska
Adventurer
Well I don't plan on buying any 4e books, but...
Prior to 4e, I bought virtually all 3.x books in the 3.5 era from Amazon.com. And currently I largely buy all my RPG books for other systems/settings via Amazon as well, except for Shadowrun which doesn't apparently offer their new stuff on Amazon. The only exceptions to the Amazon flurry are books that get released at GenCon early, and those I'll buy at full price to snag them ahead of time.
I pay for the free 2-day shipping from Amazon yearly, and so between that and Amazon so heavily discounting the retail prices, there's really no way to compete with them unless I buy something spur of the moment while at the local comic shop (impulse buys from a shelf are easier than having to actively browse amazon listings).
Prior to 4e, I bought virtually all 3.x books in the 3.5 era from Amazon.com. And currently I largely buy all my RPG books for other systems/settings via Amazon as well, except for Shadowrun which doesn't apparently offer their new stuff on Amazon. The only exceptions to the Amazon flurry are books that get released at GenCon early, and those I'll buy at full price to snag them ahead of time.
I pay for the free 2-day shipping from Amazon yearly, and so between that and Amazon so heavily discounting the retail prices, there's really no way to compete with them unless I buy something spur of the moment while at the local comic shop (impulse buys from a shelf are easier than having to actively browse amazon listings).
