Amazon.com no more for game purchases: Hypothetical...

[Thorin Stoutfoot]

Me too!

I buy from the cheapest source, period. The only exception was Ptolus, which I got as a Christmas present. Other than that, if it's not Amazon, it's eBay. I'm a firm believer in low costs. I don't fly business class or first class when I go on vacation either (and that's a luxury good, just like RPGS), so why should I pay full price when I buy RPG books?

 

[Baron Opal]

You know, I've never even seen one of these FLGSs where they have a staff that knows about games, people play in the store, or have games other than D&D. To me theyre mythical beasts like unicorns and gorillas.

Got one here in Salem. Nice place, and the owner even lurks here from time to time.

 

[Fishbone]

They're out there, but they are hard to find because its almost impossible to make money with the types of backwards business practices they have. Average game shop policy
1:Order far too much product of an item than it has a chance of clearing and offer them at full price, even though anyone with an internet connection and half a brain can get the product at 30 percent off or less.
2:Have a huge backlog of unmovable product because of step 1. They can't afford to eat an entire loss so they discount it a little.
3:Its STILL not moving. Either its too niche, or too old, or too crappy, or too cheap at www.lowpricesthatgameshopscantcompetewith.com. They deep discount, even lower than the competition in desperation, and most likely still don't sell off the backlog.
4: Game Shop owner beeyotches about how the internet is killing game shops.
I don't know what the right way to go about it is, but that ain't it, brother. It pains me to type that because I see my local gameshop in the clutches of that very same 4 step death spiral.

 

[Corsair]

To those who say "well I like to be able to flip through the book at the store": This is why I have more illicit pdf's than I will ever use. I got the MnM 1e pdf and decided to buy MnM 2e Same for B5 2e. Same for Draconomicon, MM3, PHB2, and SC (which I'm ordering tomorrow from Amazon).


That being said, I have no LGS, friendly or otherwise. If I did, I wouldn't be compelled to support a business that can't support itself. Perhaps that leads to the Wal-Mart-ization of America, perhaps not. All I know is I have $876 a month rent, over $120 a month for utility + cable + internet, + car payments + insurance + gas + food. I don't have the extra cash just lying around to support some guy I barely know just because he carries a product that I like at a price that I don't.

 

[Numion]

That being said, I have no LGS, friendly or otherwise. If I did, I wouldn't be compelled to support a business that can't support itself. Perhaps that leads to the Wal-Mart-ization of America, perhaps not. All I know is I have $876 a month rent, over $120 a month for utility + cable + internet, + car payments + insurance + gas + food. I don't have the extra cash just lying around to support some guy I barely know just because he carries a product that I like at a price that I don't.

C'mon, surely you can forfeit utilities to hear some fatbeard yarn about his greatest hot bimbo elf ninja character at the not-so-LGS!11!

 

[JoeGKushner]

That being said, I have no LGS, friendly or otherwise. If I did, I wouldn't be compelled to support a business that can't support itself. Perhaps that leads to the Wal-Mart-ization of America, perhaps not. All I know is I have $876 a month rent, over $120 a month for utility + cable + internet, + car payments + insurance + gas + food. I don't have the extra cash just lying around to support some guy I barely know just because he carries a product that I like at a price that I don't.

Rent: $875
Gas: $50 (for apartment, probably a lot higher in the winter this year though!)
Gas: $90 (driving! Probably a lot higher soon)
Phone: $100 (cell split with 2 others)
Electric: $40-$100 (and ComEd's promising to bring the pain!)
Car: $350
Insurance: $100
Food: $300

No cable. No internet.

Don't buy as much from Games Plus, a fantastic store with great service, as much as I used to, mainly because I simply can't afford to. Still, when I can buy some nice impulse items like miniatures, paint, and brushes, I do.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Would you pay full price for RPGs?

I always pay full price for RPGs. But then again, I live in Germany where this is normal.

 

[Arnwyn]

What if other books went that rotue and even the standards like the Book of Eldritch Might, etc... were no longer being sold by Amazon.com or other online discounters. Or being sold, but with no discount?

Would you pay full price for RPGs?

Would you start hunting down e-bay more?

I wouldn't change anything. I don't have a problem paying "full price" (which is simply US$ * exchange rate in Cdn$) for RPGs, so I shop mostly at my LGS - since their prices are fair and I don't pay shipping.

Well, I might change something. I'd start to point and laugh at the complaining Americans who still have tons of sources available to them to get their RPGs, as opposed to others (like Canadians) who don't have those sources and get ripped off by American-based online retailers who insist on overcharging for shipping with completely unreasonable rates.

 

[amethal]

Well, I might change something. I'd start to point and laugh at the complaining Americans who still have tons of sources available to them to get their RPGs, as opposed to others (like Canadians) who don't have those sources and get ripped off by American-based online retailers who insist on overcharging for shipping with completely unreasonable rates.

Seconded.

Some of the "discount sellers" charge 50 dollars to ship a single book to Europe.

Of course, there's one or two on eBay who do the same; one of these days I'm bound to order something from them by accident (and probably refuse to pay).

 

[Ao the Overkitty]

I actually pay close to full price for the books I want, since they aren't available for a discount anywhere anyway. Luckily, my local game store sometimes has coupons for 10% off a purchase of $50 or more and 20% off a purchase of $100 or more.

This just means i don't make many purchases and, when i do, I buy a bunch at once. It's not a great discount, but it's better than nothing.

I don't think i've purchased a book online in a couple of years. Back when i was buying D&D books, I pretty much exclusively used Amazon.