Bookstore treats D&D books like Playboy

[VirgilCaine]

Imagine my disappointment when the thread turns out to be about shrinkage.

I was in the pool!

 

[Altalazar]

Again, go back to the original post.





Altazar admits generally buying from Amazon, and going to that store not for puchase (which he can still do) but for browsing (which is now pretty much precluded). If most of the rpg book "customers" in the store follow the same example, then theft is hardly necessary to make the store move the books.

Let us assume, for a moment, that the store is in business to make money, and is not a lending library. The store previously supplied a service (ability to browse, and hence make informed purchasing decisions) on the basis of a service = sales model. Thereafter, customers decided that they liked the service (browsing) but didn't equate the service with any actual value (i.e., the browsing didn't enter the equation when deciding whether or not Amazon was cheaper on the whole). So, as the service costs the store money in wear and tear as well as in supplying the books, the store withdrew said service.

Can you honestly blame them?

Conversely, if you were a customer who went in to buy rpg books, and did so on even a semi-regular basis, you probably wouldn't have any trouble asking to see a book (as you know you are not there simply to browse, and as the management knows the same).

Of course, smaller publishers require those same brick-and-mortar stores to create a large enough pre-order to offset printing costs. So, the more you "browse then shop Amazon" the more likely you make it that the local outlet stops carrying rpg materials, and the more likely you make it that smaller companies go under. Hence, there is less potential material available for you to choose from.

PDF format publishing helps keep smaller companies afloat, luckily, but that's still more of a gamble than determining a print run based on pre-orders from actual stores. This is because (1) you have no idea how many copies you will sell before "going to press" and (2) it is far easier to steal an electronic format book than a print book. Think shrinkage is a problem in the brick-and-mortar stores? Imagine how many illegal transfers of the BoVD have occurred since the book's release.

Courtesy begets courtesy, and you get what you pay for.


RC

You need to scroll down a bit - and see where I said that I buy generally from Amazon - but only those books that I'd buy without having to browse them first. Other books I'd only buy after having the opportunity to browse them, and those books I buy at the bookstore. See my other post up above regarding this. So they are, in fact, losing business from me by their policy.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

So why not use the tags that set off alarms like they use for DVDs and CDs? They already have it in the store. Why not tag the books as well? You'd think the insurance company would have demanded it by now, with having to pay that much out in losses (the bookstore isn't what takes the hit, it is the insurance company that does).

The tags I've seen in books are so easy to remove it isn't even funny. They've got a light adhesive and are stuck in the pages of a book (usually hardcover) and can be removed in a split second.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL.

Quoted for truthery!

 

[JVisgaitis]

Anyone else see this happen? This is a major chain - Barnes and Noble - though I've not seen them do it at other BN stores. Anyone else think this is just silly and probably eliminates business?

Our Walden Books did the same thing and kept it like that for a couple years due to theft which really sucked because the closest gaming store to me is 60 miles away. Thankfully, one of my old gaming friends got a job there and convinced the manager to put it all back.

They've since introduced those anti theft sticker thingies on all their books and while they're not fool proof, I don't have to walk up to the counter like a potato head and ask to see a copy of the latest book and stand their looking at it for 10-15 minutes while they stare at me.

 

[Bagpuss]

Sounds like shoplifting to me, I know a few friends that worked in major bookstores in the UK that use to carry RPG stuff, but stopped as they lost more books to theft than they ever actually sold. Just be glad they still stock them at all, very few normal bookshops do in the UK. The level of theft of RPG books was significantly higher than other books.

 

[Raven Crowking]

You need to scroll down a bit - and see where I said that I buy generally from Amazon - but only those books that I'd buy without having to browse them first. Other books I'd only buy after having the opportunity to browse them, and those books I buy at the bookstore. See my other post up above regarding this. So they are, in fact, losing business from me by their policy.

Altalazar,

I'm actually very glad to hear that.

However, I am now puzzled as to why you no longer shop at that bookstore. Are you saying that if you walk up to the counter and say, "I am thinking of buying the Book of Unspeakable Wigglies. Can I see a copy?" that the management will not hand you one?


RC

 

[johnsemlak]

. The level of theft of RPG books was significantly higher than other books.

Perhaps I'm asking a dumb question, but any reasons why this is? I mean, all stereotypes of Gamers aside (and this thread is doing a bit to foster the bad stereotypes), it's suprising to me that broader-appeal items like bestsellers aren't stolen more. Though perhaps its an issue of scale.

 

[Wormwood]

I mean, all stereotypes of Gamers aside (and this thread is doing a bit to foster the bad stereotypes)

Why set those stereotypes aside? They exist for a reason.

 

[Bagpuss]

Though perhaps its an issue of scale.

I imagine it's because bestsellers tend to be cheaper (economies of scale) and also available in libraries, easier to borrow from a friend, etc.

Many shoplifters are in their teens and so gaming books appeal more than the latest Jackie Collins novel.