Bookstore treats D&D books like Playboy

[Mean Eyed Cat]

My wife used to work for B&N in Portland and she said that they always had theft issues with RPG books.

 

[Onathrin]

This thread reminded me of an RPG theft issue that came up when I was working at Hastings. I was straightening/organizing the RPG section and I shifted some books. One of the V:tM clanbooks fell off the shelf and to the ground. The back cover fell open and it looked like somebody had tore the back two pages out (the character sheet). Out of curiosity I checked the other clanbooks and sure enough every clanbook had the character sheet torn out.

What was really funny was that I'm pretty sure those sheets were available for free download on the White Wolf website.

 

[Barak]

RPGnow jut but all their stuff behind the counter because too many people download them.

 

[Storyteller01]

Have you considered that the above might be the reason?

Not every store wishes to be a "browsing section" so that you can see the books before ordering them from Amazon.com, you know. Moreover, browsers with no intention of buying that which they browse are almost invariably less concientious about damaging the browsed materials than those who browse to buy in the store.

"Shrinkage" occurs not only due to outright theft, but also due to damages incurred by inconsiderate browsing. D&D books seem to have a much higher chance of suffering wear & tear than, say, the latest Terry Goodkind novel. And there are a lot of people for whom the store's investment is nothing more than a free test drive.


RC

Have to agree with this one. We have a Borders out here that sells a small selection of game material, but don't get your hopes up. Extensive spine damage, dogeared paged, etc. A White Wolf changing breeds suppliment had pages ripped out. Can't blame the store really. They go through all this for something that isn't close to being their biggest seller (especially for WotC's prices).

 

[Andor]

I can see how it is annoying, but what's so traumatic about asking a clerk if you can browse a book that you now refuse to do buisness with that store? Is a cavity check involved?

 

[Arravis]

This seems like a much bigger problem than I had ever imagined. The massive loss of RPG books means that bookstores will be reluctant to buy them and therefor they'll order less, and prices go up for the rest of us. Ugh

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

The only outlet for gaming books in my hometown is a Hastings store. Their gaming section is getting smaller and smaller, with fewer new releases being purchased by the store for sale. I was told they may phase the entire section out because of theft.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

Hmm, here they're behind the counter in the local B&N here as well. Maybe it's a Michigan thing? :\


And when I say behind the counter, I mean at the end of the counter opposdite all their registers, where they tend to pile boxes of items they just recieved. So the last time I went in looking for a book I couldn't see anything because they had boxes of unopened product in the way.


-Ashrum

 

[Storyteller01]

The only outlet for gaming books in my hometown is a Hastings store. Their gaming section is getting smaller and smaller, with fewer new releases being purchased by the store for sale. I was told they may phase the entire section out because of theft.

Our shop had to place a dedicated position at our games selection (smaller items are under glass). I think RPG theft isn't so much a problem anymore, with the R/C equipment and track near by.

 

[DungeonmasterCal]

What's so ironic is, it's nearly impossible to find anyone in my town (pop. 44,000) who games! They must be truckin' in the shoplifters from other towns!