D&D 5E Chapters/Indigo and the death of the FLGS

[Lalato]

And it's only going to get worse as designers/publishers move to digital books and tools. Comic book stores also feel the pinch here, but I've seen some comic shops that get a cut of digital comics by essentially being an affiliate on comixology. Kind of like you can get money for being an Amazon affiliate.

This might be one way for gaming stores to survive in the future. Carry the stuff that can't be digital (including physical books), but also have affiliate programs for those items that are. Might also get some affiliate money for items that are physical too when you can't come close to competing on price. The trick is to engage with your customers to make sure they use your portal instead of going direct to Amazon or Chapters or whatever.

 

[pkt77242]

It's odd, I've never heard of a video game/system being released early or a movie being shown early. Is it because books (and especially RPG books) just aren't a big deal?

Anyway, I'm Canadian and I'm getting it from a gaming store tomorrow...not that I didn't try pre-ordering from Indigo. It just didn't ship on time to get it by tomorrow, so I cancelled. And that's mostly because I have to drive 300 km one way to get to a WPN store. I'd rather not, if I didn't have to. I'd have gladly supported the local store, but they're MtG/FNM only, they don't run Encounters anymore. The price wasn't a big deal (obviously...I'm spending $50 in gas alone to get this thing).

I have definitely heard of video games being released early. I was a big NCAA Football player (I have owned every game of it from NCAA Football 1998 till this last one 2014) and every year 10-20 people manage to get a copy early and would post screen shots and give ratings for players on http://www.operationsports.com/

 

[Agamon]

I have definitely heard of video games being released early. I was a big NCAA Football player (I have owned every game of it from NCAA Football 1998 till this last one 2014) and every year 10-20 people manage to get a copy early and would post screen shots and give ratings for players on http://www.operationsports.com/

10-20 people sounds like industry insiders of some sort, not general release.

 

[Mikeythorn]

I tend to use the Book Depository a good deal, because I live in New Zealand and they essentially charge nothing for shipping here. They broke the embargo for the Starter Set, but their website currently tells me that they don't yet have the PHB in stock. I had kinda wondered whether the "delay" in them getting the PHB might be the result of Wizards holding copies back because of the initial embargo-breakage.

 

[pkt77242]

10-20 people sounds like industry insiders of some sort, not general release.

Huh? 10-20 people posting on a forum means that many more people probably had it that weren't posting (plus multiple people said that they got it from a local store, though not a big box retailer. For instance on this forum we had only 3-5 people who had it and answered questions but it was a general release (as it seems that multiple stores in the chain released it early).

 

[nnms]

It's also possible that WotC simply doesn't have control over release dates with this part of distribution. Chapters might have a list of publishers that they sell sufficient volumes that they actually will pay attention to release dates and if you're not big enough for them to care, if it arrives, it goes on the shelves. Have employees check release dates of relatively low volume sellers at every store with every shipment is just a waste of money.

National bookstore chains care about release dates for things like the Harry Potter books as they came out. Or the Song of Ice & Fire books. Or maybe the next Fifty Shades type book or whatever. But D&D? Probably not worth the extra administration cost.

Box of books? Put them on the shelf.

 

[Daag]

Speaking as someone who lives in Canada, Toronto specifically, I tried calling all the gaming stores I know of in the area to find a possible WPN store that would have the early release. I couldn't actually find one that would have it early, nor did they even know much about the new release of D&D.

I would love to be able to support an LGS, however I haven't found one that meets my D&D needs, and so I go to Chapters because the books are available, and honestly much cheaper.

 

[gyor]

I thinking of buying it online at indigo/chapter because its half price now, but I've never ordered a book online, do they deliver it to my door, do I get a slip that tells me to go to the post office?

Honestly I'd prefer to just go to my local Chapters when I get the time and buy it, I hate using snail mail, but I don't want to pay twice as much money for the book!

 

[carmachu]

Checked it out now and when you click on it, it says pre-order, not yet released. Perhaps they changed it online...

 

[nnms]

I thinking of buying it online at indigo/chapter because its half price now, but I've never ordered a book online, do they deliver it to my door, do I get a slip that tells me to go to the post office?

Honestly I'd prefer to just go to my local Chapters when I get the time and buy it, I hate using snail mail, but I don't want to pay twice as much money for the book!

There's a shipping option to pick it up at whatever location you want. So you could pre-order it, and when it's available for pickup at the location you pick, you'll get an email and can go get it at the cash registers rather than off the shelf.