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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JohnNephew" data-source="post: 955456" data-attributes="member: 2171">And, indeed, most of the FLGs's will be gone.  I hear tell that about 20% of game stores go out of business every year, maybe more."Please buy these bestsellers from me for a higher price than you'd pay elsewhere" is not a long-term business plan for a retailer.  "Let me win your business by discounting everything in order to meet or beat the best price out there" is a lousy plan, too, because for the small retailer the economics of discounting are a path to doom.  If the small retailer depends on those strategies for bread and butter, they're going out of businesss sooner or later.The game stores that are thriving do so by adding substantial value for their customers.  That value may be convenience (don't wait for delivery of a mail order), it may be selection (a customer may come in knowing that the store has a huge and well-organized selection of obscure D20 titles from small publishers...and walk out with a full-price 3.5 Player's Handbook), it may be service (the friendly merchant teaches you to play and you buy the game; or he learns your tastes, and helps you find titles you will enjoy, which you otherwise would not even have known existed), and so on.In my experience observing stores, the ones who really carry small press titles (not just the ones who stocked up on small-press D20 when the category was hot) are not particularly threatened by online discounters.  The people most threatened by online discounters are the ones with narrow selection and a lack of distinguishing features or a competitive edge.The Warhammer comment is interesting.  Games Workshop has been the most aggressive manufacturer in terms of cutting off online discounting.  But what they also do more than anyone is assert control over the FLGS, to use every means at their disposal to control what goes into the store, how it is merchandized, etc.  If a manufacturer does something to cut off online sales channels and discounting, you've got to expect that they too will look to get more out of it -- after all, a publisher is giving up sales volume (we get the same cut if a book is sold at 25% off, 40% off or full price), they need to make up for it somewhere.I don't think there's a force in the market to do it today, but at some point in the future I can imagine an RPG publisher that only sells to authorized dealers, prohibits discounting, invests heavily in (and micromanages) merchandising in those outlets, and so forth.  Perhaps a publisher would offer a deal like: "We will do everything to stop online discounting of our products, and we will provide a vast array of merchandising tools in your store.  In exchange, you agree to carry ONLY our product line in these categories."</blockquote>

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