(OT) Undercutting your LGS. Your opinion wanted.

[spacecrime.com]

Now, I'm not a lawyer and could be wrong about this,

You're not a lawyer, and you are wrong about this. I'm not a lawyer either, so I don't fully understand the exact distinction, but GW's policy is by all reports legal.

As I understand it -- again as not-a-lawyer -- GW can make "do not sell below a certain amount" a part of their direct retail terms. The retailer can sell GW for whatever amount they like, but GW is under no obligation to sell product to *them* if they violate the terms.

Now, GW can't tell a distributor to tell its customers to sell at a particular price, so it is possible for a discounter to buy GW product from the distributor and sell it at a deep discount. However, GW gives lousy discounts to distributors, which are then passed on to the retailers. If you're buying from the distributor at 35% off MSRP and then trying to sell at more than 20% off MSRP, your business is pretty much on a short track to oblivion.

Much as I dislike the company, I think it's fair to say that they do an excellent job of protecting their MSRP. Sure, you can sell their games at a discount, but unless you're GW it's financial suicide to do so. (Since GW can and does use its production advantage to undercut retailers as a matter of course, they get to have their cake and eat it too.)

yours,

 

[TalonComics]

Exactly what Chris said.

Of course it gets even worse what manufacturers can hold over distributors. Check this out:
Wizards of the Coast inforces a street date over distributors but doesn't hold that to retailers who buy direct from them. Why? I suppose you would just have to call it a bonus to retailers who buy direct. That's why with every gaming release someone always has it a week before many stores do. This "policy" has been going on for years and even with multiple complaints from distributors and retailers. Wizards is still doing it.

Sorry to get off on a tangent.

ThomasBJJ said

LOL, there used to be a game store 1 block away from me. I remember always going in there to buy modules and FR sourcebooks, but the selection was pretty pathetic, except for Ravenloft, the place had like 4 copies of every Ravenloft book ever made.

I asked them a few times why they didn't carry more FR stuff, thier answer was that they could special order it for me and have it in a little over a week. I told them that I usually go to the store to buy something because I want to read it that day, and why would I wait more than a week, when I know for a fact that the local Walden's bookstore in the mall has the book I want right now and I can have it in my hand in 10 minutes. They were NOT happy about that, and lectured me on "loyalty".

I ALWAYS try to buy my RPG stuff from a game shop, but if they don't have what I want, I WILL go elsewhere. That's just the way it is.

That story doesn't sound like one from the current d20 market as there's only a couple of FR modules even out right now.
In the current market there is just no way in hell a store can literally carry every d20 product instore without having a massive overhead. Since Walden Books is a corporation and not a locally owned store then can have a selection of books that just sits there and collects dust for years on end. Back in the 2e era there were so many modules there just wasn't a way to keep them all instock. Don't forget AD&D literally died on the shelf in the 90s. If Wizards of the Coast hadn't bought the whole shebang it could still be dead to this day.

~Derek

 

[Warchild]

I agree pretty much with TJ. Its the store owners responsibility to know her customers (if only to herself!) and what they are looking for. If she is wondering on whether to stock the Heroclix things, ask around. I've thoroughly had it with my own LGS. When there were 2 LGSs in my area, it was great. They had to compete with each other and give a damn about their customers. When the store that "dominates" the area now won out against the other LGS, the downslide in service was quick and stunning! I go in once in a great while (though not for several months since the last time) and still get blank looks and uninterested shrugs when i ask a couple questions. Its online purchasing exclusively for me these days.

Ahem, sorry. That rant overtook me for a moment.

Did you undercut him/them? Nope. If he decided to wait and see, then that is what can happen. Especially these days when your customers can easily go another way. The LGS need us more than we need them. Its up to them to make it attractive to enter their stores and worth giving them our business.

Now if you had walked in his store and tried to sell your cards, then i can certaintly see why he got pissed off. But if he is mad that someone beat him to the punch, he should be mad at himself, not you. If you also always buy elsewhere, then go into his store and play cards, i could see where some bad blood could develope. But if you went and bought some cards because he didn't have them for you, thats his tough luck. sheesh.

 

[spacecrime.com]

If she is wondering on whether to stock the Heroclix things, ask around.

I'm not disagreeing with your other points, but I just wanted to note that "asking around" is highly overrated as a method of deciding whether to stock something.

You can get some useful information with this method -- especially if you know who to ask -- but many of the customers I'm selling Heroclix to had no idea that they wanted the game until they saw it here in the store. Had I asked them if they wanted it 2 months earlier when I was making commitments to order product, they would have said "no".

Predicting product demand at this dollar level is an art, not a science. I don't mind that -- it's part of what makes my job interesting -- but let's not kid ourselves: Heroclix is only a sure hit in hindsight, and not stocking enough at first is an understandable error.

yours,

 

[noretoc]

asking customers

Just a quick note about this. I don't own a store, but my Local store does pretty well. One of the reasons is because they do ask us a lot what we are interested in. Yes, sometimespeople don't know they will want somthing before they see it, but if you run a store, you should always try to check with your customers to see what they like. Not only will it give you info, but I feel a lot more at home at my local gaming store, when I go in nd they say "Hey Ron, The epic level book is comming out next month, I You interested in it" It just makes you feel that they really want to be "your" store.

 

[Kichwas]

[BYou can get some useful information with this method -- especially if you know who to ask -- but many of the customers I'm selling Heroclix to had no idea that they wanted the game until they saw it here in the store. Had I asked them if they wanted it 2 months earlier when I was making commitments to order product, they would have said "no".[/B]

THis is where you use the internet. People on the net have been hyping up and talking about Heroclix for almost a year now if not more.

That's the general run for most products and you can find a lot out about how something will get accepted by seeing who's hyping it and how so.

 

[Ashtal]

Well, I want to know too: Did you ask the store whether or not they could order you some of the product? And did you bring the minis bought wholesale to play at the store?

No one can demand that you spend your money with them. At the same time, if the store has consistantly treated you well, maybe even given you a discount for your patronage, the least you can do is ask if they can order it in. If they can't, by all means, buy it where you can get it.

Still, the tricky thing is that your friend was reselling the stock to his buddies, I think. That could lead to a very slippy territory. If your friend can get this stuff wholesale, and in bulk, he could continue to deny the store sales. Ra-Ra Capitalism aside, no store can sell at warehouse prices and live for very long, so someone doing this on the side in large enough capacity could do some damage that may have been unnecessary if the store was just asked to make a special order for you and your friends.

 

[med stud]

From what you are saying, I think you did the right thing. The store owners job is to keep updated on the market and to supply customers with products. I think it is totally OK for someone to support their local shop, but I was stunned when I saw that the manager actually was mad at you; what kind of customer service is that? To be mad at you for looking to your own interrests instead of his when he made a mistake?

I wouldnt feel bad about it. If I was the manager, I would feel bad about what I did, though.