Pay to Play at FLGS?

[the Jester]

I can understand some form of pay-to-play even if I think it's a bad idea.

But an hourly fee?? Man, the first time they brought that up, that store would lose my business on the spot.

 

[Holy Bovine]

or parents who drop off kids all day and treat you like a babysitter. .

I would just bet that is the reason behind this. The store probably had parent(s) doing this and had to put a stop to it.

I can understand some form of pay-to-play even if I think it's a bad idea.

But an hourly fee?? Man, the first time they brought that up, that store would lose my business on the spot.

Oh, I agree. If they tried to demand money from me for browsing in their store (I take anywhere from 30 to 90 minutes browsing a store I have never been in that has products that interest me) I'd laugh in their face and wish them luck getting that out of me.

 

[Saeviomagy]

I'm with Deset Gled - I wouldn't be surprised if a store had such a policy just as a "here is a rule that we bend unless we don't like you" thing. But it would be foolish of the store owner if it was graven into the lintel in letters ten feet tall or if it was enforced on anyone other than troublemakers.

 

[Gilladian]

Years ago, I worked in a store that had a big open game area, and a couple of smaller private rooms (it was a converted house).

The big room was free to play in, but snacks were not allowed to be brought in - you bought from the store, which had a soda machine, a snack counter, and bottled water for sale at reasonable prices.

The two private rooms cost $5 to "rent" for any 4 hour time slot during the day. Truthfully, they probably only charged the fee about half the time, mostly when there was some competition for use of the rooms. IOW for the prized Friday night, Saturday afternoon and Saturday night slots, you probably paid to use them. However, they DID allow you to bring in your own snacks if you rented a room. So we always ordered pizza, but bought our drinks from the shop.

When I worked there, I also had a miniature painting trade on the side - while I worked, I painted. I charged the price of the mini to paint it; I bought all my supplies at the shop, and 90% of the minis I painted were purchased on point for me to paint. Good all-round!

 

[Sunseeker]

Hmmm, well, you ARE hearing it second hand, so I don't want to speculate on that, but as far as pay-to-play goes....

If it's during normal store hours, then I think it's silly. Those lights would be on anyway, and unless you're providing some special service(such as a private room, minis, books, ect...) there's nothing you're really giving these people that they can't get anywhere else. Of course, it's STILL private property, so they do have the right to charge anyone whatever they what for whatever service they want to provide(or not provide). But then, taking the "this is my business, do what I say or get out!" tends to drive off business.

If it's during extended hours, or it's in a separate building that's not normally supported by the store, then yes, I think it's completely within their rights. This should be expected.

Likewise if they're providing special services such as food or drinks, even at discounted prices, bathrooms, ect...

I think it's fair to ask a little of those who ask something of you. You're getting a place to play that presumably you cannot get elsewhere. If you are not willing to compensate the store through extraneous spending, then unfortunately I think it's fair to extract a fee from you.

 

[IronWolf]

I'm with Deset Gled - I wouldn't be surprised if a store had such a policy just as a "here is a rule that we bend unless we don't like you" thing. But it would be foolish of the store owner if it was graven into the lintel in letters ten feet tall or if it was enforced on anyone other than troublemakers.

Yeah, this is my thought as well. A rule that a shop might have and reserved more for people that were deemed "troublemakers".

 

[wingsandsword]

One of the stores asks that you spend at least $5.00 if you are in the store for half an hour or more (whether playing or not) and particularly applies this to the D&D Encounters and Worldwide D&D Gameday events.

Holy cow. If I was at a "F"LGS that asked me to cough up some dough if my browsing time exceeded 30 minutes that would be the dead last time I ever visited there. Between Amazon, eBay and various online stores, the only appeal of the FLGS is the friendly atmosphere and ability to browse and socialize, not just shopping.

Now, as for my "pay to play" story, a comic book store in town decided to branch out into gaming about 10 years ago. He even created a walled off gaming room. As he'd been on friendly terms with our gaming and anime clubs, one GM in our club decided to hold one of his games there one week.

He'd splurged on it, painting the walls grey with a faux stone wall pattern, and putting up some cheap medieval decor like some shields and banners even, and a wooden table and chairs (I think it was a well-used old dinner table). It was very thematic for D&D. . .but he was running a DeadLands campaign.

Then when we got there, he sprung on us that he was charging for the room, it was something like $10 per hour, so about $50 for the session, which worked out to $7 or so per person just to game there, as opposed to the rooms in the student center which were free to us as university students, or our various apartments and houses, which were free. We played there once, and never again. It must not have taken off, because he dismantled the whole thing a few months later.

 

[Agamon]

In my books, charging people to play games takes the "F" right out of FLGS

...and then replace it with an "S"...which could stand for a whole lot of things, just not Super.

 

[Dykstrav]

Let me play a bit of "Devil's advocate" here.

First off, I think an important feature of a game store is the fact that it's a "third space," in a way that cafes, bars, your favorite restaurant and the like are. Part and parcel of their appeal is the fact that you come there to socialize and have a place to hang out with your buddies. Coming in to check out a new product or to pick up a special order is one thing. Coming in to spend four to six hours playing a game there is an entirely different creature.

Would you be surprised if a restaurant asked you to make a purchase or leave if you took two hours poring over the menu? Would you be surprised if the coffee shop looked askance at you hanging out with your buddies for hours on end without getting a cup of joe? Would you go to your favorite downtown bar and bring your own liquor?

Furthermore, game stores are sort of unique in that people expect to be able to use products they buy in the store. I don't know of any other sort of business that does this on any sort of regular basis. I can't imagine Best Buy or H.H. Gregg letting you sit in their store and play your PlayStation 3 or Nintendo Wii every weekend just because you made the purchase there. I don't expect to buy my groceries, then go back to the grocery store a few days later to cook my dinner and eat it. That sort of thing just doesn't happen in any other retail business.

Retail space isn't free. The game store has to pay for that floor space, whether they put up a table and chairs for you to play D&D Encounters or they put up shelves for more product. I don't understand this attitude that a game store somehow owes people a free place to play. Go price a conference room at a local hotel or even a coffee place--in my area, the cheapest that conference space generally gets is around $30/hour.

It's issues like this that make me ashamed of the hobby.

 

[deinol]

Let me play a bit of "Devil's advocate" here.

*snip*

It's issues like this that make me ashamed of the hobby.

Some good points there. There is definitely a balance to be made. Policies like this one do what they are supposed to do: reduce the number of people in the store. If a place gets too crowded during peak hours, then the store is probably doing good business. On the other hand, if the policies are too harsh, they will keep people away permanently.

Most game stores have dealt with this issue. I think the better ones tend to find other ways to capitalize on gamers playing in the store. Encouraging customers to hang out and play games is like getting free demos to other potential customers who might then buy their own copy of the game. Selling snacks tends to be worthwhile without alienating the customers. A small fee for a table reservation at a specified time, or general free play but a time limit on tables if they've all been filled are better ways to go about it.

I spent lots of time playing in game stores growing up. It kept us teenagers coming back and we certainly spent plenty of money at the stores we did so. The one thing a game store can offer over amazon or other online retails is an atmosphere and a community. Anything that encourages gamers to keep coming to a store is usually good for their bottom line in the long run.