Pre-order D&D 3.5 books for $17.61

[techno]

Has anyone compared the WalMart deal with Amazon? Which is ulitimately cheaper? Does anyone know? Will anyone respond?

Yes. With the coupon listed above (and no tax), Amazon is a bit cheaper. But, I believe the shipping time on Amazon is several days longer than Walmart.

 

[Green Knight]

Bah. Nevermind.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I live on Cape Cod Mass. we have one local game store, it sells card games and game workshop stuff. At least I can get my painting supplies there. The guy refuses to carry any RPG stuff because he thinks there is not a market for them. They also sell wiz kids stuff. At least there is a Borders books with RPG stuff.

I'm from Cape Cod and I used to do most of my RPG buying in either the Waldenbooks in the Cape Cod Mall (this was about 10 years ago — I stopped gaming after middle school, picked it up again after college), Alley Cat Comics (only for Dungeon and Dragon), and Hobbytown (over in the Airport Plaza). I can't remember there being any specific game stores. Where are you talking about, if you don't mind me asking?

As for the rest of this thread, I'm torn. I don't like my FLGS much — I like the folks there just fine. They're friendly and helpful. It's more the NC sales tax and just some quirky things about the store (well, and my grad student stipend). That said, I tend to split my purchases three ways —

1) amazon.com — I buy a lot of books because of my field and this is the cheapest way for me to do it — if I'm buying four or five other things, I'll have them toss in a D&D book, too.
2) other on-line retailers/e-Bay — depends on what deals I get where...I've ordered from FRPGames and Talon Comics and have been very happy with the service from both.
3) FLGS — odds and ends mostly or things I've saved for — minis (including HeroClix), magazines, the occasional hardback — bought Faiths & Pantheons there last week and Tome of Horrors, too...when I was in Boston, I did most of my shopping at Pandemonium Games in Harvard Sq. — Pandemonium is, IMO, how a game store should be. Great place.

I know I won't buy from Walmart. I've yet to decide where I'm going to get 3.5e (if I get it, which I'm leaning towards doing). I'll have to see, but if I can afford it, I'll probably buy it from a smaller on-line retailer, preferably an on-line storefront for a real FLGS. I doubt I'll buy all three from Cerebral — it'd be way too expensive, but I might divide my purchase or just wait until I can afford all three at cover. I have no idea yet. So, I'll stop rambling now and trot back off to my PbP game — should update that.

best,
tKL

 

[johnsemlak]

I understand the concern for supporting FLAGs, and as a result, supporting the hobby, but I've never been fully convinced that the above two are entirely the same thing.

Bottom line is, if a massive store offers books at a cheap price, it puts money back into gamer's pockets. I can't see that as being a bad thing. Gamers should never be blamed for saving money.

I think gamers should give their local FLAGs a look. They may find that the service, convienece, etc makes it worth spending a few extra bucks. It they don't, they are free to go somewhere else. A FLAGS is not a charity.

 

[kenjib]

Yes. With the coupon listed above (and no tax), Amazon is a bit cheaper. But, I believe the shipping time on Amazon is several days longer than Walmart.

buy.com will probably be the best deal of all. The revised books aren't listed there yet, but they will probably go for 18.87 each with no sales tax and free shipping. However, be prepared for some of the worst customer service you've ever experienced. The product might get backordered and take a month or more (perhaps a few months) to arrive and you will have difficulty getting ahold of customer service. I was also mistakenly double billed for the item I bought and had to get them to refund one of the charges. If you want to be *really* cheap and need to make mortgage payments, that's what you get in return.

For the record, most of my stuff is bought at local stores although I have bought a few things mail order from big discounters. I'm a big fan of small, independent, businesses in general as long as they can support my needs in a convenient and at least reasonably economical manner. I believe that there are a lot of hidden benefits that this patronage gives, including keeping money in the local economy, fostering a sense of community, encouraging diversity and regional differences, and maintaining higher standards of accountability. I believe that it's worth paying more to encourage these positive traits in my community.

At the same time, I've got to make ends meet and I can't always support the small guy. First and foremost I need to take care of my family. Nothing else can ever get in the way of that. When it comes down to paying, nearly twice as much (compare buy.com to full cover price plus sales tax), sometimes I've just got to save some money.

 

[techno]

However, be prepared for some of the worst customer service you've ever experienced. The product might get backordered and take a month or more (perhaps a few months) to arrive and you will have difficulty getting ahold of customer service. I was also mistakenly double billed for the item I bought and had to get them to refund one of the charges. If you want to be *really* cheap and need to make mortgage payments, that's what you get in return.

That's odd. I have ordered at least ten books from buy.com over the last two years and have never had a problem. I recommend them highly. I am sorry that you had a bad experience though.

 

[Airwolf]

I have to agree with Techno, I have ordered many books from buy.com and never had a problem.

Come to think of it, I have ordered lots of stuff and never had a problem. As an example, I ordered "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" for my wife's birthday. Somehow I ordered the VHS instead of the DVD (it was my mistake, I went back and looked). I requested an RMA and got it right away, they even paid for the shipping back to their warehouse. They issued a credit the day after it arrived back to the warehouse. The DVD arrived a few days later.

Anyway, as with any company I am sure buy.com has made mistakes and really screwed over some customers, heck show me a large company that hasn't.

Ok, back on topic. As I mentioned before I will buy from the store that give the best price because I believe that a capitalist economy is the best way to go. If there are stores out there that can’t compete on price, you better find some other way to convince customers that your extra mark up is worth it. As for FLGS in this area, they don’t offer anything that would warrant me paying an extra $10/book to buy it from them.

 

[John Crichton]

I have made a few purchases from buy.com in the past with no incident. I do the majority of my buying from Amazon.com because I like their shipping tracker system. That and I have been buying stuff from them since they were basically just a online bookstore with some additional shops here and there.

As for the FLGS/Walmart situation: I can't think of a single situation that would have me buying from a Walmart or store like it. My FLGS treats me well and I support them often. I buy from online places as well, but that is usually because I am lazy.

However, I do not mind these large chains carrying D&D products. To me, it is the first step towards exposing non-gamers to our harmless and fun hobby. If a place can sell hunting equipment, clothes and videogames they should have no problem carrying and selling RPG materials.

 

[Qlippoth]

buy.com will probably be the best deal of all. The revised books aren't listed there yet, but they will probably go for 18.87 each with no sales tax and free shipping. However, be prepared for some of the worst customer service you've ever experienced. The product might get backordered and take a month or more (perhaps a few months) to arrive and you will have difficulty getting ahold of customer service. I was also mistakenly double billed for the item I bought and had to get them to refund one of the charges. If you want to be *really* cheap and need to make mortgage payments, that's what you get in return.

I, too, haven't had any major difficulties with buy.com (there was one time when they mistakenly sent me the fullscreen version of SW2:AotC instead of the widescreen version, but returning was no problem and they sent me the replacement a day after receiving my return). They do, however, charge state sales tax (5% here in Mass.).

And yep, all gaming stores should be like Pandemonium!

 

[Harlock]

I have to agree with Silent Crichton here. I know it cuts into the smaller market shops, ubt what about the positive effects this could have on gaming? Wal-Mart reaches rural, middle America. Smaller towns may not have much access or exposure to D&D. Online retailing exposes some of them, but let's face it, not everyone uses the internet and there are still some people that would much rather see the item, pick it up, feel it, thumb through it etc. before they buy it. People claiming it may kill gaming perhaps have forgotten the early 80s. Remember when D&D blew up? Cartoons, action figures, free press (both good and bad)... and guess what? I bought my very first basic set at a department store. AIM was the name of the place, I think it was related to Target at some point (buy out maybe?) but they sold lots of D&D stuff. They even had the hard cover books. Once for Christmas I recall getting a really nice D&D binder with the logo and some guy wearing a skull helm on a flying dragon. It had nice folders in it too. I also got some other stuff that year and I know that it came from either a JCPenney or Sears holiday catalog.

I understand that politics are self interest, and I think that people in the know will continue to support the small business owners. I also think the small business owners can help themselves by slight discounting (not talking the Wal-Mart 40% off, but 10 to 15% that I see a lot of internet folks doing, Talon included), personalized service, and the all important nourishing atmosphere. The latter is the real key. Bulletin Boards for people to find a game, gaming tables, a place to play a pick up game, even snacks at a reasonable price (jerky, candy bars, soda). This is what a small game store should have all over those big corporate guys. It fosters the hobby. It attracts new players and also provides a nice community service by giving people something to do instead of sitting around being bored or something worse.

My point is this: More exposure for RPGs will help in proving that it is not some demonic trickery and possibly can bring even more revenue to publishers. How so? Well, WotC of course stands to gain, but if some kid in Backwater, Indiana finds a Monster Manual, gets really into the art, starts reading, starts playing, starts seeking more material, then he may discover the 3rd party publishers. This could lead him to finding a LGS to purchase the Indy published items. Who knows, maybe the kid has a really common sounding name like Monte Cook, Sean Reynolds, Steve Jackson or Dave Arneson... Again, D&D in the early and mid 80s had massive exposure in chain retail department stores and the hobby exploded. D&D gained a large following back then, and I am a product of that. I am happy for that. D&D didn't die because of it. It took bad management to drive it into the ground, not retail outlets. This could be a win-win situation if the hobby grows, so long as the game and hobby stores exploit their advantages. Would a kid rather go to Wal-Mart with mom and stare at just a few books on the toy aisle, or would he rather get mom to take him to the local game shop so he could see a whole lot of books, dice, TCGs, miniatures, maybe find a couple people to game with? I know what I as a kid would have rather done, and in fact did do. Consumers don't mind paying a little extra for a product if it also includes a good service, which hopefully the FLGS is doing. Fear not my chicken little friends, this may be good for the game after all.