TalonComics
First Post
mirthcard said:As someone who just closed a book & music retail business after 5 1/4 years, I sympathize with you Derek. As is evidenced by a large portion of the posts in this thread, the majority of customers out there are concerned with the bottom line. That is a sad fact of reality that I have learned the hard way and now that the internet has allowed the average joe to buy merchandise at your cost (and often cheaper) I hope you can see the handwriting on the wall.
I'm not saying that your business is going under (and I honestly hope it is not, because what I have read about you says to me that you are a stand-up guy as well as a Mac user). What I am saying is that trying to change the minds of the nickel-pinching, compunctionless, compassionless, hard-nosed CONSUMERS out there is a complete and utter waste of time. Instead you should focus those energies on your already loyal customers and hope that word of mouth will do what it is supposed to do.
If I sound bitter, I am. But that bitterness not directed towards you or towards anyone specifically on this board/thread. One thing that may help you (or not) is knowing that those faceless, money-grubbing corporate chains care as much for their "customers" as their customers care about you. They deserve each other. Do yourself a favor and move on.
Jay
Jay, I hear you and I understand your bitterness especially in light that you were selling music and books. I've always had an unwritten rule that if I ever had to compete with Wal Mart for sales that would be the day I would stop carrying the competing product. However, I'm not going to stop carrying D&D because Wal Mart is selling corebooks online. They're not even selling them in their stores!
I've always been about supporting gaming and getting exposure for RPGs in general but I know for a fact Wal Mart has no interest in promoting gaming. The bottomline is Wal Mart wants to take money away from other businesses. If that means making 50 cents a book for them so be it. The end result in a year could mean competition is gone. K-Mart is a good example of that.
Believe me folks, this is no BS, massive discounters can kill tabletop gaming dead. Judging from replies on this thread it looks like some don't believe me and I expect that. Others are listening though and that's the best I can do. What I'm saying is a proven fact with Wal Mart and once Wal Mart loses interest in gaming they'll drop it just like they did with comics and M:tG.
Re: Harlock's post
Man, I hear you too and I understand what you're saying. I don't think Wal Mart will expose anyone to gaming as they're not carrying it in stores. I first purchased my AD&D books in 1979 at a hobby store and subsquently picked up other books at a toy store that no longer exists. I remember vividly that same toy store removing all gaming related items because of fanatics denouncing it as the "devil's game."
Gaming does need more exposure and understanding. In all honesty I think video games are helping with that as well. The problem being is WotC barely advertises D&D anymore. M:tG I see ads for frequently in comics and video game magazines but not D&D. I'm sure many of you old timers like myself remember the old D&D ads in comics back in the 1980s. Heck they were even full page ads on the backs of comics back then too. Where are those now?
I don't mind discounting games somewhat as I do a blanket 15% off. As for the revised corebooks I'm doing up to 25% off when you buy all three. On top of that I'm considering free shipping for them too. I know as a small business owner I can't do that all the time but I still want to give gamers a chance to replace their 3rd edition books reasonably. Remember, we're not talking about stores marking up the suggested retail price. The price is right on the book is what is being discounted. I haven't seen anyone suggest it but selling your old 3E corebooks to a used bookstore is a good way to get some extra cash as well. I frequently buy new video games where I can sell my old ones. It's not always a lot of money but it's better than nothing.
All I ask is to take time and think about what I'm saying. I know money is tight and I'm right with you guys on that but this is our hobby we're talking about. I don't want to see it die because of stores who could care a less about it grind it into oblivion.
~Derek
