Sheesh this is getting expensive!!
- Thread starter Mystery Man
- Start date
Raven Crowking
First Post
tonym said:
Thanks, Tony.
One thing I should have mentioned, though: vanity presses.
Say I wanted to publish my campaign setting. Say I wasn't interested in making a ton of money. Say I was even willing to lose money on the deal.
Amazon.com would be a much better bet than the FLGS for getting it out to the public. Most FLGSs just couldn't afford to undertake the risk.
For those cases where liability really is not an issue, bulk sales places can be fantastic. Just make sure you don't end up having to pay $X if your product doesn't sell well (not the case with Amazon, so far as I know).
RC
DaveMage
Slumbering in Tsar
Unfortunately for the LGS, the situation will only worsen as produc prices climb.
The World's Largest Dungeon has an MSRP of about $100.
Online retailers are selling it for 20% off or more. That $20 is enough to buy another 96-page supplement online.
The owner of a former FLGS here in Gainesville told me that for a brief time, when he was doing both instore and online sales he was profitable. Unfortunately, the hours he was putting in to do both was killing him. He certainly seemed to indicate that online is the way to go if you want to make money.
The World's Largest Dungeon has an MSRP of about $100.
Online retailers are selling it for 20% off or more. That $20 is enough to buy another 96-page supplement online.
The owner of a former FLGS here in Gainesville told me that for a brief time, when he was doing both instore and online sales he was profitable. Unfortunately, the hours he was putting in to do both was killing him. He certainly seemed to indicate that online is the way to go if you want to make money.
Desdichado
Hero
In theory I prefer to buy online for cheap. As it turns out, I tend to mostly buy on impulse, so 90%+ of my RPG purchases are bought at full price at my FLGS.
However, I also haven't bought nearly as much recently, unfortunately. My backlog of books I want, but can't spare the cash right now is getting a bit big.
However, I also haven't bought nearly as much recently, unfortunately. My backlog of books I want, but can't spare the cash right now is getting a bit big.
Scribble
First Post
Here's my thoughts on the matter.
I Like Gamestores. Also like anyone else I like paying less for soemthing I want.
I Like Gamestores because of the atmosphere, because of the instore gaming aspects, ability to meet new gamers, and for the fact that it's usually got all the latest gaming news for things happening close by. I also like to be able to glance through products and see if it's worth my time.
I like online gamestores because of the prices and the convinience.
So here's my thought. Maybe it's time for the FLGS to change it's roll. Maybe it's the end of the FLGS making money soley on games, and time for it to expand into other money making gaming alternatives?
New ideas that make money for the reason's FLGS owners and enthusiests give for why the store is important.
I don't know all of the answers of course, but maybe it's just time for a change?
I Like Gamestores. Also like anyone else I like paying less for soemthing I want.
I Like Gamestores because of the atmosphere, because of the instore gaming aspects, ability to meet new gamers, and for the fact that it's usually got all the latest gaming news for things happening close by. I also like to be able to glance through products and see if it's worth my time.
I like online gamestores because of the prices and the convinience.
So here's my thought. Maybe it's time for the FLGS to change it's roll. Maybe it's the end of the FLGS making money soley on games, and time for it to expand into other money making gaming alternatives?
New ideas that make money for the reason's FLGS owners and enthusiests give for why the store is important.
I don't know all of the answers of course, but maybe it's just time for a change?
jester47
First Post
The thing about a gaming (and even comic/hobby) store is that they are typically run by people who are into said hobby. This is a recipe for disaster if they are more into the hobby than making money. In such a combination the hobby will take priority over running the business.
And you can ussually tell almost instantly the type of store you have entered when you interact with the people that run it. We have all seen it. Ussually this is why LGS fail. The ones I see that survive are those where:
1. The people that run it are there to run a business. They pay attention to their customers.
2. They diversify their product line. They are not a game shop- they are hobby shops or collectible shops.
3. They keep up with the times. Most of them I have found have a Z-shop with amazon or do some business on line.
Rare is the stand alone gaming store these days. Finding one that survives for more than 5 years is like finding a Jedi after the Clone Wars.
Let me tell you about Dave. Dave is my FLGCSFFCS (Friendly Local Games, Comics, Science Fiction Fantasy Collectible Shop) owner. Dave rules. Dave works, and Dave does not take crap from his people either, he keeps his people in line. They work and they will help you. Monte has talked about Dave's store on his site, the biggest complaint was it was hard to get help. And oddly since that review, Dave has changed his line up of employees. I will not presume to know what happened, but it safe to say someone will offer to help you. It may or may not be cause and effect. But more to the point- Dave has everything. No. HE HAS EVERYTHING. See Dave does not run a Game store, or a Comic shop. Dave runs a collectibles store. This means he archives. This means he keeps track of EVERYTHING. Ok, sometimes they miss somthing. Like I had to clue them in on Battlebox. But they are quick to rectify the situaiton. Somtimes there is a hard to get item (like convention releases of 1st ed AD&D adventures) that they just don't have. But see dave is there to run a business. He is plugged into Amazon as a Zshop. He does not offer a discount, but he doesn't need to. Because of this I think his shop will be around for quite some time. As opposed to another (completely game) shop in the area that was a direct victim of mismanagement due to MMORPG addiction. I think Dave is one of those store owners that understands the edge he is running on and how to keep from going over it. Hence I have a darned good Local Store. I think for the most part the local gaming store's days are numbered. Collectible and hobby stores run by competent people however I think will survive, and with things like Z shops and ebay, thrive.
Now about book prices-
I find it interesting that it took so long for the price of a Gaming book to catch up with the price of a hardback. Dark Tower VII cost 34 bones MSRP. Other hardbacks range from $25-35. Looking at the standard WotC Art Book Format (my graphic designer roommate pointed the art book thing out to me) we can see that there paper is better and the covers (at least from WotC) are laminated. With these facts and numbers in mind, I figure that the price we are paying for the books is not too unreasonable, assuming a book holds together and its a nice WotC volume. If game books were on average 1.5 times the price of hardback novels, then yes I would say that they were overpriced, as it is, I will probably read a novel once. A gaming book I plan on using for quite a while over and over again.
Aaron.
And you can ussually tell almost instantly the type of store you have entered when you interact with the people that run it. We have all seen it. Ussually this is why LGS fail. The ones I see that survive are those where:
1. The people that run it are there to run a business. They pay attention to their customers.
2. They diversify their product line. They are not a game shop- they are hobby shops or collectible shops.
3. They keep up with the times. Most of them I have found have a Z-shop with amazon or do some business on line.
Rare is the stand alone gaming store these days. Finding one that survives for more than 5 years is like finding a Jedi after the Clone Wars.
Let me tell you about Dave. Dave is my FLGCSFFCS (Friendly Local Games, Comics, Science Fiction Fantasy Collectible Shop) owner. Dave rules. Dave works, and Dave does not take crap from his people either, he keeps his people in line. They work and they will help you. Monte has talked about Dave's store on his site, the biggest complaint was it was hard to get help. And oddly since that review, Dave has changed his line up of employees. I will not presume to know what happened, but it safe to say someone will offer to help you. It may or may not be cause and effect. But more to the point- Dave has everything. No. HE HAS EVERYTHING. See Dave does not run a Game store, or a Comic shop. Dave runs a collectibles store. This means he archives. This means he keeps track of EVERYTHING. Ok, sometimes they miss somthing. Like I had to clue them in on Battlebox. But they are quick to rectify the situaiton. Somtimes there is a hard to get item (like convention releases of 1st ed AD&D adventures) that they just don't have. But see dave is there to run a business. He is plugged into Amazon as a Zshop. He does not offer a discount, but he doesn't need to. Because of this I think his shop will be around for quite some time. As opposed to another (completely game) shop in the area that was a direct victim of mismanagement due to MMORPG addiction. I think Dave is one of those store owners that understands the edge he is running on and how to keep from going over it. Hence I have a darned good Local Store. I think for the most part the local gaming store's days are numbered. Collectible and hobby stores run by competent people however I think will survive, and with things like Z shops and ebay, thrive.
Now about book prices-
I find it interesting that it took so long for the price of a Gaming book to catch up with the price of a hardback. Dark Tower VII cost 34 bones MSRP. Other hardbacks range from $25-35. Looking at the standard WotC Art Book Format (my graphic designer roommate pointed the art book thing out to me) we can see that there paper is better and the covers (at least from WotC) are laminated. With these facts and numbers in mind, I figure that the price we are paying for the books is not too unreasonable, assuming a book holds together and its a nice WotC volume. If game books were on average 1.5 times the price of hardback novels, then yes I would say that they were overpriced, as it is, I will probably read a novel once. A gaming book I plan on using for quite a while over and over again.
Aaron.
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