Shrinkwrapping and your FLGS

[Razuur]

Why is it that retailers and FLGS shrink wrap items.

I have to tell you, that half of my impulse sale is paging through and deciding whether it has what i am looking for. The cover is NOT enough, nor is the back description. I've been burned too many times on that front.

I am shocked that products arrive shrinkwrapped or are purposely shrinkwrapped.

I have heard of FLGS opening the shrink wrapping at a request, but then the customer just feels bad and feels obligated to buy. Its not worth the hassle.

I wish that whole concept would go away, because many a shop has lost potential sales because of this annoying tactic.

I still have been waiting to see the Erde game from TLG from the inside, but it is shrinkwrapped everwhere. I can't justify sending the money on something I wan't examine.

What is the harm of letting few shmoes page through the product before buying?

Razuur

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I refuese to shop at a retailer that shrinkwraps RPG books. If my FLGS will not even let me look through the product I want to buy then there is no way they even come close to competing with buy.com and amazon. If I'm buying based on reviews and word of mouth I'd rather save the 30 percent and buy online. Now at my shop I can flip through new books and see if I like them. That's why I buy at full price from my local store.

 

[Geoffrey]

I agree. I just take the shrinkwrap off. If I'm interested enough to take the shrinkwrap off, I end up buying it around 75% of the time anyway.

 

[PowerWordDumb]

None of the four FLGS in my area shrinkwrap RPG products, and I'd sure as heck stop shopping at any one of them that began the practise.

I understand completely about keeping greasy comic-book-guy fingers from damaging merchandise you're trying to sell, but if that's the concern they should have a demo copy set foremost for people to flip through.

 

[Kichwas]

I don't buy a book sight unseen.

But I also won't buy a damaged book, and Roleplayers are some of the most book-damaging people I've ever seen.

A lot of people hold pages by the middle of book, and put a little crease or dent in the page where they push in their thumbs. I'd say 90% of roleplayers do this - I've never met one who wasn't a comic book collector who didn't do this.

About 70-80% of the general population does it as well, so if you think you don't it's probably because I didn't describe it well.


Anyway, I won't buy a book that has the mark that this leaves in it.

That eliminates almost any unshrinkwrapped book on a shelf.

The second crime I see a lot is people who press pages flat to read - even in hardcovers this utterly shreds the binding glue. So If I can spot that on a book in the store, I put it back. With my keen eyes (I've got what amounts to low-light vision, and 20/10 eyesight) I can pick it out more often than I'd like...

So I want to buy the book that's wrapped. But I also want a copy to flip through. This means I want my retailer to open one copy and leave it there to read, and not sell it until all other copies are gone.

But I also realize my retailer is rarely dripping in excess cash. So the above desire is not often something they can meet with all but the most high volume product...


-shrug-

It's a problem with no easy solution.

 

[Storm Raven]

What is the harm of letting few shmoes page through the product before buying?

I would rather be assured that my new book is actually in good condition than take the risk that some bozo has flipped through it with pizza-stained fingers and left thumbprints all over it. I would rather be assured that the binding of my book has not been abused or tampered with by some doofus who has manhandled it. The minor inconvenience of dealing with shrinkwrapped products is more than outweighed by the better condition the books retain.

 

[ergeheilalt]

It might be a bad idea, but I think it would be prudent to shrink wrap the copies that are for sale and leave a copy on the shelf that is open and available for browsing. I have seen book stores that don't shrink wrap their material ending up with a shelf full of dented, torn, broken backed books. I can see where shrink wrapping is a good idea.

As long as there is a copy for browsing or an willingness to open the shrink wrap without getting the evil-bugger-eye, then I have no qualms shopping at a shrink-wrapping store.

Erge

 

[Tabarnak Smokeblower]

My FLGS doesn't shrink wrap anything, and for boxed items, they always have a demo opened so you can really check out the item before you buy.

I admit that I'd hate it if i couldn't peruse my potential buys.

TS

 

[Davelozzi]

Re: Re: Shrinkwrapping and your FLGS

I would rather be assured that my new book is actually in good condition than take the risk that some bozo has flipped through it with pizza-stained fingers and left thumbprints all over it. I would rather be assured that the binding of my book has not been abused or tampered with by some doofus who has manhandled it.

Where is the risk? If the book isn't shrinkwrapped you can see for yourself whether or not it's been damaged or stained. I don't think that shrinkwrapping even protects the books so well. Most of the time when I see shrinkwrapped modules they're all bent from the shrinkwrap being too tight.

I agree with Razuur (the thread starter) 100%. Shrinkwrapping is just a big hassle and I sooner take my business elsewhere.

 

[Kannik]

Hear hear!

I agree completely -- shrink wrapping drives me crazy. One of the things that prevents me from buying PDFs online, even for a really good price, is the fact that I can't see what the material is before I buy it, I can't skim it to see if I like it (sometimes this is true even if the publisher provides a preview). Even if the cost was only two bucks, I still hate to feel like I wasted money on something that was poo. } Ditto with shrinkwrapped products; if I can't see what the material inside is like, no matter how much the cover looks good and the copy sounds good, the rules base inside might suck rocks.

Keep one book avail. for looking at, shrink wrap the others sounds like the best solution indeed.

Kannik