Shrinkwrapping and your FLGS

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

P.S. Of course, when I get a Library book, it's usually in such bad condition anyway that I don't mind mutilating it with corner folds, pressing the pages flat, writing indentations and coffee stains.

(begin library rant)
And people wonder why sometimes librarians can be so uptight about the books? Books get dropped off at the library I work at in awful condition, because people assume that we will take care of it, or buy a new one. If you knew how much $ was spent on book preservation and replacement, you wouldn't go bending the corners or leaving your coffee mug on it. Just because the person before you abused it, doesn't mean that its ok for you to abuse it too. There is a lot of time and $ that gets spent on fixing things that could have been prevented with a minimum amount of thought or care to a library book. Easiest one to remember? DON'T FOLD THE CORNERS!

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Didn't mean to pick on you personally, Sixchan.
(end library rant)

 

[Vocenoctum]

One of my fave stores (Capitaine Quebec) does plastic-wrap their RPG books, but not shrink wrap. The spot where you open the plastic baggy has a sticker on it that says "STOP, ask for assistance".

If you bring the book to the front of the store, you can open it there and check it out.

This is because they insert anti-theft devices into the books, then put them in the baggies. You can take the devices out if you are going through the book unsupervised.

The GS near me is the same, plastic comic bags for their stuff. I don't think they have anti-theft devices though.

I find it degrading to go up and ask permission to look through an item under their supervision, but this is just one mor ereason I hate that store and buy from Waldenbooks or online.

I wonder how the rest of the world would react if the bookstore's shrinkwrapped the books

 

[Welverin]

I'm always getting asked why I never read any of my books... You won't even find that bend in the back page with me.

The cover warps a bit after I'm done with a paperback, but that goes away after some time on the shelf.

Of course the longer it takes me to read a book the less likely it's going to come out unscathed.

I've found the binding on RPG books is usually some of the better binding out there

Well I've had some where the binding starts to fall out just by sitting on the shelf, Exalted I'm looking at you.

 

[Vocenoctum]

I'm always getting asked why I never read any of my books... You won't even find that bend in the back page with me.

I treat anything I own with care, from my books to my cichlids, to my paints, and on down to my espresso machine.

See I tend to unfold those corner folds, press the bends out, and erase any writing I find if possible...

I view books with a certain respect.

Or, obsessive compulsive disorder...

That's why I won't put down my hard won money for something somebody else has damaged, and once I have what I want, I won't let it get damaged.

I've found the binding on RPG books is usually some of the better binding out there, but the people who use them are usually among society's less bodily-coordinated. They tend to have two left feet and are all thumbs...

I've had some books that get used daily for years without damage, but then some books that can't last until I get them home from the store.
I think the thing is, the RPG companies ask for good bindings, but if they get a bad run, they'll still release that copy. They might get a credit from the printer for the damage done, but those copies will still reach teh consumer. If you have a problem, they'll replace it, but it still saves them money that way.

But, that's just a theory...

 

[Sixchan]

(begin library rant)
And people wonder why sometimes librarians can be so uptight about the books? Books get dropped off at the library I work at in awful condition, because people assume that we will take care of it, or buy a new one. If you knew how much $ was spent on book preservation and replacement, you wouldn't go bending the corners or leaving your coffee mug on it. Just because the person before you abused it, doesn't mean that its ok for you to abuse it too. There is a lot of time and $ that gets spent on fixing things that could have been prevented with a minimum amount of thought or care to a library book. Easiest one to remember? DON'T FOLD THE CORNERS!

Sorry, just had to get that out of my system. Didn't mean to pick on you personally, Sixchan.
(end library rant)

(begin library rant)
Bah. Perhaps if the Library had let me borrow from the adult sections when I was 12, I would pay more respect to the books. As it is, the memory of having to go there every other day for two weeks for a history project because all I was allowed to borrow were teen "horror" novels has stuck with me for life. If they had let me borrow from the History and Politics section, all might have been different, but since I didn't get my book on the Cold War, they can go eff themselves for all I care.
If I couldn't look after the books then, I'm gonna prove them right and not look after them now.
(end library rant)

Not picking on you personally either.

 

[Numion]

I'm always getting asked why I never read any of my books... You won't even find that bend in the back page with me.

I treat anything I own with care, from my books to my cichlids, to my paints, and on down to my espresso machine.

I guess it depends on what you value. The value of RPG books for me is solely in me reading them, my friends reading them and actually tossing them around during gaming nights. Now, we don't actively destroy them (well, not by our standards at least, YMMV ), but an RPG book that just lies on my shelf in good shape has about zero value. A beaten up 3e PHB has the same value for me as a mint copy.

What comes to espresso machines and such, I consider the items life span. Why handle my computer with silk gloves when I have to buy a new one in 2-3 years anyway? Same goes for most stuff - they're more important now than in the future. Trying to keep everything in top shape isn't optimal in my thinking.

Different strokes and all that

 

[Samothdm]

Here's what I do: immediately after buying any RPG books (preferably shrink-wrapped so I have absolutely no idea what's inside), I send them off to be graded and then packed into a sealed plastic container which I then place in a vault.

I do the same thing with my comics. I mean, can you believe people actually used to read this stuff?

*shudders* "The horror..."

Comics and game books were not meant to be read. They were meant to be sealed up in a vault where no one ever looks at or enjoys them so that you can pretend that one day you'll retire on their appreciation.

To get back on topic, I stopped shopping at a really cool game store down here in Southern California specifically because they started shrink wrapping everything. It sucks because I liked the store and a bunch of cool guys used to work there, many of whom now work at AEG.

Now I strictly do all of my shopping at a place in Pasadena, which while dirty, not well-lit, and kinda smelly, does not shrink wrap anything.

 

[Delemental]

The FLGS I go to (and worked at for about two years) doesn't shrink-wrap books, but they do bag them in clear plastic. They don't have a problem with people opening them up and looking at the books. It lets people look at the books, but still keeps most of the fingerprints off the cover. The biggest reason they bag isn't so much fear of pizza stains, it's to keep the dust off the books (the building they're in is pretty old) and to prevent abrasions on the cover from books sitting together on the display and being pulled on and off. The biggest problem they have is people putting the books back in the bags backward.

However, I can say that book abuse is an occasional problem. I was in charge of the Warhammer section when I worked there, and I ended up having to move several of the brand-new army books into the "used" section because of in-store damage (meaning that I had to sell them at a lower price). I had a few people that would literally open up a book and sit there with a piece of paper desgining their army list for a game they were playing at our store that day. I had to remind them that we were not a library.

Of course, people who would go to that lengths to abuse the trust of the FLGS are a rare minority. And I figure that's what it boils down to is trust - the understanding that you need to see what you're buying to make an informed decision, and that the FLGS wants to keep their product in top shape to encourage sales.

By the way, the store does shrink-wrap some items - box sets, and occasionally groups of books they want to keep together (like if they had a full set of an original module run like the Slavers series). However, they will gladly open up the shrink-wrap to let people look inside (hey, you can always re-wrap it... and shrink wrapping is fun!)

 

[Jody Butt]

Warp Comics and Games in Edmonton, Alberta shrink-wraps everything. Only once in a blue moon do they have a demo copy of anything. If you want to look at anything, it will cost you $1.00. Plus, they price everything at approximately 7% over suggested retail price. How's that for a FLGS?!

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

With any luck that store will go out of buisness when the local gamers realize how they are being screwed.