Support Your Local Game Store?

Wombat · Aug 4, 2003

sorry -- double-posted on accident

Krail Stromquism · Aug 4, 2003

does anybody really wait for Gencon to buy their stuff?

I mean, Im in Arizona and I doubt all the AZ RPGers are putting their money away until next gencon.

Plus even if they did aren't they entitled to a discount after flying ar driving across half the country?

Its a loss for the game store, but one they should be able to adjust for and always knows is coming.

your game store is for striking up conversations and hanging out and networking ideas and games and another aspect of social interaction. it shouldnt just be a place where you buy books.

if it is then you should find a different game store

Buttercup · Aug 4, 2003

I don't feel guilty about not supporting my local gaming stores because none of them are any good. You want my money, provide the products that I want, and be nice while you do it. Alas, this combination seems to be too hard for them to achieve. So I shop online, or at GenCon (where I spent waaaaay too much. No wonder the folks at MEG like me so much.

).

KnowTheToe · Aug 4, 2003

I don't neccessarily support my local gaming store, but the 20 or so times I have been there, they were impersonable. I might as well have been shopping at borders. I do shop at Games Plus several times a year, but it is over an hour drive, so I do most of my shopping online.

Games Plus can't complaint, each time there is a Chicago Game Day, I spend close to a hundred bucks and I do make a few extra trips each year and open my wallet. It is a great store So I try to support it. If his website was setup better for online shopping, he would get all of my business

Treebore · Aug 4, 2003

I told my local store I would buy from him if he gave me a flat 15% discount. He said no. Now Amazon and others get ALL of my business AND I save 30% or more. His loss, my gain.

der_kluge · Aug 4, 2003

Think of it this way, if you buy something at a con, and one of your players like it, and they didn't go to GenCon, they're going to be it at your FLGS, so the game store owner gets money regardless.

And it's not like everyone can attend GenCon anyway, so whatever sales he might have lost as a result of a tiny fraction of people going to GenCon would be fairly insignificant.

Wraithdrit · Aug 4, 2003

Online discount vs FLGS

I have a few friends that think the way Treebore does. Give me a discount or I shop online.

If I ran a store, in this town, I would give a discount to be competitive, but otherwise I would charge retail.

Retail price it the price an object is meant to be sold for. Out of the profit made there, a retailer then has to pay overhead, himself, and any employees. Game store discounts from distributors range from 40-60%, usually hovering in at 50-55%.

So for the $30 book you buy, your FLGS gets to keep $15. Woo. These are not high volume, high priced items.

Even when it comes to things like Games Workshop purchases, I would always rather buy local than online.

You can't return something 'online'. You can't play tournaments 'online'. Its just better to work with a good FLGS.

CarlZog · Aug 4, 2003

Forget about conventions. It seems clear to me that the internet is the real killer for local shops.

After I started playing (25 years ago), the first real game store that showed up in our area (the Compleat Strategist in Davie, Fla.) was a good 40 min drive away. Going there was a weekly pilgrimage to see all the new stuff. There was no place else to get it.

Now, with everything available all the time online, I don't know how local game stores stay in business. Especially when Amazon is offering 30% discounts!

The answer, I suspect, is that it's all about service, offering the things you can't get online -- mainly a meeting place and sense of local community. I don't even know how much product knowledge counts anymore, since there isn't much the average customer can't learn online. I'd be curious to hear from shop owners if this is really true.

CZ

Desdichado · Aug 4, 2003

CarlZog said:
The answer, I suspect, is that it's all about service, offering the things you can't get online -- mainly a meeting place and sense of local community. I don't even know how much product knowledge counts anymore, since there isn't much the average customer can't learn online. I'd be curious to hear from shop owners if this is really true.

I don't get either at my local game store, although I probably could if that's something I wanted. I go more for the "instant gratification" factor of having something immediately if I want it. That, and the store owner is pretty familiar with me, tends to know what I like and remember it, and goes out of his way to be helpful.

Bloodstone Mage · Aug 4, 2003

I don't go to conventions yet, but if I did, I wouldn't buy stuff at them (unless it's not offered anywhere else). I have faith in my FLGS. It's held together the local gaming communities for years, and I would hate to see it go under. Although they don't offer discounts (except for in November, mainly because it is their worst selling month), they don't charge sales tax, which is pretty cool.

Cheers!